1915 Past and Present of Shelby County, Iowa
Page Index:
Erret |
Moore |
Pauley |
Monson |
H Baker |
Wunder |
Pryor |
Jacobson |
J Baker |
Dales
There is an axiom demonstrated by the record of human experience
that industry is the key to prosperity. Success comes to him who does not
wait for fortune's favors; and to him who takes advantage of every circumstance calculated to promote his own interest. Such a man is Dr. George
Edwin Erret, a well-known citizen and professional man of Harlan and a
member of one of the oldest and most famous pioneer families of Shelby
county. In a comparatively brief period he has progressed until he holds
a stable position among the professional men of the city and county.
Dr. George Edwin Erret was born July 21, 1878 on a farm six miles
southeast of Harlan in Fairview township. He is the son of William H.
and Nevada (Sunderland) Erret. His grandfather on his mother's side
was L. D. Sunderland, a famous pioneer of Shelby county and the first
breeder of thoroughbred live stock. He imported the first herd of Polled
Angus cattle from abroad and had a famous herd of these fine cattle. He
was also the original breeder of Hampshire hogs in the county. To Mr.
Sunderland goes the credit for beginning the great work which has placed
Shelby county in the foremost ranks as a breeding center. William H. Erret
was a native of Illinois. He enlisted in an Illinois regiment during the Civil
war and served with bravery and distinction. After the war he came to
Shelby county and settled in Fairview township where he resided until his
removal to Harlan. Here he is now living a retired life. The wife of William H. Erret died in 1899. Three children, out of four born to Mr. and
Mrs. William H. Erret, are living: Mrs. Mary Elizabeth Cunningham, of
Harlan; Dr. George E.; Charles W., a merchant at Austin, Minnesota.
Dr. Erret received his education in the public schools and in Harlan
high school from which institution he graduated in 1897. He then entered
the dental college of Northwestern University at Chicago and graduated
in 1901. He began at once the practice of dentistry in his home city and
has been remarkably successfull. The offices maintained by Dr. Erret are
most complete. They are equipped with every known approved appliance
and apparatus used in the practice of modern dentisty. He endeavors to
keep pace with the advances made in his profession and enjoys a splendid
reputation as a dentist
Dr. Erret is a Progressive in politics and has pronounced political views.
He is fraternally connected with the Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, and
is a member of the Benevolent Protective order of Elks, and the Harlan
Country Club. The doctor is well read and keenly alive to everything which
pertains to his home county. He is a genial and whole-souled fellow, whom
it is a pleasure to meet.
Dr. Erret has had some unique experiences in his time and is widely
known as a lover of fine horses. For a number of years he has been a
breeder of fine road and saddle horses. He is well to do and has considerable land holdings in different sections of the country. One of his most interesting experiences was in the years 1906 and 1907 when he homesteaded
government land, included in a great irrigation project in Wyoming. He
also owns land in Florida and New Mexico.
Source: 1915 Past and Present of Shelby County, Iowa, pp. 1042 - 1043.
Contributed by: Marthann Kohl-Fuhs
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Professional success results from merit. Frequently in commercial life
one comes into a lucrative business through inheritance or gift, but in what
are known as the learned professions advancement is gained only through
painstaking and long continued effort. The professional man must first
spend years in preparing himself, mentally and intellectually, for his life
work. After his preparation is over, he must continue to be a student in
order to keep abreast with discoveries and advances in his profession. He
likewise is prohibited from adopting the methods employed by men engaged
in commercial activity to extend spheres of influence. The ethics of a profession forbid this. His success must come from sheer merit alone. The
public gradually recognizes his ability and calls upon him to exercise his
talents. Prestige in healing as the outcome of strong mentality, an inherited aptitude for the principles of the profession and good training have
made Dr. E. A. Moore eminent in his calling. He ranks among the leaders
of the medical profession in Shelby county.
Edwin Augustus Moore was born September 3, 1872, on a farm in
Washington county, the son of Dr. Edwin B. Moore, pioneer physician of
Harlan and Shelby county, of whom extended mention is made in this volume. Edwin A. was six years of age when the family removed to Harlan
from Washington county, Iowa. Harlan at that time was a raw frontier
village with few buildings or dwellings of any importance. During his residence here he has seen many changes for the better and has observed the
small prairie hamlet develop into an important town with paved streets,
electric lights and all of the modern conveniences of an up-to-date city.
At this writing there is only one building in existence which was standing on the square at that time. All others have been improved or replaced
by more modern structures in keeping with the growth and wealth of the city.
Dr. Moore was educated in the Harlan public schools and high school
and studied in Creighton University. For five years he taught school, teaching one year in Cass county, Iowa, one year in Jackson township, Shelby
county, and principal of the Portsmouth schools for three years. Dr. Moore
graduated from the medical department of Creighton University, Omaha,
Nebraska, in 1901. For a period of two years succeeding his graduation he
served as railway physician for the Union Pacific and the Southern Pacific
railroads. While holding this responsible position he had the care of the
bodily health of several thousand men in the construction camps of these
railroads. In 1902, he located permanently in Harlan and practiced with
his father until his death. Dr. Moore then took charge of the entire practice of father and son.
Dr. Moore was married in 1897 to Miss Effie Lathrop. Her father was
an early homesteader in Jefferson township and died shortly after his settlement in Shelby county, being survived by his widow and four daughters.
Mrs. Moore is well educated. She taught school in Shelby county previous to
her marriage. Dr. and Mrs. Moore are the parents of two children, Edwin
Rex, a senior in the Harlan high school, and Margaret, aged fourteen years.
Dr. Moore is a Democrat and gives his loyal support to the principles and
candidates of this party. He was elected county coroner in 1904 and has
been re-elected at each succeeding election since that time. While Dr. Moore
is not connected with any church, his children have been confirmed in the
Episcopal faith. He is a member of the county, state and American medical associations and the Ancient Free and Accepted Masons.
Source: 1915 Past and Present of Shelby County, Iowa, pp. 1043 - 1044.
Contributed by: Marthann Kohl-Fuhs
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One of the most extensive land owners of Cass township, Shelby county,
Iowa, is Peter Pauley, who owns seven hundred and sixty acres of fine farming land. He is of German parentage and the success which has attended
him is due to the habits of thrift and industry, characteristic of the German
people. He is a man of exceptional business ability, and one who keeps
abreast of the latest advances in agricultural methods. He started in as a
renter and has gradually increased his land holdings, until he now ranks with
the most substantial farmers of the county.
Peter Pauley, the son of Theodore and Anna (Tayland) Pauley, was
born in Mills county, Iowa, in 1874. His father was born in Germany in
1835, his mother in 1849. Theodore Pauley came to America when he was
twenty years of age and located in Marshalltown, Iowa, where he was a
butcher for several years. He then went to Glenwood, Iowa, and worked
in a flouring mill for several years, when he came to Shelby county, and purchased eighty acres of land in Lincoln township. He secured his land for
eight dollars an acre, and when he retired from the farm in 1902, he was the
owner of three hundred and twenty acres of excellent land. This he divided
among his children. His wife died in 1904 and is buried at Westphalia,
Iowa. Sixteen children were born to Theodore Pauley and wife. Fourteen
are still living, ten boys and four girls, and all own farms.
Peter Pauley received his education in the schools of Shelby county and
remained with his father on the farm until he was twenty-one years of age.
He then worked for one year as a farm hand and later rented land from his
father in Center township. Then he bought one hundred and sixty acres in
Cass township, farmed it for six years, and sold it for the farm of three
hundred and twenty acres on which he now lives. He has since added four
hundred and forty acres to this farm, now owning seven hundred and sixty
acres of land in the county. He has eight acres of fruit and forest trees on
his place, which give him plenty of fruit and an abundance of lumber for
building purposes. He has placed seven thousand dollars' worth of improvements on his land in the last few years. He employs four men on the
farm all the year in addition to the help which his sons give him in its management. The farm produces about eighty head of cattle yearly, and he
feeds about seven hundred sheep annually.
Mr. Pauley raises Duroc Jersey hogs, and is a breeder of Percheron
horses, and mules. He has a fine stallion and over thirty-four head of horses
and mules on the farm at present.
Mr. Pauley was married May 16, 1896, to Clara Thielan, who was born
in Westphalia township, this county, and the daughter of John Thielan. To
this union nine children have been born: John, Theodore, Clara, Lenora,
Edwin, Elmer, Josephine, Barbara and Charles Peter.
Politically, Mr. Pauley is a Democrat, but his extensive agricultural
interests have prevented him from taking an active part in political affairs.
Nevertheless, he is vitally interested in everything which pertains to the welfare of his fellow citizens, and gives his unreserved support to all worthy
measures. He and his family are devout members of the Catholic church,
and are generous contributors to its support and maintenance.
Mr. Pauley is a fine type of the self-made German citizen of the county,
and is representative of the many German citizens who have made this county
their permanent home. His interest in the life of his community, his clean
and wholesome living and his genial and unassuming manner have made him
one of the most popular citizens of the township and county.
Source: 1915 Past and Present of Shelby County, Iowa, pp. 1045 - 1046.
Contributed by: Marthann Kohl-Fuhs
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The biographical sketch to which the reader's attention is now directed
is' that of the plain honest man of affairs whose name initiates this paragraph
and who is deemed worthy of representation along with the best citizens of
Shelby county, owing to the fact that he belongs to that energetic and enterprising class which has made this favored section one of the most noted and
best in the great state of Iowa. Enjoying distinctive prestige as a farmer,
he has achieved marked success, while his practical intelligence, mature judgment and sound business principles have had much to do in molding public
sentiment in the community where he maintains his home.
Peter S. Monson was born on August 12, 1875, near Morris, Illinois, a
son of Sven and Paulina (Peterson) Monson, both of whom were natives of
Norway, emigrating to this country in 1872. There are four surviving members of the family other than the immediate subject, namely, Martin, Ephriam,
Conrad and Cyrus. When Mr. Monson was four years old, his parents came
to Shelby county where the father purchased one hundred and sixty acres of
unimproved land in Polk township and there passed the remainder of his life,
his death occurring in 1897. Peter S. Monson remained with his father until
twenty years of age, when he started out in life for himself, his first venture
being the renting of a tract of land in this county, which he tilled for five
years. He was industrious and determined to succeed and after renting for
ten years was able to purchase one hundred and sixty acres in section 12 of
Douglas township and has ever since made that his home. He also owns
one hundred and sixty acres in Sanborn county, South Dakota. He has put
into his chosen vocation the best of his brain and muscle and is accounted
among the leading farmers of his section. He engages in general farming
and stock raising, giving particular attention to Chester White hogs of which
he markets about one hundred and seventy head annually. He also has
thirty head of cattle and twenty-one horses. While he does not raise many
cattle, he buys and feeds a great number, shipping about six car loads per
annum in addition to the hogs which he handles. He is uniformly successful
in his live stock business, but in 1912 had the misfortune to lose one hundred
and thirty hogs by cholera.
In the spring of 1914 Mr. Monson completed an elegant twelve-room
residence, which is modern in every respect and as complete in itself as any
city residence. A hot water heating system was installed and the building is
lighted with electricity. Mr. Monson's marriage occurred on March 18,
1903, when be was united in matrimony with Florence Barratt, a native of
Polk township, born on September 6, 1880, a daughter of Thomas and Catherine (Semar) Barratt.
Thomas Barratt was born in England, March 6, 1844, in Whitten-on--Umber, Lincolnshire, the son of Matthew and Hannah (Nailer) Barratt, who were engaged in farming. There were six children in the family and Thomas remained with the parents until he was fourteen years of age, when he hired out to the neighboring farmers. He continued in this manner until his father's death in 1862, when he returned home and assumed the care of his mother as long as she lived. He emigrated to the United States in 1875, coming to this state and locating in Clinton county, where he remained for five years. He then removed to Shelby county and purchased one, hundred acres of land in section 18 of Polk township. On that farm he has continued to reside, adding to his original purchase from time to time until his holdings
now comprise four hundred acres. This farm home was the birthplace of Mrs. Monson. Thomas Barratt was married on October 11, 1878, to Catherine Semar, a native of Germany, born on July 25, 1855, the daughter of Carl and Magdalena (Keigh) Semar. The father was of the laboring class and was an expert in putting thatched roofs on houses, shingles being almost entirely unknown there. Mr. and Mrs. Semar were the parents of twelve children, Catherine being the oldest. The entire family emigrated to this country in 1865, locating in Clinton county, Iowa, where the parents passed the remainder of their lives. To Thomas and Catherine Barratt were born seven children, those other than Mrs. Monson being Frank, Bruce, Thomas, Blanch (Mrs. Tank) and Mrs. Maude Murphy. To Mr. and Mrs. Monson have been born six children, the eldest of whom, Silas Edwin, born on January 23, 1904, died on September 12th of the same year. The others are Eva,
born November 15, 1905; Ruth, born December 9, 1906; Paul T., born February 16, 1909; Edna, born October 15, 1910, and Ralph W., born March 30, 1912.
Mr. Monson's religious affiliation is with the Lutheran church while his
wife is a member of the United Evangelical. The family is regarded as
among the leading ones of the community, both parents being anxious that
their children shall have such training as will fit them for useful places in
the world when they become men and women. In politics Mr. Monson is
a Republican and has served Douglas township as trustee for two terms, besides being active in other ways in the affairs of his party. While primarily
having his own private interests at heart he has never lost sight of his duty
as a citizen and is foremost among those of his section in promoting anything
which tends to raise the standard of the community along social, moral, material or educational lines. He is a man of genial nature, unassuming in his
relations with others and because of his genuine worth and high qualities of
character he has deserved the high regard in which he is held by all who
know him. Mr. Monson has one hundred and sixty acres of land in Sanborn
county, South Dakota.
Source: 1915 Past and Present of Shelby County, Iowa, pp. 1048 - 1050.
Contributed by: Marthann Kohl-Fuhs
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The keynote to the life history of Horace Greeley Baker is originality.
From his boyhood days he has been interested in all kinds of mechanical
contrivances and has always been working with machinery of one kind or
another. At the early age of sixteen he patented a palm corn husker which
is now sold all over the United States. During a busy career of more than
a quarter of a century, he has invented and patented a large number of miscellaneous devices.
Horace Greeley Baker, the son of J. K. P. and Mary Jane (Pardee)
Baker, was born March 5, 1873, in Wilson county, Kansas. The history of
his father appears elsewhere in this volume and the reader is referred to it
for further information concerning the Baker family history.
Horace G. Baker was educated in the public schools of Harlan and then
took a course in shorthand and typewriting. In 1898 he joined the regular
army and was detailed as court reporter to Judge Advocate Fredericks at
Presidio, California. He was stationed at Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands for
several months, where he sustained two severe attacks of typhoid fever, then
returned to Shelby county, Iowa, and began teaching school at Cuppy's
Grove. Later he engaged in shorthand and typewriting work and for the
next seven years was the corresponding secretary for the Deen Loom Company of Harlan.
Being, of an inventive turn of mind, he decided to go into the manufacture of carpet and rug looms and accessories on his own account, starting his
factory in 1907. In 1910 he invented the giant pipe pusher, which he manufactured and sold in connection with his looms. In 1912 he incorporated a
twenty-five thousand dollar company under the name of the Giant Manufacturing Company with offices at Council Bluffs, Iowa. Mr. Baker was the
secretary and manager of the company the first year, after which he disposed of his interest in the company and returned to Harlan. Since returning to Harlan, Mr. Baker has built a handsome residence at 1032 West
Court street where he is now residing. He also owns a home at Council
Bluffs, a number of choice building lots at Harlan as well as a factory near
his residence. Mr. Baker has taken out several patents on looms and loom
accessories and in 1913 took out a patent on an airship. He also has a patent
pending on an automatic motion display rack for advertising purposes.
Mr. Baker was married February 15, 1902 to Altha Monaghan, who
comes from a family of school teachers. To this union there have been
born four children: Jessie Marie Louise, Charles Edwin, Horace G., Jr.,
and Altha Maude. The first two children are twins.
Mr. Baker is an active member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and of the Encampment. He and his wife are both members of the
Daughters of Rebekah. Politically, Mr. Baker is an independent voter and
casts his ballot for such men as he believes will best serve the interests of
their fellow citizens, irrespective of their political affiliations. Mr. Baker
is a man of rare energy and interested in everything which pertains to the
welfare of his fellow citizens. He is a man of high ideals and truly one of
the representative men of his city and county.
Source: 1915 Past and Present of Shelby County, Iowa, pp. 1053- 1054.
Contributed by: Marthann Kohl-Fuhs
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While the life story of a young man is necessarily brief because his
career is yet in the making, a long future reaches out before him. When
a definite measure of success has been achieved by an individual though still
young in years the facts are well worth recording. Henry F. Wunder is
one of Shelby county's successful young men. He is the son of German
parents who were early settlers in the county and who reared an excellent
and useful family of citizens to take their places in the new country. Henry
F. Wunder, county recorder of Shelby county is an excellent official who performs in a thorough and painstaking manner the work entrusted to him by
the people.
Mr. Wunder was born on a farm in Shelby township, June 6, 1886, and
is the son of Henry Wunder, a native of Germany who was born in 1840
and died in 1891. He came to America in the sixties and located in Scott
county, Iowa, in 1869 and there married Wilhelmina Krabbenhoft, who was
born in Germany in 1844 and died in April of 1905. She came to America
in 1869 with a younger sister. They came to Shelby county in 1874 and
were the owners of one hundred and sixty acres of good land in Shelby township. Mr. and Mrs. Wunder were the parents of eight children. This excellent couple laid great stress upon the necessity of giving their children the
advantages of an education. The children of this family are as follows:
Mrs. Dora Sass of Omaha, Nebraska; F. F., cashier of the Shelby County
State Bank; Lulu Wunder of Omaha; Mrs. Rosa Bohlander of Shelby township; Herman W., a farmer in Shelby township; F. A., a lawyer of Fairbury,
Nebraska; Otto H., a farmer in Shelby township and Henry F. Wunder.
Henry F. Wunder attended the district schools of Shelby township,
graduating from the common schools in 1900 and from the Shelby high
school four years later. In the fall of 1905, he entered the University of
Nebraska and studied until February, 1909. He then resumed his studies
in the University of Wisconsin and remained there until August of 1909 and
again entered the University of Nebraska for the purpose of completing his
studies. He was a student in this institution until June, 1911. Mr. Wunder
taught school in Shelby township during the winter of 1904 and 1905 and
again in 1911 and 1912. He was elected to the office of county recorder in
the fall of 1912 and assumed the duties of this position January 1, 1913.
In politics he is a Democrat. He was elected to office on the Democratic ticket. He is a member of the German Lutheran Church of Shelby
and is fraternally connected with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows
lodge of Shelby; the Ancient Free and Accepted Masons of Harlan and the
Loyal Order of Moose.
Source: 1915 Past and Present of Shelby County, Iowa, pp. 1054 - 1055.
Contributed by: Marthann Kohl-Fuhs
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Life in a new county is always attended with privations. The pioneers of Shelby county were no exception to this rule. The careers of the brave men and women who founded this county will always be of interest to succeeding generations. One of the many farmers of this county who have been associated with its history for more than thirty years is Arthur Pryor, now living a retired life in Shelby. Born of sterling English ancestry, he inherited all those sterling qualities of the Anglo-Saxon race.
Arthur Pryor, the son of John and Sarah Pryor, was born July 5, 1856, in Berkshire, England. His parents were people of good birth and came to America in 1872, locating in Illinois where they followed farming the remainder of their days. John Pryor and his wife died within a few weeks of each other, passing away in 1908, aged eighty-four and eighty, respectively. They were the parents of seven children: Emily, Charles, Ellen, John, George, Arthur and Sarah.
Arthur Pryor was sixteen years of age when his family came to this
country and, consequently, received all his education in his native land. He
grew to manhood in Illinois and married in that state at the age of twenty-one. He farmed in Illinois until 1884 and then moved with his family to
Shelby county, Iowa, where he lived on a rented farm for several years.
He then bought a farm and operated it in a very successful manner until 1900
when he retired from active life and moved to Shelby.
Mr. Pryor has been actively interested in every phase of the growth of
his community. He has served as township trustee and as a member of the
school board of his township for seventeen years, a record which has probably never been surpassed in this county. In 1908, he was elected county
supervisor and so satisfactory was his service during the first term that he
was re-elected to the same position upon the expiration of his first term.
Since moving to the city of Shelby he has been the president of the Shelby
Lumber Company. This co-operative concern was organized in 1902, Mr.
Pryor being one of the chief factors in its organization. He has been elected
president of the company each year since it started in business. Mr. Pryor
is a man of recognized ability and because of his reputation for honesty and
square dealing he has won the confidence of all who have had any business
with the company.
Mr. Pryor was married in 1877 to Emma Norman, the daughter of
Thomas Norman, of Shelby county. To this union there has been born
one son, Ralph H., who married Florence Leekley. Ralph and his wife have
four children: Arthur, Helen, Dorothy and George, the latter two being
twins.
Fraternally, Mr. Pryor is a member of the Independent Order of Odd
Fellows and has always been much interested in this fraternity. He has
passed all the chairs and is one of the few past grands of his lodge at Shelby.
He is a man of kindly impulses and sympathetic in his treatment of those
less fortunate than himself. He is widely acquainted throughout the county
and wherever known is held in the highest esteem.
Source: 1915 Past and Present of Shelby County, Iowa, pp. 1055 - 1056.
Contributed by: Marthann Kohl-Fuhs
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Clarence P. Jacobson is regarded as among the most enterprising farmers of Polk township, Shelby county, Iowa, and it is generally conceded that
the elements which have contributed most largely to his success have been
tireless industry, good business judgment and wise management. His farm
lands are well-improved and highly productive and because of his high personal character and unquestioned integrity, he enjoys to a marked degree the
sincere respect of the community.
Mr. Jacobson was born across the ocean in the land of Denmark on August 15, 1868, the son of Ole H. and Sophie (Peterson) Jacobson, being one of a family of six children. The others were Chris H., Ole H., Jr., Christina and Mattie (twins) and Sophie. Christina became the wife of Soren Justinsen and Mattie married Andrew Hansen. She had returned to her native land for a visit with relatives and friends and while there sickened and died in 1894. Sophie, the youngest daughter, married Nels Hansen. When Mr. Jacobson was but six months old his parents came to this country, coming directly to this state, where they located in Cass county, near Marne. They, however, lived there but one summer, when they came to this county and purchased eighty acres of land in Jackson township. They had been engaged in agricultural work in the old country and were therefore best qualified for that life in the new land. They remained in this county for five years, when they moved to Audubon county, where they now reside, in Sharon township. Ole H. Jacobson is now retired. His wife died June 7, 1914.
Clarence P. Jacobson remained under the parental roof until he was of
age, when he started out in life for himself. His first venture was the renting of one hundred and sixty acres of land, which he retained for three years,
when he purchased one hundred and eighty acres in Audubon county, in
Sharon township, on which he resided for three years. That land was then
disposed of to advantage and he came to this county and bought a tract
of one hundred and twenty acres in Jackson township, where he resided for
five years. This he later disposed of and in 1901 purchased two hundred
and forty acres in sections 11 and 14 of Polk township. To these holdings
he later added eighty acres located in section 12. He was succeeding nicely
in his various business ventures when the cyclone of 1913 came his way and
destroyed all the buildings on his place. In the storm there was a horse,
a calf and some hogs killed and the family sought safety in a small building
northwest of their house and out of the path of the cyclone. Their home
was utterly destroyed and since that time Mr. Jacobson has built a large
ten-room house, possessing all modern conveniences and many attractive features. His new barn is thirty-six by sixty feet and all other farm buildings
are new, equally large and commodious. Mr. Jacobson gives his best attention to general farming, but finds the raising of a limited amount of live stock
a valuable adjunct to his main line. He finds the Shorthorn breed of cattle
best suited to his general purposes and he also keeps quite a number of Duroc
Jersey Red hogs. He puts into his business the best of his brain and brawn
and is uniformly successful in all his undertakings.
On April 19, 1890, Mr. Jacobson was united in marriage with Mary M.
Jensen, who was born on January 13, 1870, in Denmark, the daughter of
Andrew and Anna (Nelson) Jensen. Mrs. Jacobson was one of a family
of two children, the other being a brother, Chris, who lives in Denmark. The
parents never came to this country. Her father died in 1872 and her mother
in 1894. To Mr. and Mrs. Jacobson have been born an interesting family of
eleven children, the eldest of whom, Olga Sophia, born March 17, 1891, is
the wife of Peter Knudson of Douglas township, Audubon county. She is
the mother of two children, Marvin and Agnes. Ethan Adrion, the second
child, chose as his wife Myrtle Peterson, and resides in Polk township, about
one mile south of his father. The rest of the family remain under the
parental roof. They are: Norman Elmer, born August 16, 1894; Arnold
Wilmer, born May 10, 1896; Arthur Dewey, born May 8, 1898; Clara
Lovinda, born December 12, 1900; Leonard Clarence, born December 18,
1902; Howard Hight, born August 18, 1905; Leana Almira, born October
5, 1907; Hessie Marie, born September 24, 1910, and Leslie Marion, born
March 29, 1914.
The entire family are devout members of the Danish Baptist church and
all to the best of their ability assist in the work of the local society. Mr.
Jacobson is at the present time serving efficiently as superintendent of the
Sunday school and has filled this place for the past eight years. He has
always stood for the highest standard of right and morality and among his
fellow citizens there has never been breathed a word of suspicion against his
character. The family is one of the most highly respected of the community
and both parents unite in training their sons and daughters in every possible
way for useful lives when they take their individual places in the world of
affairs.
His political affiliation is with the Republican party, in the affairs of which he takes more than a passive interest. He was serving as county supervisor at the time of the cyclone of 1913 and on account of the damage he suffered, was forced to resign his position and give his undivided attention to his own affairs. He served as township clerk previous to his term as county supervisor and has been serving Polk township as trustee for the past two years.
Mr. Jacobson is a man of decided convictions on the leading questions of the day, and gives his ardent support to all movements for the upbuilding of the community socially, educationally, morally and materially. The result is that in a large measure he enjoys the sincere regard, confidence and good will of all who know him and is numbered among the leading and influential citizens of his locality.
Source: 1915 Past and Present of Shelby County, Iowa, pp. 1056 - 1058.
Contributed by: Marthann Kohl-Fuhs
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A highly respected man of a past generation in Shelby county, Iowa,
was the late J. K. P Baker, who lived in this county from 1875 until the time
of his death. He was a public school teacher for more than thirty years
in Shelby county, Iowa, and every one of his nine children taught school in
Shelby county at some time during their careers. He was deeply interested
in the welfare of the county and his support could always be depended upon
for all measures of general welfare.
J. K. P. Baker, the son of Philip and Catherine S. (Porter) Baker, was
born in Zanesville, Ohio, June 18, 1835 and was.the eldest of a family of
seven children, four of whom were still living at the time of his death,
September 22, 1907. When he was about one year of age his parents moved
to Davenport, Iowa, where he grew to manhood. At the early age of sixteen
he began to teach school and afterwards became a student at Iowa College
at Grinnell. He did not complete his college course, but continued his studies
at home until he had a broad education, not in any way inferior of the
graduates of the institution where he had been a student.
At the opening of the Civil War, Mr. Baker enlisted in the company which was organized in his home county and lacked only a few days of serving three years. Among many other battles he participated in the engagements at Prairie Rose and Port Gibson. He had studied law before the opening of the war and was admitted to the bar at Davenport in 1859. After the close of the war he resumed his practice in Scott county, Iowa, but on account of his increasing deafness, due to exposure in the army, was compelled to discontinue his practice. In 1870, he removed with his family to Wilson county, Kansas where he lived for five years. He left that state on account of the severe drought, trading his land for a wagon and team of mules, and went from Kansas to Shelby county, Iowa, settling on a farm near Walnut. He bought a farm on which he lived for five years from where he moved to a farm three miles east of Irwin. He continued to reside here until 1889 when he sold his farm and moved to Harlan, where he lived for a few months, later buying another farm, six miles east of Harlan. After living on this farm seven years he moved to Harlan where he spent the balance of his life.
Mr. Baker was married to Mary Pardee September 4, 1856, a native of New York state and a school teacher. She was born April 12, 1838 and died February 6, 1909. Her parents were Charles L. and Dolly (Allen) Pardee. To this happy union nine children were born: Nettie Evelyne, Jessie Juliet, Marie Louise, Edwin Philip, Charles W., Kate Elizabeth, Horace Greeley, Olive May and James Arthur. Nettie, born May 21, 1859, is the wife of Melvin Snow, of Santa Barbara, California. Jessie, born July 29, 1861, is the wife of Charles Sweeting, of Queen City, Missouri. Louise, born May 10, 1866, died September 15, 1889. She had been principal of the Ponca, Nebraska, schools. Edwin P., born October 5, 1867, who died April 14, 1892, at the age of thirty-three, was a Chinese interpreter, in the employ
of the United States government in the custom house at San Francisco. His wife was Nellie Schroeder. Charles W., single, is a street car conductor at Santa Barbara, California. Kate is now teaching school near Harlan. She formerly taught the Lower Brule tribe of Indians in South Dakota and also at Pine Point, Minnesota. Olive, born October 23,1875, is the wife of Dr. J. T. Jones, of Queen City, Missouri, a former member of the state legislature of that state and at one time the president of the Missouri State Medical Association. Horace G. is represented elsewhere in the volume with a complete sketch of his life. James Arthur, born May 5, 1878, was educated in the schools at Iowa City and taught school for several years in Iowa and Oklahoma. It is interesting to note that every one of these children at one
time taught school. Two of them attained more than local reputations.
Horace Greeley is a mechanical genius who has invented and patented several devices, used extensively. Edwin P. Baker had traveled over all the known world, was conversant with the classics and many of the modern languages. He was an expert in the Chinese language and was a Chinese interpreter for the government at the time of his death. It was while living at San Francisco that he wrote, under the pen name of "Pak Gua Wun," a marvelous series of articles on a wide range of Chinese subjects. He, like his talented father, was a writer of excellent verse, was a musician, violin maker, bookbinder, illuminator and painter. One of the daughters, Marie Louise, who died at the age of twenty-two, had already issued a volume of very creditable verse.
J. K. P. Baker was a man of much more than ordinary ability, a poet, a philosopher and a keen student of human nature. He was gifted with a fund of humor and pathos. His poems have found their way into many of the leading publications throughout the country. Several years before his death he furnished, for the Chicago Inter-Ocean nearly three thousand puzzle poems in the form of rebuses and acrostics. As a literary man he included among his intimate friends some of the noted people of the country. He carried on a long correspondence in verse with the famous Chicago scholar and lawyer, Captain William P. Black. He was attracted to Eugene F. Ware, better known by his pen name of "Ironquill," by writing a parody on his famous "Washerwoman." Later, when Ware became commissioner of pensions, they continued a correspondence in verse for many years.
It seems very fitting that there be incorporated in the life history of Mr. Baker one of his more striking poems. His poetry has a peculiar charm of its own and has delighted thousands of readers throughout all parts of the country. The following poem was composed at the time of the death of his daughter, Louise, who died September 15, 1889:
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AT HER GRAVE
What mystic force is in this mound
That makes it seem like living ground?
There's a tuft of grass and a bush of flowers
That smile and sing to each other for hours.
They beckoned and called to a little bird
And it came at once, for it saw and heard.
The bird is alive, it flutters its wings;
It opens its throat and it sings--it sings!
The grass is green and the flowers are red--
And the ground--this mound--is it dead, is it dead?
Out of its life these lives arose
Which the living green and the flowers disclose;
Out of its life and the life below,
These living forms of beauty grow;
Out of its life and the life that sleeps,
Awakening life in its glory leaps;
And when so many sweet lives they give
They have life in themselves--I know they live.
For never a mother dead gave birth.
To children alive like thine, O Earth!
And this very clay, like Eden's clod
Is alive with the selfsame breath of God!
And if this be true, as I feel it is,
Our lives are as deathless as His--yes, His!
Then sing, little bird, O, sing, sing, sing!
"Where is thy victory, Death--thy sting?"
Nod and beckon and blush, sweet flower,
Saying, "Where is thy triumph, O, Grave--thy power?"
Carpet her grave with thy green, O grass,
Smiling at Time with his scythe and glass,
For our lives--all lives--with Christ are hid
Even beneath the coffin's lid--
And this lid is a door that outward swings.
O, now the bird its rapture sings!
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At the time of Louise's death, she was but twenty-two years old. Nevertheless she had to her credit many beautiful poems. These poems were bound into a handsome, volume by her brother, Edwin. This volume is all hand made, typewritten on the most expensive paper, bound in exquisite leather and has a perfectly penciled portrait of Louise drawn by Edwin on the front page. All of the work was done by Edwin who also composed the poem typewritten on the frontispiece and dedicated to the memory of his deceased sister. The poem, possessing rare poetical beauty, is here given:
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BEING DEAD, SHE YET SPEAKETH.
(To M. Louise Baker.)
Died September 15, 1889.
As ocean depths, with added radiance lent,
Flash back the sunny beams from Heaven sent--
Thus was her life:
The sun was brighter for the smiles she gave;
And, like rose-tinted pearls beneath the wave,
Whose lustrous colors from the depths up-well
A flood of radiant hues; in her did dwell
A pure, sweet grace,
Shedding its beauty o'er the time and place
That briefly knew her: modestly concealed,
Yet her short life, in every act, revealed
Such beauties rare
Of gentle virtue, purity and truth,
That crowned as with a halo her sweet youth.
Ah, envious Death hath left our hearts to mourn;
Yet her pure life, in ours, such fruit bath borne,
(And still doth bear),
As makes them even purer, and more fair.
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Source: 1915 Past and Present of Shelby County, Iowa, pp. 1059 - 1062.
Contributed by: Marthann Kohl-Fuhs
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Starting upon his career at the bottom of the ladder, John H. Dales, one of Shelby county's progressive agriculturists and public-spirited citizens, is now recognized as one of the substantial farmers of his community. Endowed by nature with a strong physical and mental constitution and possessing the courage and energy to direct his faculties in proper channels, he has become a man of influence, and possesses the happy faculty of not only making friends but of binding them to him by his many good qualities of head and heart.
John H. Dales was born March 4, 1858, in Guernsey county, Ohio, and is a son of Andrew and Mary (Gauley) Dales. His parents were both natives of Ireland and Andrew Dales was a farmer in his native land and followed that vocation after coming to America in 1884. After coming to this country he went to Iowa. locating in Jefferson township, where he purchased eighty acres of land, and he lived on this farm until 1900, when he retired to Manning and lived there until his death, March 25, 1908. Mr. and Mrs. Andrew Dales were the parents of ten children, Elizabeth, William, David (deceased), John H., Andrew, Mrs. Sarah Clark, Mrs. Mary Veach, Mrs. Maggie Wilfong, Mrs. Belle Moore and Mrs. Aggie Forbes.
John H. Dales received a good common school education in the schools of Guernsey county, Ohio, and assisted his father on the home farm until he was married. For a few years prior to his marriage he worked out by the month while still living at home. Upon his marriage he rented land for a few years and then bought one hundred and twenty acres in Jefferson township, section 13. In 1898 he sold this farm and bought one hundred and sixty acres in section 15, where he now lives. Being a man of thrifty and frugal habits he has been able to add to his land holdings until he is now the owner of four hundred acres of highly improved land. He has built large and commodious barns and other outbuildings and in various other ways enhanced the value of his farm. He is an extensive breeder of live stock and
sells from three to four car loads annually. He has found that the breeding and selling of live stock is more profitable than the raising of grain alone.
Mr. Dales was married March 14, 1888, to Nannie Mockler, who was born April 6, 1867, in Cedar county, Iowa, in the town of Clarence. Mrs. Dales was educated in the high school at Carroll, Iowa, and taught the year previous to her marriage. Her parents, Patrick and Honora (Butler) Mockler, were natives of County Tipperary, Ireland, and came to this country with their parents when they were young people. They were farmers in their native land and followed that occupation after coming to this country. Patrick Mockler was the son of Michael and Kate Mockler, and Honora Butler was the daughter of Thomas and Nancy Butler. Patrick M. Mockler was the father of seven children, Julia, Martin, James, Michael, Kate (deceased), Thomas, John (deceased), and Nannie, the wife of Mr. Dales.
Mr. and Mrs. Dales are the parents of five children: Eldis, horn August 15, 1894; Ivyl, born April 8, 1896; Budd, horn September 1, 1902; Loa, born February 7, 1904, and Howard, born March 17, 1908. Eldis is a graduate of the Harlan high school, and expects to attend an agricultural college, in the near future.
Mr. Dales is an adherent of the Prohibitionist party and is a strong advocate of temperance in every way. He believes that the suppression of the liquor traffic is one of the most important issues before the American people today, and for this reason he believes that the Prohibitionist party has a mission to perform which will make this country a better one in which to live. In view of the fact that his party has always been in a minority in his township, he could not be expected to have taken a prominent part in the public life of his township, especially in the matter of holding offices. However, he has served as justice of the peace of his township for one term and rendered satisfactory service while holding that office. He and his family are members of the Pentecostal church of the Nazarenes, and Mr. and Mrs. Dales are active workers in the church. Mr. Dales has done everything he could for the general good of his community, and being a man of exemplary character and upright life, he has won the commendations of his fellow citizens.
Source: 1915 Past and Present of Shelby County, Iowa, pp. 1064 - 1065.
Contributed by: Marthann Kohl-Fuhs
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