James A. TAYLOR, our subject, was about 20 years old when he came to this county. His education was obtained in the log schoolhouses of that period. In 1858, he took charge of a saw and grist mill on Silver Creek for two years. He subsequently purchased 120 acres of land and at once commenced its improvement. He now has a well improved farm of 400 acres, one of the best in Washington Township. In 1886 he erected a good house, which cost $1,500. It is built in modern style and is well furnished throughout. A grove of 55 acres and orchard nearby makes his home an attractive one. Both general farming and stock raising are carried on here. Mr. TAYLOR was married in Pottawattamie County in 1859, to Miss Maria E. PILES, who was born in Guernsey County, Ohio, in 1839. Her father, James PILES, was born in Ohio in 1804 and died in that state at the age of fifty. Her mother, Margaret (ENGLISH) PILES, was born in Pennsylvania in 1810 and died in this county at the age of forty seven. Mr. And Mrs. TAYLOR have had nine children, viz.: Mary E., wife of G. W. HAMILTON, and a resident of Washington Township; William M., Henry P., who married December 4, 1889, Ada M. COLE, a teacher in Pottawattamie County and is a resident also of Washington Township; Isaac, John, Martha Ellen (died in 1882), Alice M., Ira J. and Margaret J.

Mr. TAYLOR is a Democrat in politics. He has served the public as Township Trustee and as a member of the School Board. He, Henry and John are associated with the Masonic Order, Coral Lodge, No. 430 at Carson. He and his wife, Henry and wife, John and Alice are members of the Order of Eastern Star. Mr. TAYLOR is a consistent member of the Methodist Episcopal Church. As a fireside companion, Mr. TAYLOR is jovial and cordial. He is well informed on all general topics and is a good story-teller. He is regarded as one of the popular and worthy citizens of Pottawattamie County.

Taylor, William H.


WILLIAM H. TAYLOR is one of the early and best known settlers of Silver Creek Township. He came to Pottawattamie County in 1850 and has since made this place his home.

Mr. TAYLOR was born in Clark County, Illinois, March 5, 1842. His father, Pleasant TAYLOR, a prominent citizen and pioneer of that county, was born in Smith County, West Tennessee, and his mother, nee Jane ALISON, was born in Pennsylvania. They were married in Indiana and subsequently removed to Barry County, Missouri, settling near the Ozark Mountains. From that place they went to Clark County, Illinois, and from there, in 1843, to Wapello County, Iowa. Seven years later they came to Pottawattamie County and settled in Silver Creek Township. Pleasant Taylor was the first Gentile to settle among the Mormons here. He bought a claim of Mr. D. JACOBS for which he paid $450. This was before the land here was put upon the market. For several years Mr. TAYLOR kept the stage station, the proprietors of the stage line between Des Moines and Council Bluffs at that time being Frink & Walker. Mr. TAYLOR is now eighty years of age and resides in Washington Township. His wife died in 1868, leaving three children living, namely: James A., of Washington Township; Mary A. GORTON, of Oklahoma, and William H., the subject of this sketch. The latter was reared on his fathers's frontier farm and received his education in a log school-house with a board against the wall for a writing-desk and wooden benches for seats, free-schools not being common those days. In 1864 he made a trip to Montana, Virginia City and Helena, and was engaged in mining.

In the fall of 1865 Mr. TAYLOR returned to Pottawattamie County. He came down the Missouri River from Fort Benton to Omaha on a steamboat named Twilight. September 28, that year, he was united in marriage to Miss Mary E. BRATTON, a native of Guernsey County, Ohio, and a daughter of John and Rebecca (HARRIS) BRATTON, who was born November 22, 1845. Her father is a native of Pennsylvania and her mother of Tuscarawas County, Ohio. They removed to Mills County, Iowa, in 1855, and are now residents of Silver City, that county. Mr. Bratton has been a carpenter and a farmer, a County Judge and a minister. Religiously he is a Methodist. Mrs. TAYLOR was reared and educated in Mills County. After his marriage Mr. TAYLOR resided on Silver Creek two years and then removed to York Township. In 1869 he came to his present location. He is the owner of a one-fourth section of rich bottom land on Silver Creek. This is well improved and is one of the best stock and grain farms in the township. Mr. TAYLOR has a good frame house, a fine grove and orchard, stables, cattle-sheds, and a corn-crib made of logs that were hewed by the Mormons forty-three years ago.

Mr. and Mrs. TAYLOR have three children: George P., at home; M. R. J., wife of F. M. SMITH, of Silver Creek Township; and Emma L., at home. Mr. TAYLOR is a gentleman in the prime of life, is broad and progressive in his views on general topics, and is regarded by all who know him as an upright man and a popular citizen. His political views are in accordance with Democratic principles.

March 2, 1880, Mr. TEMPLETON married Miss Ella LAMB, a native of Wisconsin. Her death occurred in November 1882, at the age of 24 years.

Henry A. was reared to farm life and attained his knowledge of the business world by observation. He left his parents at Nauvoo, at the age of twenty years, striking out in the world for himself. He followed farming at Garden Grove, this state, until 1847; taught school in the winter of 1846-47, and thus earned the first money he could call his own. In the fall of the latter year, he came to Pottawattamie County and located in Honey Creek, at what is now Rockford Township, and taught school during the ensuing winter. In September 1848, he married, and the next spring he moved to Crescent City and engaged in mercantile business, in the first store in the town and the second in the county. After running that about three years, he sold it and went to New Haven, Connecticut, for two years. Then he came to Council Bluffs, at that time called Kanesville, and engaged in the seed and grain business in company with J. E. Johnson, and remained in th! at relation until 1857. Moving then to Crescent City, he continued in the same business until 1860 when he sold out, having commenced the nursery business in 1856 and establishing one of the first nurseries and now the oldest one in the county. In nursery and orchard, he has 100 acres. He takes great pride in his vocation, making discoveries, etc., being one of the state experimental station directors. Of the home place, there are 140 acres and in pasture some sixty acres. When he purchased that place it was entirely wild prairie.

On national questions, he is a Democrat. Has held various township offices; been trustee for sixteen years and Township Treasurer for the Board of Education. In September 1848, he married Rachel T. SIRRINE, who had come to the county that year. She was born in New Haven, Connecticut, in 1824, and died July 12, 1873. Her parents were Eliphaz and Amarilla (SANFORD) GILLETT. By this marriage there were six children, as follows: Henry S., now the oldest resident native of this township, being born here September 2, 1849; Mary C., deceased, wife of John P. Williams of South Omaha, she was born December 26, 1852 and died October 1886; Rachel A., born April 8, 1860, now the wife of William Nusum near Woodbine, Harrison County; Charles T., born August 29, 1862, died March 3, 1864; Fannie M., born March 8, 1865, is now Mrs. Christian Markesan of Council Bluffs; and Adelaide, born March 6, 1868, and died the next day.

For his present wife, Mr. Terry married October 15, 1873, Esther J. Hough, who was born November 5, 1844, in Montrose, Lee County, Iowa, daughter of S. M. and Eliza J. (Allen) HOUGH, and by this union there have also been six children, as follows: Florence B., born July 18, 1874; Grace I., February 17, 1876; Clara M., March 29, 1878 and died July 15, 1879; Myrtle C., born June 13, 1880 and died March 20, 1885; Howard A., born September 28, 1882; Otis M., born May 14, 1885, and died September 7, 1886.

John THAYER, our subject, was reared on a farm in Indiana, and was early taught to chop wood and grub and clear the land, which formed the foundation of his future successful life. He remained in his native state until 1856, when he came by wagon to Iowa, settling in Jefferson County, where he was among the early settlers and where he remained five years. Next, in 1861, he went to Monroe County, remaining five years; in 1870 he moved to Mills County, where he lived until 1876, and in that year he came to Pottawattamie County, settling on a farm near Council Bluffs. In 1878 he came to his present farm, which was then wild land, but which he has since improved until he now has 360 acres of well cultivated land.

Mr. THAYER was married when he was twenty-six years of age, to Margaret SPLENFIELD, and by this union there were two children: Hiram, who resides in this county; and Lucy Ann, the wife of Scott SNEATHER, who lives in Troy, Kansas. After the death of his first wife, he was again married in Hamilton County, Indiana, to Tamar MICHENER, daughter of Thomas and Susan (PHIPPS) MICHENER, natives of Pennsylvania. By this marriage, there are five children, viz.: George A., who is married and resides on the farm; Hattie, wife of James TOOLEY, of Neola; Luel, wife of Frank CLEVELAND of Washington Township; J.W. THAYER, who is in partnership with George THAYER in the management of the farm. Politically, Mr. THAYER is a Republican, having voted that ticket since 1856. Mrs. THAYER is a member of the Evangelical Church.

He was married in 1831 to Miss Catharine SMITH, a native of Columbia County, New York, and a daughter of William SMITH, who was a native of New York and of German descent. They reared a family of six children, of whom our subject was the youngest, and the only one now living. The father died at the home of our subject, August 29, 1880, and the mother survived until September 3, 1881.

The subject of this sketch received his education in the schools of Warsaw, and during the late Civil War went into the army, serving in Company A, 137th Illinois Volunteer Infantry, as a private until nearly the close of the war. After this, he began the study of medicine under the preceptorship of Dr. Collin G. STRONG, now of San Francisco, California, with whom he remained for four years. He graduated at the State University of Iowa, at Keokuk, now known as the College of Physicians and Surgeons, February 21, 1870. He first located at Bentonsport, Van Buren County, remaining for one year. He then went to Atlantic, Cass County, and engaged in the drug business one year, and in 1872 he came to this county, engaging in the practice of medicine at Macedonia. Dr. THOMAS remained in the east end of the county until he came to Council Bluffs in 1877, where he formed his present partnership with Dr. D. MACRAE.

He was married October 15, 1873, to Miss Mary Ella FERRIER, a native of Missouri, and daughter of John and Jane (WALKER) FERRIER, of old Virginia families. They have three children: Ethyl, Edyth, and Evelyn. The Doctor has served as Coroner of this county from 1873 to 1875 and has also served on the School Board at Carson for several years. He is ex-president of the Council Bluffs Medical Society, a member and secretary of the Medical Society of the Missouri Valley, a member of the Iowa State Medical Society, and the American Medical Association. He is Professor of Diseases of the Mind in the Omaha State Medical College; President of the Board of Examining Surgeons of Pensions at Council Bluffs; is Medical Director of the National Fraternal Association of that city. He is a member of the G.A.R. and served as Medical Director of the State Department in 1889; is a member of the A.F.&A.M. Coral Lodge No. 430, at Carson, and the Chapter and the Scottish Rite bodies at Council Bluffs. He is a member of the I.O.O.F. and the A.O.U.W. He and his wife are members of the Presbyterian Church. Mrs. Thomas’ father died in Cass County in 1886; her mother died in 1867.

Zeph was taught his father’s trade in early life, but never followed it, and for 14 years was engaged in lumbering on Skunk River. In 1881 he bought his present farm of 80 acres in Pottawattamie County, on which he has made many improvements, and now owns one of the best farms in the county. Besides his general farming he is also engaged in stock raising.

He was married in Henry County, Iowa, in April 1878, to Miss Brovice G. HUDDLESTON, who was born in 1861 in Henry County, the daughter of Greenbury and Sarah (MERRIFIELD) HUDDLESTON, the former a native of Kentucky and the latter of Dayton, Ohio, and died July 24, 1887. Mr. And Mrs. THOMAS are the parents of four children: Sylvia E., Edward D., Allie and Bessie O. Politically Mr. Thomas is independent.

W. L. THROP, the sixth child, resided in Decatur County until 1873, when he came to Pottawattamie County and purchased 160 acres of wild land, mostly prairie, excepting fifteen acres of natural grove. He has since improved it, and he now owns one of the best farms in this township. He is engaged in general farming and stock raising. He was married January 20, 1876 to Miss Carrie POTTER of this county. She was thirteen years of age when she came with her parents and was the daughter of Ira and Sybil (WINSOR) POTTER. The father died in Rhode Island and the mother lives in this county. Mr. And Mrs. THROP have two children: Jennie and Fred. Politically, Mr. THROP is a Republican and has served as Justice of the Peace with credit to himself and the best interests of the community. Mr. And Mrs. THROP are members of the Presbyterian Church of which he is an elder. He takes an active interest in both education and religion and anything for the best interests of the people of the community where he resides. He is a man yet in the prime of life, and is numbered among the enterprising citizens of the township.

Tilton, Preston


PRESTON TILTON, of Walnut, was born in Washington Co, Pennsylvania, in 1820, of an Old American family and received but a limited education as his father died when he was but 9 years of age. He went to Illinois when quite young, remaining a few years, and then went to McKeesport, Pennsylvania, where he learned the trade of ship carpenter. He was there married to Jane GILLCRIST, and to them were born 4 children: John, who died in infancy; Oscar B., Eliza J. and George H. Mr. and Mrs. TILTON came to Rock Island County, Illinois, in 1855 and bought a farm where he remained six years. In 1860 they removed to Washington County, Iowa, where they lived on a farm 4 years; next they returned to Rock Island County, remaining until 1876 and then returned to Iowa, settling on a farm in Pottawattamie County, which is now occupied by their son, Oscar. He has now retired from active business and is living in Walnut. Mr. TILTON has been a member of the Odd Fellows fraternity since young manhood and has filled all the offices in Moriah Lodge No. 327 at Walnut. He has always been a hard working man and now enjoys the respect of all who know him.

OSCAR B. TILTON, his son, was born in McKeesport, Pennsylvania, September 19, 1853, and was but 2 years of age when his parents moved to Illinois. In 1875 he came to Iowa, settling in Harlan Twp., Shelby County, where he remained two years. He then sold that place and came to his father's farm, where he still resides. The property is pleasantly situated near Walnut and is in a good state of cultivation. In political opinions, Mr. TILTON, like his father, is a stanch Democrat. Socially he is a member of the United Workmen. He has the confidence and respect of his fellow townsmen and has held office of Assessor of Layton Township for the past 6 years and also has been Secretary of the Board of School Directors. He was married in Rock Island Co, Illinois, November 2, 1874, to Miss Emma EVERETT, daughter of George W. and Susan (REAM) EVERETT. The family were natives of Pennsylvania and of German descent. Mr. and Mrs. Oscar TILTON are the parents of three children: Hattie M., Marshall L. and Nora D. Mr. Tilton's sister, Eliza J., married Joseph P. SEYMOUR, a farmer in Adair County, Missouri, and they have five children: Nellie V., William, Myrtle, Hattie and Della. His brother, George H., married Carrie HILLMAN and they have one child, Viva. He is now a farmer on his father's farm.

Timberman, Isaiah


ISAIAH TIMBERMAN is a prominent farmer of Center Township, Pottawattamie County. His great-grandfather, Christian Timberman, came from Germany before the Revolutionary War and settled in New Jersey. His son, Jacob, was born on a farm in that state, was a soldier in the War of the Revolution, being in the battles of Trenton and Germantown. He was with Washington when he crossed the Delaware and passed the fearful winter at Valley Forge, when the patriots left blood upon the snow from their bare feet. He was married to Hannah HOGATE, a native of America, and they had five children: Gideon, Hannah, Betsy and Priscilla. The father lived to the age of seventy-five years, and died on his farm in Gloucester County, New Jersey, twenty miles from Philadelphia. He was a patriot who did not hesitate to risk his life for his country. Christian TIMBERMAN, the father of our subject, was born on his father's farm and received a common-school education. He married Elizabeth DUFFLE, and to them were born three children: John, James and Hannah. The mother died, and the father again was married in New Jersey to Sarah CASSIDAY, daughter of James and Sarah (BARBER) CASSIDAY, and to them were born eight children: Ruth, Elizabeth, Sarah, Jane, Mary (deceased), Ann and Isaiah, and one who died in infancy. In 1837 the father moved to Cincinnati, Hamilton County, Ohio, and then removed to a farm near that city, where he died in 1866 at the age of eighty years. He was a member of the Methodist Chuch, but later in life joined the United Brethern Church, in which he took great interest and was also a steward.

Isaiah TIMBERMAN, our subject, was born October 15, 1829, on a farm in Gloucester County, New Jersey, and was eight years of age when he went with his father to Ohio. He well remembers the trip by steamer, down the Ohio, and also remembers the political campaign of 1840, called the Log Cabin and Hard Cider campaign, in which W. H. Harrison was elected President. He learned farming in early life, and at the age of sixteen he learned the trade of light carriage maker. In March 1855, Mr. TIMBERMAN went to Kansas and took up 160 acres of Government land in Coffey County. This was in the midst of Kansas troubles, and on the road they were stopped and questioned by the Missourians, but allowed to go through. He remained in Coffey County until the great drouth of 1860, when he left there and came to Iowa, settling in Harrison County, where he lived two years. Here Mr. TIMBERMAN lost his left foot and leg, which were cut off by a mowing machine. In 1863 he moved to Council Bluffs, and in 1868 came to Valley Township, which was then Center Township. He sold this place and came to his present farm of 160 acres in 1874. He has been greatly assisted in improving this farm by his faithful wife and sons. Mr. TIMBERMAN was a soldier in the late Civil War for a short time, and did service at Fort Lincoln, Kansas, under the celebrated chief, General Jim Lane. He is a typical American pioneer, having struggled to make a home for himself and family, and well known as an honest man, whose word is as good as his bond.

He was married November 25, 1850 in Cincinnati, Ohio to Miss E. M. COOK, daughter of Zaccheus and Mary (MURPHY) COOK. The father was a native of New Jersey and was a wool carder by trade. He died when still a young man, and was the father of five children: Athalinda, Oliver, Rachel, Elizabeth and Amy. Mrs. COOK was a member of the Methodist Church and is yet living with her eldest daughter at the age of eighty-six years. Mr. and Mrs. TIMBERMAN were the parents of eleven children, viz.: Oliver P., Sarah J., Mary A., Alpha, Amy L. (deceased), John W., Charles H., James A., Edward F. and two who died in infancy. Mr. and Mrs. Timberman are members of the methodist Church and politically Mr. TIMBERMAN is a Republican.

Their daughter, Mary A., married Azro BOYD, and they have one son, Clarence O. She was again married to Albert MAXWELL, a carpenter of Seattle, Washington, and by this marriage there is one child, Allen K. Sarah J. married William MAXWELL, a farmer of Center Township, and they have three children, Amy P., Cloyd G. and Ivy M. Alpha married Monroe MAXWELL, a farmer of Nebraska, and by this marriage there are two children: Goldie M and Silvia J. John W. is a farmer of Valley Township and is married to Mallie MORRIS. Oliver P., a farmer of Valley Township, was married to Ida POLLOCK, and they have one child, Ethel P.

The father of the subject of this notice was John TIPTON, who was killed by a falling tree March 23, 1869. His mother died while on a visit to her children in Pottawattamie County, July 21, 1879. Samuel S. TIPTON, the elder, is a publisher and resides in New York City. Thompson is in the livestock and commission business in Chicago. He has five sisters, viz.: Mrs. Mary SWIGERT, the eldest, resides near the old homestead in Fulton Co, Illinois; Mrs. Hannah COMBS resides at Burlington, Kansas; Mrs. Sarah SWIGERT and Mrs. Lydia C. RAMSEY are residents of Illinois; Mrs. N.H. MEEKER lives at Greenwood, Nebraska. Mr. TIPTON was married in Council Bluffs to Miss Annetta BRYANT, daughter of William BRYANT of Edina, Knox Co., Missouri, and a niece of Judge A.S. BRYANT. Mr. and Mrs. TIPTON have two sons: Thompson R. and John W. Mr. TIPTON has a fine residence at 1027 Fifth Avenue, where he resides. He has done much toward promotion the growth and progress of Council Bluffs since he has been a resident of this city and is esteemed as a worthy and enterprising citizen. The father of the subject was a native of Maryland and of Scotch Irish ancestry. When an infant, he was taken by his parents to what is now Columbus, Ohio, where he was reared and learned the trade of carpenter. He assisted in building the first State House in the city of Columbus. There he married his wife, whose maiden name was Eliza CRAWFORD.

In 1840 he removed to Fulton County, Illinois, where he took up a homestead, which he improved and on which he lived until his death, which occurred as already stated. He was an honest, upright man and a worthy citizen, and while not a member of any religious body, was ever liberal in support of the church. He was a man of decided views on the chief issues of the day, and was much in public life. He was at one time Treasurer of Fulton County and was for many years a member of the County Board of Supervisors. Besides the surviving children of John TIPTON and wife already mentioned, several are deceased: Thomas, at Columbus, Ohio, before the family removed west, dying at the age of 9 years; Eliza Jane and Elizabeth in infancy. Isabel married John DYER and died in Fulton County. Samuel, the eldest son, was a soldier in the War of the Rebellion, as a member of the 103d Regiment, Illinois Volunteer Infantry. He was Adjutant, and for a time served on the staff of General Grant.

He was born and reared on our southern borders, and passed his youthful days among a people noted for their tempestuous character and through the turbulence of frontier life. He received no education and in his boyhood, surrounded with the perils of a rude and bloody border warfare, grasped the musket of the soldier almost before his slender form was capable of enduring the fatigues of bearing arms. He became a soldier in our great civil war and marched with that daring leader, Sherman, in the greatest campaign in history – the famous march to the sea. Laying down his arms only when peace was declared, the youthful soldier, confronted with the problem of making his own way in life, became a sailor, adventurer, hunter and trapper in the then unsettled and trackless wilds of Wyoming, and finally became a successful ranchman. He passed through an experience with reckless characters, which would have ruined a large majority of young men. His innate strength of character brought him safely through to become a kind father, loving husband and a prominent American citizen.

William G. TITTSWORTH was born April 9, 1847, in Franklin County, Arkansas, and on account of having been left an orphan by the death of his father, William D. TITTSWORTH, when a mere child, he received no education. This defect he has partially supplied by self-instruction and a habit of reading, and that practical experience gained by close observation of human nature which a life of adventure and travel gives, and when combined with a manly force of character is frequently of more value to its possessor than a liberal education. Young William left Arkansas at the early age of five years, and the family settled on a farm in Taney County, Missouri. There were six children in the family, namely: A.D., William D., William G., Mary, Marcessa and Annie. The mother married again in that state to James CLEVENGER of Taney County, Missouri, and a farmer by occupation. Young William, not being satisfied at home, went to live with his grandmother, May, who resided on a farm in the same county, and here he spent much of his time until he came to Iowa, just prior to the breaking out of the great civil war. Here he was engaged in herding cattle for I.C. COOPER of Des Moines. He returned to Missouri after a short time, when the great Civil War burst upon the country. Missouri, being one of the border states, was soon a scene of great domestic violence, the people being divided in their opinions; some were strong in favor of the Union and the old flag, and others, influenced by their close relationship to the Southern people, were the most bitter secessionists. Therefore, neighborhood was divided against neighborhood, family against family, and partisan warfare raged in all its violence.

Our subject was but a boy of 14 years when he was surrounded with all the excitement of this state of affairs. Armed bands, called guerrillas, took the field, and, clothing their real object, which was murder and plunder under the guise of loyalty to the South, swept like a remorseless scourge upon the defenseless people. One of these bands raided the neighborhood where his mother lived, and committed many acts of violence in the peaceful valley. Visiting his mother’s house, they searched for arms and plunder, and with bluster and threats over-awed the trembling inmates. William D. TITTSWORTH, the elder brother of our subject, then a boy of about 16 years of age, was at a neighbor’s place on Bear Creek, four and a half miles away. The raiders found him, and being aware that his step-father had voted for Missouri to remain in the Union, and that the family were imbued with Union sentiments, remorselessly shot him down. Alf BOLER, a noted bushwhacker, did the shooting, about July 1, 1861; but, although severely wounded, Mr. TITTSWORTH escaped to the bushes, with which that country was thickly covered. He reached a vacant log cabin in the woods and was cared for by sympathizing neighbors. Another young man, by the name of DAVIS, who also was wounded, shared the cabin with him. DAVIS was shot under circumstances, which well illustrates the bitterness of the struggle in Missouri. A man named MANNING, the father-in-law of DAVIS, was one of the leaders of the bushwhackers. DAVIS, as well as his father, was a Union man, but had taken no part in the conflict, fearing the raids of the bushwhackers. They, like many of their neighbors, had made a practice of sleeping in the bush at night for safety. MANNING was aware of this, and told them to come home and sleep on the porch, and he would see that they were protected. DAVIS, believing his father-in-law would do him no harm, consented, and one night, in company with his father, slept on the porch. MANNING treacherously collected some of his men, surrounded the house, and took them both prisoners. In company with a man named KELLEY, a blacksmith who had been previously captured, they were taken along a bridle path toward a mill, and were told they were to be shot. KELLEY was blindfolded and DAVIS and his father thought it was simply done to fright them. Soon, however, they heard the report of firearms and heard KELLEY fall. Then with a glance at each other, they broke away and ran for the timber. The elder DAVIS fell dead on the way, and the younger, with a hasty glance at his father, reached the timber, not, however, without being wounded by three shots and falling suddenly behind a log escaped to a cabin in the woods, and finally recovered. BOLER, a noted guerilla, was their leader in this part of the country, and killed many people with his own hands. He was finally himself killed by Union soldiers and beheaded, and the gory trophy carried on a pole to Ozark, Missouri.

Through such scenes as these, young TITTSWORTH passed, at an age when he should have been gaining an education for a future honorable and useful life; but, seizing a rifle he mounted a horse, which his mother gave him, and joined the Home Guards, May 2, 1861, when so young as to be hardly able to carry arms. He served under Captain Jesse GALLAWAY, who was shot down at the threshold of his own door with his child in his arms, which was also killed by the same bullet! He was just leaving his home for the field, and had just picked up the little child to kiss it goodby, when the relentless guerrilla fired upon him from the dark.

The commanding officers of the company of Home Guards in which young William served was: First Lieutenant F.M. GIDEON; Second Lieutenant James OLIVER. They fought a skirmish with the bushwhackers at Forsyth, the county seat of Taney County, and were repulsed. Soon afterward, General SWEENEY came upon the scene with a regiment of Jayhawkers from Kansas, with two pieces of artillery, and attacked the bushwhackers at Forsyth, and with a few shots from the artillery dispersed them. Young William was present at both engagements. Missouri was the home and hot bed of this class both before and after the war. Their hatred, enmity and superstition were mingled with a chaos of governmental ideas – a mass of conflicting political notions, which at last took shape in arms. Their riding from daylight till dark, from midnight till noonday, and on into midnight again, shooting right and left at public and private enemies, the guerrilla bands plundered the dead, taunted the dying and murdered opposition wherever it rose up. Stopping only to demand meals and horse feed, they often rode until nature’s check, fatigue, compelled them to halt. They were brave, cunning and merciless, picked from the most desperate characters which that era developed and revealed. These grim partisans were well calculated to fill a land with dread. Perhaps never has there been gathered under one flag a band so uniformly evil and pitiless, accustomed to no restriction and little order, their laws were few and brief and they recognized no crime but cowardice, no virtue but courage. With them, life was too worthless to be spared or considered. The tiger, crouching by the spring where his prey must come to drink, is not more patient, more tireless in his lonely vigil, and through days and nights these stealthy watchers have lain beside a house, a road, a shadowy pass and waited like the tiger for their prey. They knew it would come and they waited. They never missed their mark. This is all that is necessary to describe these fearless warriors, with whom our young subject was, as a boy, called upon to do battle.

In 1863, he enlisted in Company B, 18th Missouri Volunteer Infantry, and served to the close of the war. He was in the Army of Tennessee, and took part in the battles of Atlanta, Resaca, Dallas, Snake, Creek Gap, and many others. He was with SHERMAN on that famous march in history, where the Union arms and flag was borne through the heart of the enemy’s country to the sea. He was also on the return march to Washington, and was present at the great military pageant, the grand review, where Abraham Lincoln, the savior of his country, and Ulysses S. Grant, its able general, viewed the mighty triumphant northern hosts who had suppressed the greatest rebellion in the annals of history, connected the Union of States, and gave the priceless boon of liberty to 4,000,000 human beings. Young William was honorably discharged at St. Louis, Missouri, and while still a young man came out of the arena of military life to the great struggle of providing for himself a home and fortune. He was a good soldier, and was always redy for duty. He received no wounds, was never in a hospital, and was never sick except from a severe sunstroke from which he suffered at times. He was well known to all in the regiment as “Little Tittsworth.”

Mr. TITTSWORTH came to the State of Iowa and went to Michigan and Chicago, where, meeting an old acquaintance, he became a cook on a vessel on Lake Michigan, his friend teaching him at odd times the mysteries of the culinary art. In 1868, probably with the advance of that eminent philosopher, Horace GREELEY, he went to the then almost unknown wilds of the Territory of Wyoming, and became a trapper and hunter, selling the products of his skill to the builders of the Union Pacific Railroad, which was at that time pushing its lines to the far West. He continued in this vocation until 1871, when he became a rancher, raising horses and cattle in Sweetwater County, Wyoming, combining the business with that of drover. He became a noted cowboy and expert trailer. At one time, he visited Wyoming to show parties the celebrated Golconda diamond field, which a man named ARNOLD was supposed to have discovered. After tracing the trail across the desert, he found that the diamond field had already been staked out by ARNOLD, and that numbers of other people had already gathered at the place. Experts soon found the field had been “salted” with diamonds, emeralds and rubies, and that ARNOLD, who had fleeced eastern capitalists of large sums of money, had already fled from the country. He was not in the employ of anyone when he visited the diamond mines, but went on information gained from citizens of Laramie. Mr. TITTSWORTH went all through the excitement of early life in Wyoming, when the gamblers almost ran the country, and many men were shot down in cold blood. In his experience he visited a wide range of territory in that state, Utah, and Washington Territory, killing a great many bear, deer, elk, mountain sheep, etc. He was present at the opening of the Henpeak mine in Colorado, when 200 warriors of the Ute tribe, who had just murdered the VAN DYKE party, ordered the Henpeak miners to leave the country. The celebrated scout, Jim BAKER, an old companion of Kit CARSON and Jim BRIDGER was with the miners. He had in early days married several different Indian squaws, and was the father of many half-breed Indian children. It is said he could count upon his fingers as many as from 20 to 30. His son William, a half-breed, then about 30 years of age, was then with him. Jim BAKER was a very fearless and powerful frontiersman, and had killed many Indians. He met the warlike party of Utes in council, and boldly told their chief that he had been to Washington and seen the great White Father, who had given him that country to Bear River, and that they must leave. The chief replied that the whites had killed their buffalo and mined their gold, and he demanded that they leave. BAKER seized the chief and roughly jerked him off his horse, telling him he would kill him, and BAKER stepped into his camp and seized his rifle, ordering the Indians to leave or he would open fire, and the fight would begin at once. The sagacity of the Indians convinced them that discretion was the better part of valor, and they departed; and BAKER sent three men, one of whom was our subject, to see that they crossed the Bear River.

Among the various experiences of Mr. TITTSWORTH when a young man, struggling to gain a position in life, is his career as a circus man. For one season he was with Yankee Robinson’s circus in Illinois and Iowa, his business being to describe for a side show the relics left from the burning of Barnum’s famous museum in New York. Thus he obtained a wide knowledge of human nature, which has been of great value to him.

The summer ranch of TITTSWORTH was in the Salt Wells Basin, and he wintered his cattle at Brown’s Park, Colorado and Utah, which is a deep depression in the ground, the sides rising from 4,000 to 7,000 feet. At the foot of the park begins the grand canon of the Green River, at the gate of LaDore, the walls of which rise 2,000 perpendicular. July 24, 1872, he was married to Jane LAW, daughter of George LAW, a Scotchman, who was born in Fifeshire, Scotland in 1812, and who was married in that country to Elizabeth PHILLIPS. Mr. Law was a coal miner in that country, and in 1869 came with his family to America, settling in Cache Valley, Utah. To Mr. LAW were born ten children: John, William, Jemima, Margaret, Alice, George, Jane, Elizabeth, Mary and James. The father died in 1882 at the age of 70 years. Both he and his wife were members of the Church of Latter Day Saints. He was appointed President of the Crofthead branch of that church, which office he filled honorably for 13 years. He ws an honorable and upright citizen and was respected by all who knew him. Mr. TITTSWORTH was greatly assisted while on the ranch in Wyoming by his faithful wife. The ranch was very isolated, being at least 35 miles from the railroad and 15 miles from the nearest neighbor; and when Mr. TITTSWORTH was away on his trading expeditions, and as a guide to droves crossing the desert near his ranch, she was often all alone for three weeks at a time, save for her little daughter Florence. She knew the use of fire arms, and bravely endured the lonesome days and nights. She could shoot well, and could kill with a rifle wild ducks and sage hens. At one time, when her husband was away, a party of the Ute Indians visited her. They tried to frighten her, and got their guns ready. They asked for bread, which she gave them, and they finally went away. Mrs. TITTSWORTH helped to make the property in Wyoming, and was a helpmate indeed to her husband. She was born at Crofthead, Scotland, March 29, 1857, was 13 years of age when she came to America with her family in 1870. She married Mr. TITTSWORTH July 24, 1872, and immediately became the mistress of a ranch. She is a splendid example of a type that we will soon see but little of in America. She has instilled into the minds and hearts of her children those principles of modesty and honesty which the true mother can alone impart. It has been said by an eminent writer that “no boy can be dishonest who had an honest mother.”

After marriage, Mr. TITTSWORTH lived on his ranch for nine years, or until the fall of 1880, when he moved to Pottawattamie County, Iowa, and settled on his present farm, consisting of 315 acres of fine farm land, which is pleasantly situated within one and a fourth miles of Avoca. Mr. And Mrs. TITTSWORTH, having the welfare of their children deeply at heart, and desirous that they should possess a good education, made considerable financial sacrifice in order to give them the benefits of our excellent educational system. He is a member of the G.A.R., U.S. GRANT Post of Avoca, Iowa, and also is a Mason of the order of Knights Templar. He is a practical farmer, stock raiser, and a member of the firm of Greenhalgh & Co., of Marshall County, South Dakota, where they own 800 acres of land, and are extensively engaged in horse breeding and farming.

Mr. TITTSWORTH is certainly a self-made man, having accumulated all his property by his own unaided efforts, and he stands deservedly high in this community as an honorable citizen. The family have a pleasant and cultivated home situated on a beautifully wooded eminence, and containing all things needful for luxury and comfort.

Although we have quite fully delineated the character of our subject, and related some of his more remarkable adventures, yet the biographer cannot leave him without a passing tribute of justice to the sterling straits of character, doubtless inherited from a worthy ancestry, which enabled him in early life to withstand the unusual temptations which surrounded his youth, and which in his more mature manhood strengthened his heart and nerved his arm to battle cheerfully with all the vicissitudes of life, that he might make a comfortable home for his wife and children, and win an honored and unsullied name for himself; that he might also bequeath to them that greatest of all blessings – a spotless character. To the most remote descendants, the reverend names of father and mother, the real founders of the family in this country, should be handed down with reverence and regard. To Mr. And Mrs. TITTSWORTH were born five children, namely: Florence Elizabeth born June 30, 1875; David born January 15, 1877, deceased; William D. born November 24, 1879; John C. born August 23, 1882, and Bertha B. born March 31, 1885.

WILLIAM TOMPKIN, proprietor of the Macedonia Breeding Farm, has one of the leading establishments of the kind in southwestern Iowa. Mr. TOMPKIN was born in Derbyshire, England, near Yorkshire, April 25, 1829, a son of Thomas and Ann (PILKINGTON) TOMPKIN. His father was a dealer in and breeder of good horses, and he therefore learned of him a great deal in that line. In early life he also learned the butcher's trade, which he followed some years. In 1855 he came to America, settling at Peru, LaSalle County, Illinois, and a short time afterward at Mendota, same county, where he lived nine years, engaged in butchering, shipping stock and dealing in horses. In 1864 he went to Central City, Colorado, where he conducted a grocery and meat market four or five years. Then he located at Council Bluffs and here engaged in the horse trade, in company with Rev. William ARMSTRONG. He also bought the Star Meat Market, which he ran for a time. In 1867 he made a trade for 160 acres of land where he now lives. He has bought and sold other land, and has now 320 acres of good land, adjoining the town of Macedonia. He has spent thousands of dollars in stocking his farm with the best specimens of the horse genus. On his place are some mares and fillies that would make a "blue-grass" horseman of Kentucky proud to own; and he has forty or fifty head that are bred most royally. In 1884 he purchased "International," which was bred at the Meadows Farm near Carlinville, Illinois. He took the first premium at St. Louis, Missouri, in 1882, over thirty-four competitors, from ten different States. His sire was the sire of Stockines' dam, and was at the head of Mr. TOMPKIN's herd for four seasons.

Among Mr. TOMPKIN's best mares are Mary G., sired by Pat Malloy; Beeswing, sired by Council Bluffs and from the dam Mary G.; Lady Tompkin, a full sister to Beeswing; Lady O'Neil; Nettie Bray, full sister to the two last. All these are thoroughbred, and are as fine as can be found in Western Iowa. Copper Glance, a standard-bred trotting horse, was at the head of the herd in 1889. No. 8,888, from a half-sister to Isaac, was sired by Mambrino Patchen, No. 58. Copper Glance's colts, seven of which are upon the farm, give good promise. For him Mr. TOMPKIN gave $5,000. Vidal, a thoroughbred, is the son of Vandal, Jr., by the dam Ida B., which was sired by Monarchist, bred at the preekness stud at Lexington, Kentucky. Vidal is now at the head of the thoroughbred stud. Ironwood, No. 3,819, standard, and registered in Wallace's American Trotting Register, volume 6, was sired by Iron Duke, a Hambletonian sired by Dexter. Ironwood is one of the best bred horses in the West. His first dam was Lady Dixon, by Vermont Hero, and his second, Nellie F., by Young Consternation. Mr. TOMPKIN bought Ironwood at Ellis' Grove, near Janesville, Wisconsin. Delavan, No. 6,575, is a remarkable, well-bred horse, having the popular Hambletonian-Mambrino Chief cross that has produced so many fast horses, such as Phallus, Onward and Guy Wilkes.

Mr. TOMPKIN has a good half-mile track upon his farm, where he can train and inter-cross his stock. Every animal on his place is thoroughbred, even to the swine, poultry and dogs. His fine residence cost $3,000. In orchard there are five or six acres, of all kinds of fruits. Mr. TOMPKIN was first married to Mary Ann GODDARD, in New York State, and had three children: George, Walter and Emma. Secondly he married, at Mendota, Illinois, Mrs. Eleanor MILLER, whose maiden name was FRANK. She was born in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. By this marriage there are two sons: Jacob and Aaron.

The subject of our sketch was educated in the Friends' College, Dutchess County, New York. In 1849 he came to Iowa with his parents, and at once commenced the practice of civil engineering. In 1854, he removed from Henry County to Pottawattamie County, where he has since made his home. He was married in Henry County, Iowa, October 31, 1852, to Miss Harriet GIBBS, a native of Summit, Schoharie County, New York, daughter of Friend and Lucinda (WETMORE) GIBBS, natives of Vermont and New York, also Quakers. Mrs. TOSTEVIN is now a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church. She was born June 17, 1832. To them nine children have been born, viz.: Clara, Charles, and Alice, deceased; Alfred and Alida; Walter J., a resident of San Francisco, California; Lou, wife of E. E. HARVEY, Denver, Colorado; Albert T., assistant city civil engineer of Council Bluffs; and Ida, wife of W. H. WAKEFIELD, Council Bluffs.

When Mr. TOSTEVIN came to Council Bluffs, it was by Government appointment to make the survey of the original squatter claims within the corporate limits of the city. He was then elected County Surveyor and served several terms, but previous to this, he had been appointed Deputy United States Surveyor of public lands in northwestern Iowa. In 1861 he was appointed both County Treasurer and Recorder to fill a vacancy one year. After that he retained in the Treasurer's office three successive terms by election, seven years in all. He was afterward elected Mayor of Council Bluffs, and the next year was elected Alderman. From 1867 to 1870 he operated a planning mill and furniture factory, which proved unprofitable. In 1870 he went to central Utah and engaged in mining gold and silver. While there, he was appointed United States Deputy Mineral Surveyor, remaining in that field until 1874. In that year, he returned to Council Bluffs. In connection with his work as surveyor, it should also be stated that, prior to his appointment to the County Treasurer's office, he went in 1857 to Southeastern Nebraska and laid out the town of Rulo, after which he was appointed by the Nebraska Legislature as Surveyor and Commissioner to locate and establish a Territorial road from Rulo to Fort Kearney. In 1876 Mr. TOSTEVIN engaged in the manufacture of a reclining chair of his invention in the city of New York, which he continued until 1879. Since then, his whole time has been devoted to his profession in Pottawattamie County. He is a stanch Republican; was a candidate for Treasurer and Recorder on the first Republican ticket placed before the people in this county. He was one of the first to organize the Union League in Council Bluffs, acting as president of the same. He was a delegate to and assistant secretary of the first railroad convention held in this state, at the capitol building in Iowa City in 1851, for a proposed railroad along the Mississippi River. It was then thought impracticable to construct a railroad running west, as the country was supposed to be too wild and barren. He was rodman on this first Iowa railroad. He made surveys on the site of Omaha, Nebraska, before anything in the form of a house had been erected there. During the war, Mr. TOSTEVIN was Captain of Artillery of the State Militia. Such, in brief, is a review of the life of one of Council Bluffs' worthy citizens.

At the age of four years, the subject of this sketch began his educational career in the public schools of this city, and remained until he had attained the age of 14, when he entered the Iowa State University at Iowa City. There he remained for three years, and, returning home, assumed the position of assistant to his father, who was postmaster of Council Bluffs from March 1869 to May 1877. Here he remained for two years when, having received a flatering offer from the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific Railway, he entered the service of that company as freight clerk. His recognized ability brought him rapidly to the front, and in a comparatively short space of time he had reached the responsible position of cashier and chief clerk at this point. In 1884, desiring to embark in business for himself, he severed his connection with the railroad company, and with Messrs. ORCUTT and FRENCH, organized the Council Bluffs Carpet Company. By common consent, he was made the financial manager of the concern, and the successful building up of a large and well-established business attests the wisdom of the choice which the members of the firm made in this direction.

Mr. TREYNOR has always taken a lively interest in musical matters, and the reputation which Council Bluffs now enjoys in this line is in no small measure due to his untiring energy and unselfish devotion, as well as to his generous contributions of time and money toward the development of a high order of musical culture. He has given much of his leisure time to the study of vocal music, and his voice (a robusto tenor), has been heard quite frequently in church, on the stage, and in various gatherings in this and other places. He has sung the leading tenor roles in a number of light operas and oratorios. At the present time, he is a member of the Apollo Club of Omaha, Nebraska; is a trustee of that organization, and holds the responsible position of chairman of the musical committee of that society.

Mr. TREYNOR is a prominent member of the Royal Arcanum; one of the founders and a trustee of the Council Bluffs and Omaha Chautauqua; an active member of the Rowing Association, and one of the leaders of the Board of Trade. Religiously he believes in the doctrines of the Episcopal Church, is a member of St. Paul’s and has served in the vestry of that religious organization. Politically he is a Republican of the stalwart type and has been a delegate to nearly every Republican State, Congressional and Judicial convention which has been held during the past twelve years.

In September 1889, he was appointed Postmaster of Council Bluffs by President Harrison, succeeding Hon. Thomas BOWMAN. Mr. TREYNOR was married on the 4th day of November 1880, to Miss Kittie E. OBLINGER, daughter of Captain H.G.P. OBLINGER of this city. Albert McKune TREYNOR is the only issue of this union.