Biographical History of Page County, Iowa, 1890
[transcribed by Pat O'Dell: genpat@netins.net]
 
 
[page 506] O.H. PARK has been a member of the business circles of Clarinda since the 9 year 1874. He is a native of Iowa, born April 18, 1853, and is a son of Aaron and Margaret (McCullough) Park; the father is a native of Ohio, and the mother was born in Jefferson County, Indiana, and was a daughter of William McCullough, a native of Ireland, and a veteran in the war of 1812. The parents of our subject came to Iowa in 1843; the father is now a resident of Ottumwa, Wapello County, Iowa; the mother passed to her eternal rest in 1877.
O. H. Park was reared in a small village, where he obtained his early education; he completed his studies in the High School of Keokuk, Iowa, and in 1871 he began the study of photography under the tutorship of H. L. Shang; he remained with him a year and a half, and then went to Eldon, Iowa, and established the first gallery in the place. Eighteen months later he returned to Ottumwa and purchased the business of his former instructor, and after six months he sold out and located in Clarinda. In the fall of 1874 he established his present business, and has won a large patronage from the citizens of Page [page 507] County. His gallery is fitted out to do first-class work, and being master of his art he is able to satisfy the most exacting patrons.
Mr. Park was married October 4, 1880, to Miss Mary Kittle, a native of Washington County, Indiana. One child was born of this union, Herman, who lived to be one year and ten months old.
That man has an essentially social nature is a fact beyond dispute, and this is proven by the formation of the numerous societies for pleasure and profit. Mr. Park is associated with the Knights of Pythias, Clarinda Lodge, No. 139, and with the Modern Woodmen, Camp Locust, No. 344. Politically he casts his suffrage with the Republican party.

 

 

MARTIN R. ANSBACH, one of the most popular and successful dealers in general merchandise in Clarinda, was born July 11, 1845, in Lorraine, Germany. This province was then a part of France. His parents were Robert R. and Fannie (Michaels) Ansbach. The father was a native of France, as was also a long line of ancestors, his genealogy being easily traced back to 1372,. The mother was a native of Bavaria.
Martin R. received his early education and training in the land of his nativity. He attended first the monastery and later the military schools of Wertzburg on the Main. In 1867 he visited America, and after spending a year and a half in travel in the Eastern and Southern States he concluded not to return to France. He returned to New York city, and engaged with the great dry-goods house of A. T. Stewart & Co., with whom he wished to learn the business. He remained there ten months, receiving at first $5 per week; he finally obtained an advance to $12 per week, but as his living expenses were very high, and he could not obtain a further advance in wages he decided to leave the establishment. He drifted to the famous oil regions of Pennsylvania, stopping at Franklin. There he worked in the sheriffs office, and in 1871 he went to St. Louis, Missouri, where he accepted a position as bookkeeper in the well-known house of Hickman & Sipple, with whom he remained four months. He then came to Iowa, and located at Sidney, Fremont County, where he remained a year and a half in the geueral store of Sipple & Maloy. The following year he removed to Riverton, Fremont County, and embarked in mercantile trade on his own account. In 1877 he disposed of the business, and moved to Clarinda, and in February of that year he purchased a half interest in the business of S. M. Crooks; the firm was the known as S. M. Crooks & Co., and the partnership continued seven years. August Neinstadt then bought an interest in the business of Mr. Crooks, after which the firm was known as Ansbach & Neinstadt. In four years a division was made in the stock, and Mr. Ansbach removed to the building he now occupies. His store has been known from early days as " Farmers' Headquarters."
Besides his mercantile interests Mr. Ansbach owns a quarter section of valuable land in Nodaway Township, which was bought in 1887. In politics he is thoroughly Republican, but never seeks public office, preferring to attend to his own private interests. He and his wife are both members of the Methodist Episcopal Church at Clarinda. He is also an active member of the Masonic, Knights of Pythias, and A. O. U. W. lodges. In Masonry he has passed all the chairs in the blue lodge and chapter, and has attained the thirty-second degree.   He was a charter [page 508] member of the Knights of Pythias lodge at Clarinda.
Mr. Ansbach was united in marriage in Fremont County, Iowa, January 8, 1871, to H. L. Jewett, a native of Sangamon County, Illinois. Her parents are both deceased. Three children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Ansbach: Amelia F. is now attending Notre Dame College, South Bend, Indiana; Guy M. and Percy M. are both at home.
In 1886 Mr. Ansbach visited his native country, starting in August, and not returning until Christmas eve of the same year. He became a naturalized citizen of the United States about seven years after coming to our shores, and has ever since been closely identified and in harmony with all of our institutions. He is one of Page County's most highly retpected citizens, and now looks back over the years of his residence here, noting with much interest the vast march of progress since he visited this section of Iowa. Where the city of Shenandoah now stands with her 2,700 people, then the wild deer roamed at will. Indeed, the changes in Iowa have been rapid.

 

M. ENFIELD, M. D., was born in Green County, Wisconsin, March 9, 1845, and is a son of Frederick and Matilda (Mitchell) Enfield, natives of Somerset County, Pennsylvania. The parents were reared in the county in which they were born, and after their marriage they removed to Green County, Wisconsin, and located on 160 acres of Government land. This portion of the country was very new at that time, Rockford, Illinois, the nearest trading point, being forty miles distant. They are still residents of Green County. The father served in the late war, enlisting in the Twenty-second Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry. He was captured and compelled to undergo the horrors of Libby Prison for two months, a trial that was terrible to the bravest hearts. Frederick Enfield, the grandfather of the Doctor, was a native of the State of New York, and served in the war of 1812; the great-grandfather was a soldier in the war of the Revolution. The mother's branch of the family was of English origin, but they were early settlers of Pennsylvania.
Dr. Enfield is the oldest child of his father's family, which consisted of thirteen children, ten of whom are living. He spent his early years in farming, and as he was the oldest son the duty of caring for the family and providing for them while his father was fighting for the perpetuity of the Union fell on his young shoulders. His early education was received in the common schools of Green County, after which he attended two terms at the Broadhead High School. He then taught for a time, after which he entered the Evansville Seminary in Rock County, Wisconsin. He also spent nearly two years at Lawrence University, Appleton, Wisconsin. He had to depend entirely upon his own resources to acquire an education, and he made the most of every opportunity that came in his way. In the spring of 1869 he began the study of medicine under the direction of Dr. R. Broughton, with whom he remained over four years. He attended lectures at Rush Medical College, and was graduated from that institution with high honors in 1873. At the time of his graduation he was appointed Interne of Cook County Hospital, which honor was awarded him through competitive examination; this, however, he was compelled to decline as there was no financial consideration attached to the appointment. He began the practice of his profession in Clarinda in 1873, and by.close application and skill he [page 509] has won a position in Page County second to none. He was appointed United States Pension Examiner under Grover Cleveland, and held the position for two years.
The Doctor was united in marriage in Wisconsin February 28, 1874, to Miss Lila M. Broughton, a sister of his former preceptor. Her family are of English origin, and at an early day came from New York to Green County, Wisconsin. The Doctor's family consists of three children: Grace A., born August 22, 1875; John B., born October 6, 1877, and J. Donald, born May 18, 1879.
Our worthy subject is an honored member of the Masonic fraternity. He and his wife are acceptable members of the Universalist Church. Politically he affiliates with the Democratic party. He is a member of the School Board, and takes an active interest in educational affairs, always lending his support to every laudable enterprise.

DR. P. W. LEWELLEN, Superintendent of the Hospital for the Insane at Clarinda, very naturally finds space in this connection as he has been very closely identified with all of Page County's interests since 1865. That those who may chance to read this work in later years may know something of the personal character and youth of one who was thought worthy to hold the important position he now occupies, it may be well to fall back into the routine of biographical writing and state that the Doctor was born in Delaware County, Indiana, February 3,1840. He is the son of Philip and Mary A. (Osborn) Lewellen, natives of Virginia and descendants of Welsh and Scotch ancestors. He was reared to the occupation of a farmer and received a common-school education in the old-fashioned log school-house which stood on his father's farm. From the country school-room he went to Asbury University, where he completed his literary education. In 1862 he began the study of medicine under the preceptorship of Dr. S. V. Jump, of Burlington, Indiana, with whom he remained three years. He entered the Medical College of Ohio at Cincinnati, and was graduated in March, 1865. The following May he came to Clarinda and soon began the practice of his profession; in due time he enjoyed an extensive patronage from the best class of citizens. Being a thorough student and a constant reader he has kept pace with all the latest discoveries in the science of medicine. In his address he is frank and cordial, and is possessed of great sympathy. It is said by those in whose families he has practiced for many years, that his presence alone always brings cheer and comfort to the sufferer. By nature he is pre­eminently fitted for the responsibilities of the position he now holds. A visit to the institution will convince any one that Dr. Lewellen has the best of control over the unfortunate inmates, and is seldom compelled to use other force than kindness and sympathy.
As another index of the Doctor's ability, he has been called to serve on the State Board of Health ever since its organization, and for several years he has been its president. Politically Dr. Lewellen is a Republican. He represented his district as Senator in the Seventeenth and Eighteenth General Assemblies of Iowa, in which capacity he carried out the wishes of his constituents. While serving as a member of the board of trustees for Iowa's insane hospitals, he saw the necessity of a third hospital, and through his untiring efforts, aided by William Butler, then a member of the House, the hospital was located at Clarinda. Having for many years made diseases of the mind a special study, it was fitting upon the part of the State to make [page 510] Dr. Lewellen superintendent of the establishment.
Our worthy subject was united in marriage May 30, 1865, to Miss Alice Weidner, a native of Delaware County, Indiana, and a daughter of Samuel Weidner. Her father was a native of Butler County, Ohio; he removed to Indiana in 1840 and engaged in farming until 1863, when he sold out and went to Page County, Iowa, settling on lands now embraced in the county poor farm. He married Emaline Ribble, a daughter of George Ribble, one of Clarinda's pioneers, who is now deceased.
Dr. and Mrs. Lewellen are the parents of two children, Harley R. and Mary. The mother is a consistent member of the Methodist Episcopal Church. The Doctor belongs to Nodaway Lodge, No. 140, A. F. & A. M., to Clarinda Chapter, No. 29, R. A. M., and to Pilgrim Commandery, No. 20. He is also a charter member of the Knights of Pythias lodge at Clarinda.
As one views the various callings in life and notes success and failure both in and out of the professions, it will be found that the key to final success is the same by which Dr. Lewellen has achieved an enviable reputation. He first received an excellent education and then selected the profession for which nature had endowed him. and pursued it faithfully, ever reading, ever learning. Ele is a character after which many another man might well pattern.

        
SYLVESTER SPELLMAN GRANGER was born March 28, 1821, in Granville, Licking County, Ohio. Died October 28, 1885: He was the son of Ralph Granger, who was of Connecticut stock, and one of the early settlers of Ohio, a man whose stirring qualities enabled him to amass a considerable fortune. The mother of Sylvester, whose maiden name was Hannah Spellman, was of an aristocratic family, a devout Baptist, noted for her deep spirituality and aesthetic taste.
Elizabeth Walrath, whose mother's maiden name was Mary Wroth, was born April 22, 1823, in Herkimer County. New York, of German parentage. Sylvester Granger and Elizabeth Walrath were married April 8, 1841. To them were given eight children, two sons and six daughters, of whom Lottie Estelle, the subject of this sketch, is the seventh child. She was born in an old-fashioned, red farm house on Burgh street, about two miles from Granville, January 28, 1858. When she was one year old the family removed to Johnstown, where her father engaged in the hotel business for a period of six years. He then resumed farming, soon after which the two sons returned from the army whither they had gone as mere lads. At Johnstown Lottie was started to school at the age of four years. When her father returned to the farm she was seven years old, and reading in the Fourth Reader, she and her sister being the marvel of all the youngsters in the district school. Lottie attended the country school until she was sixteen years old, when with such meager education as she had been able to acquire she began teaching. She taught three summers in the country, constantly making use of all the facilities within her reach for mental improvement. In her early school life she developed a desire for thoroughness in her studies, and an attention to detail all too rare both in Young America and his sister of today.
The curriculum ot the district school being mastered, the family finances were found inadequate to gratify the ambition of the young girl for a more advanced education, as gold has not been the pavement over which [page 511] Miss Granger has walked to success. For some time it had been her fondest dream, her heart's greatest desire, to obtain a liberal education. But how to realize her dream was the problem which she herself must solve, for her father with his large family and reverses of fortune was unable to assist her.
Granville is a town of schools and colleges. She longed to enter the college as a student, but the stern hand of circumstances seemed to close the door against her. However, in the fall of 1876, on her own responsibility, she made arrangements with the president of Shepardson College, then the " Young Ladies' Institute," to enter as a student for one term. She anticipated teaching the following winter to earn money with which to pay her expenses. Fortune favors the brave. At the close of the term she stood at the head of the class. The president of the institution was so pleased with her work that he arranged for her to borrow money to meet her necessary expenses, and offered to let her work for her board, taking her unindorsed notes for the balance due, to be paid after she had finished her course of study and had opportunity to earn money. This plan was followed out and she was enabled to complete the classical course at this school, which stands the peer of any female college in the West.
To Dr. Shepardson, who so materially aided her, she owes a debt of gratitude which words can feebly express. For such men there is a reward greater than this world can offer.
On completing her work at Granville Miss Granger applied to herself the familiar injunction, " Go West," and boarded a train for Kansas, where her youngest brother was located. There she taught school during the fall and winter of 1880-'81. In the spring of 1881 she came to Iowa and in the following September began work as a teacher in the public schools of Shenandoah, Page County. A stranger, with no one to herald her attainments, reserved in demeanor, she was not suddenly borne to a high post of popularity among either pupils or patrons of the school. Her quiet and faithful attention to the duties nearest her was noticed, and her unostentatious exhibition of refined taste at length won for her a place high in the regard of all who know her, and which she justly retains today. She remained in Shenandoah about five years, and resigned her position January 1,1886, to assume the official duties of County Superintendent of Public Schools, to which she had been elected in the fall of 1885. In the years 1887 and 1889 she was re-elected for a second and third time, and is now serving her third term. In this capacity she has proven to be what she was as a student and teacher, thorough, faithful, successful. She ranks with the most efficient county superintendents in Iowa, and the cause of the common schools and of the teachers under her supervision has been promoted and the work has been quickened. Her skill as an organizer is acknowledged everywhere. Her judicial fairness has never been questioned. The dignity of her manner and quiet reserve sometimes occasion the charge of unsociability, but this behavior can scarcely be criticised as a fault, when we realize how lamentable it is for a woman in public life to commit an error in the opposite direction. Thorough earnestness in all her thoughts and all her actions, whether in the discharge of official duties or elsewhere, is a distinguishing feature of her character.
At the annual meeting of the Iowa State Teachers' Association held in Des Moines, December, 1888, Miss Granger was unanimously elected president. She is the second woman who has been elected to the presidency during the history of the association, which covers a period of thirty-five years.    To her [page 512] the honor came unexpectedly and unsought. She presided at the annual meeting in Des Moines, December 31, to January 3, 1890, with marked ability. Self-possessed, quick of decision, and familiar with parliamentary practice, she soon disarmed all fears as to the feasibility of woman's adaptation to public duties, and by her dignified bearing and impartial rulings won the admiration of the largest gathering of teachers ever held in Iowa, and the highest encomiums of the press throughout the State.
A loyal member of the Baptist Church, a zealous worker in the Sabbath-school and missionary societies of her denomination, an enthusiastic laborer in the temperance and other reforms of the day, her religion is far from being a source of idle leisure to her. Hers is a busy life, and her future promises still greater activity; for, to the industrious, persevering toiler, all the avenues of usefulness and successful endeavor are open.

     

DR. ALBERT HEALD, son of -------------------- and Mary (Bradwell) Heald, was born October 27, 1825, in Miami County, Ohio. His father emigrated to that State from Kennebec County, Maine, in 1813, by the usual mode of transit, a team and covered wagon. The family were of English descent, their progenitors having left their home on the banks of the Tweed about the beginning of the seventeenth century. Dr. Heald passed his early life on the farm attending the district school in the winter, with an occasional term at a neighboring academy. He early evinced a love for study and midnight often found him at his books, totally oblivious to the flight of time.
March 1, 1848, he was united in marriage to Miss Mary Elliott, of Washington County, New York. Four children were born of this union, only one of whom lived to maturity, Wilma, deceased, wife of Raymond Loranz. During the year 1849 Dr. Heald decided to enter the medical profession, and after a thorough course of study he was graduated at the Eclectic Medical Institute at Cincinnati, Ohio, where he enjoyed a most successful practice for seven years. His health failing he decided upon a removal to the West, and accordingly emigrated to Page County, Iowa, in the autumn of 1857. The change of climate proved beneficial, and he once more resumed the practice of his profession and also became identified with the material growth and advancement of his chosen home. The churches, schools and agricultural interests of the county all found in him a willing heart and ready hand. Always a close student of human nature, he was possessed of a mature judgment which was ever deferred to by his friends and neighbors. His was a nature so entirely free from prejudice that he could calmly view a matter from every standpoint, and form his conclusions accordingly.
But a few years in his new home, and again he was warned by declining health that life's labors for him must cease. Consumption, that deadly foe to human life, claimed him as a victim, and on December 6, 1863, at the age of thirty-eight years, he quietly passed away in the full assurance of a blessed immortality. No man ever lived and died in Page County having more sincere, warm friends than Dr. Heald. All of the old settlers remember him as a man of sterling qualities. His widow, Mrs. Mary E. Heald, still resides in Clarinda, honored and respected by all who know her. She is a woman of rare Christian character, and an active worker for one of her years in all charitable and moral reforms.   She lives quietly among [page 513] pleasant surroundings, esteemed and beloved by a multitude of friends.


DANIEL B. GOODMAN, one of the leading agriculturists of Nebraska township, was born in   Andrew County, Missouri, April 1, 1844, and is the son of Daniel and Elizabeth (Klingelsmith) Goodman.   He assisted his brothers in a blacksmith shop at Savannah, Missouri, and also at Hawleyville, Iowa, whither they removed when Daniel was ten years old.  He attended the common schools, and remained with his brothers until he was seventeen years of age. At that time the great civil war was beginning, and he enlisted in the First Nebraska Volnnteer Infanatry, Company F, and accompanied his regiment to Omaha. His war record is varied and quite extensive, the following being some of the most noted incidents:    While  they  were  quartered at Georgetown, Missouri, they went out about twenty miles west and captured about 1,100 rebels who were on their way to join General Price, about December 1,1861.   From there they went to Fort Henry, took that place, and next they participated in the severe and famous battle of Fort Donelson.   The next three weeks they  were stationed at Fort Henry; engaged in the battle of Pittsburg Landing, April 7, and the battle of Shiloh under General Lew Wallace; and next in the battle of Cape Girardeau, Missouri, April 26, 1863, with the Rebel General Marmaduke, who had come there to capture the place.   As he retreated the Union men followed him 100 miles, to Chalk Bluff, fighting day and night.   Besides these important engagements Mr. Goodman was also in many skirmishes and remarkable episodes.   He enlisted June 18, 1861, and was discharged December 28, 1865, and was never away from his company or on the sick list until he was attacked by rheumatism at Julesburg, Colorado, in April, 1865. The time of his service altogether was four years, six months and ten days. His regiment served a few days over live years. At Batesville, Arkansas, during this skirmish, Mr. Goodman was taken prisoner April 7, 1864. Fortunately he was paroled three hours afterward, but previous to his release Captain Relleford ordered him blindfolded and shot, and took $123 in money from him. This circumstance made liberty much sweeter to him when he was set free. What the object of the order was he could not ascertain. Soon afterward he obtained a furlough of thirty days, during which time he returned to his home, rejoining his regiment at Omaha. Thence he was sent to guard the Western frontier. He witnessed the execution of the Sioux chief, " Two Face," who was trying to sell a white woman, whose husband and children he had killed, for seventeen horses. Mr. Goodman was honorably discharged December 28,1865.
After the declaration of peace he again engaged in the shop of his brother, with whom he worked for three years. He was married February 6, 1869, to Miss Matilda Jane Collier, a daughter of A. M. and Nancy Collier, whose history will be found on another page of this work. They have had four children, of whom Clyde and two infants are deceased; Birdie Ina is thirteen years of age.
After his marriage Mr. Goodman removed to his present farm, which was a gift to his wife from her parents; he has since added eighty acres to the original forty acres, and has one of the best improved places in the county.
Politically he affiliates with the Republican party. He is a member of Warren Post, No. 11, G. A. R., and also of Orphans' Hope [page 514] Lodge, No. 254, I. O. O. F. In the latter fraternity he has filled all the chairs, and is its present treasurer. He is a man of excellent business qualifications, and is numbered among the successful men of the county.

     

H. L. COKENOWER, physician and surgeon at Clarinda, Iowa, was born in Shelby County, Illinois, September 23, 1854, and is the son of Michael and Cussila (Thompson) Cokenower, natives of Pennsylvania and Ohio respectively. His grandfather Cokenower was a native of Germany, and his grandmother was a native of Pennsylvania, of German ancestry. His maternal grandparents were of English origin, and removed to Ohio at a very early day; in 1845 they went to Illinois and located in Shelby County. The mother of our subject died when he was but four years old; his father is still living, a resident of Shelby County, Illinois. He was a soldier in the civil war, enlisting in 1861 in Company H, Illinois Voluuteer Cavalry, which became a part of the Fourteenth Regiment. He served two years and two months and was discharged on account of disability.
Dr. Cokenower is the fourth of a familv of six children, three of whom died in their infancy: J. W. Cokenower, M. D., practices at Des Moines, Iowa; and H. M. is a farmer in Fayette County, Illinois. H. L. attended the common schools of Illinois, the Normal Academy under the management of the Lutheran Church, and the Shelbyville graded schools; he taught and studied until he was nineteen years old, and then began the study of medicine under the tutorship of Drs. Harnett and Catherwood, of Shelbyville, Illinois. He entered the College of Physicians and Surgeons at Keokuk, Iowa, from which he was graduated in 1877. He began his practice at Pleasant Plains, Illinois, where he remained until February, 1880; he then located at Clarinda, Iowa, where he enjoys a large, successful, and lucrative practice, second to none in Page County.
Dr. Cokenower was united in marriage February 11, 1880, to Miss Clara M. Hamilton, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. R. F. Hamilton of Pleasant Plains, Illinois. One child has been born of this union, William Lloyd. The parents are members of the Presbyterian Church. The Doctor belongs to Nodaway Lodge, No. 140, A. F. & A. M. He is a member in good standing of the National Association of Railway Surgeons, and of the International Medical Congress; he is also secretary of the United States Examining Surgeons. Politically he is a stanch radical Republican, and is at present a member of the Clarinda School Board. For two years he served as city and county physician.
When one remembers that the Doctor was bereft of a mother's tender care at an early age, and that he had to work his way through school and college, and that he is now come to be a skillful practitioner in the medical profession, much credit attaches to his name. He is a self-made man, and is a highly prized citizen of Page County.

 

C. M. FLEMING was born in Platte County, Missouri, September 22,1852, and is the son of Thomas and Jane (McFarland) Fleming. The Flemings are of an old family of Scotch-Irish descent, their ancestors coming to Pennsylvania at a very early day and residing there many generations. Thomas Fleming removed from the vicinity of Uniontown, Pennsylvania, to Missouri, when quite a young man, and followed [page 515] the carpenter's trade for some time. Later on he came to Buchanan Township and purchased a tract of 120 acres, which he improved and sold; he then bought the farm in Harlan Township, on which he now lives. He was married after coming to Iowa, and reared a family of five children, four of whom are living.
Our subject, C. M., is the oldest child; he spent his early years in assisting his father in carrying on the work of the farm in the summer season and attending the district school in the winter time. Upon arriving at the age of manhood he engaged in farming on his own account, and continued in this industry for a few years.
In 1882 he came to Clarinda and embarked in the livery business, being a member of the firm of Butler & Fleming. They are doing the largest business of any livery firm in the city, and are well equipped to satisfy the needs and wishes of the public.
Mr. Fleming was united in marriage October 10, 1889, to Miss Maggie J. McCunn, a daughter of John McCunn, deceased. Her father came to this section at an early day and secured a homestead on which his widow still resides.
Politically Mr. Fleming is a strong believer in the principles of the Republican party, and gives it his undivided support.

   
DAVID G. BURLESON is a native of Seneca County, New York, born December 10, 1842. His parents, Charles and Phoebe (Gardner) Burleson, were natives of Vermont and Ohio respectively. He is the fourth of a family of seven children, and is the only surviving member. Charles Burleson removed with his family to Michigan in 1853, and located in Branch County, where he followed agriculture until his death, which occurred in 1854. His wife died in Steuben County, Indiana, in 1869.
David G. received his education in the common schools, and just as he arrived at man's estate, in 1861, there was a call for men to leave home, family, and friends, and lay down all business interests, and go to the defence of their country. Mr. Burleson was not behind his countrymen, enlisting in Company D, Eleventh Michigan Volunteer Infantry. He was mustered in at White Pigeon, Michigan, and participated in all the battles in which his regiment was engaged: the most important are Stone River, Chickamauga, Lookout Mountain, Peach-tree Creek and Kenesaw Mountain; he was also with Sherman on his march to Atlanta, August 7, 1864. He was appointed First Sergeant of his company, and was mustered out of the service at Sturgis, Michigan, September 30, 1864. In all the hotly contested battles in which he was engaged he received but one wound.
The first two years after his return from the battlefields he was employed in farming. In the spring of 1867 he made a trip to the West, and decided to remain in Council Bluffs, Iowa, where he embarked in the grain business; at the end of two years he removed to Villisca, Iowa, and continued in the same business, which he has followed continuously ever since. He came to Clarinda in August, 1885, and formed a partnership with William Butler, for the purpose of engaging in the grain business at that place, He has been very successful in his enterprise, being a man of unusual business qualifications.
Mr. Burleson was married March 24, 1869, at Three Rivers, Michigan, to Miss Mary A. Shoemaker, a native of Bellevue, Huron County, Ohio. Her parents were natives of the old " Keystone" State, and removed to Michi gan in 1861; the father is a car- [page 516]penter by occupation, and now resides in Phillips County, Kansas; the mother died in Michigan in 1878.
Mr. and Mrs. Burleson are the parents of four children: two sons died in infancy; Clara I. was born September 23,1880, and Florence C. was born June 12, 1887. The father and mother are worthy and consistent members of the Presbyterian Church. Politically our subject is identified with the Republican party. He is a member of Warren Post, No. 11, G. A. R.