1915 Past and Present of Shelby County, Iowa
Page Index:
Wunder |
Cooper |
Griffith |
Carter |
Samuels |
Woodard |
Kuhl |
Maxwell |
Nielsen
It is gratifying to know that many of the sons of the pioneers of Shelby county, Iowa, are remaining upon the farm. Too often, the young men of the present day desert the farm for city life and usually regret it. Farming never presented better opportunities for the progressive and wide-awake young man than today, and certainly no better farming land can be found than that which is in Shelby county, Iowa.
Herman Wunder, the son of Henry and Wilhelmina (Krabenhoff) Wunder, was born August 21, 1879, in Shelby township, this county. Both of his parents were natives of Germany and came to America after their marriage, settling at Davenport, Iowa. Henry Wunder rented a farm near this city and operated it for about seven years. He then came to Shelby county, and bought one hundred and sixty acres in Shelby township, which he improved and on which he lived until his death in 1891, his widow living until 1904. Henry Wunder was a prosperous farmer and took an active part in the life of his community. He and his wife were the parents of eight children: Dora, the wife of N. P. Sass; Fred F.; Lulu; Rose, the wife of W. F. Bohlander; Herman; Edward; Otto and Henry.
Herman Wunder was educated in the public schools of this county, and later attended Highland Park College at Davenport. He is a wide reader and is one of the best informed men in his township on current issues. During the summer vacations while he was attending school, he worked on his father's farm and thus gained an intimate knowledge of the various phases of agriculture. He remained on the home farm after his father's death until his marriage in 1907, and three years later located on his present farm, where he carries on general farming. He gives much of his attention to stock raising, having found by experience that the farmer makes the most
money from the sale of stock. His farm is well watered, having a creek running through it, and this feature greatly facilitates the raising of live stock.
Mr. Wunder was married in 1907 to Alvina Meves, the daughter of John Meves, and to this union have been born four children: Anna, Wilhelmina, Albert B., and Walter.
Politically, Mr. Wunder is a Democrat, and being a man of intelligence, he takes a deep interest in political matters. However, he has never had any inclination to run for public office, preferring to devote his time and energy to agriculture. Fraternally, he is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. He also belongs to the encampment. He has always taken an active part in this lodge and has passed all the chairs in both branches of Odd Fellowship. Mr. Wunder is a man of high ideals, well deserving of the high esteem in which he is held by all.
Source: 1915 Past and Present of Shelby County, Iowa, pp. 1083 - 1084.
Contributed by: Marthann Kohl-Fuhs
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The character of a community is usually known by the nature and standing of its citizenship. Likewise, the progress and character of a business institution depends to a great extent upon the personnel of the men who guide its destinies. The gentleman to whom this brief review is respectfully dedicated is not only one of the successful citizens of Shelby county but belongs to one of the pioneer families of the county as well. He has figured prominently in the agricultural and official life of his county and at present occupies a responsible position with the Shelby County State Bank. William E. Cooper, in charge of the land and farm loans department of this strong financial institution is one of the best known residents of Shelby county and has been a citizen of the county and the city of Harlan for over forty years.
W. E. Cooper was born May 1, 1859, in Keokuk county, Iowa, on a farm. He is the son of Hinchman and Abigail (Johnson) Cooper, both of whom were natives of the old Buckeye state. In the fall of 1853, the Cooper family, consisting of Evan Cooper, grandfather of W. E. Cooper, and his family removed with his belongings to the West and settled on a farm in Linn county, Iowa. The family made the long trip from the old home in Columbiana county, Ohio, as best they might considering the primitive methods of transportation. The trip was made mostly by water down the Ohio river and up the Mississippi, which rivers were then the main highway of travel to the western country. Evan Cooper moved to Keokuk county in 1854 and there made his permanent home. Here it was that Hinchman Cooper met
and wooed his future wife who was Abigail Johnson, a daughter of John Johnson, a native of Morrow county, Ohio, and who settled in Keokuk county about 1854. The couple were married at the old home in Keokuk county and then moved to Mahaska county where Hinchman became one of the pioneer nurserymen of the state. He engaged in the lumber business some years later and in 1876 moved to Shelby county and purchased a farm in Fairview township. His farm consisted of raw, unbroken prairie land which he soon improved and created into a valuable farm. He had the foresight to bring with him lumber and builders' materials and had his house already planned. This home was sixteen by twenty-four feet in dimension and located on a farm of two hundred acres. Hinchman Cooper resided here
with his family until 1884, when he sold out and removed to Abilene, Kansas. From there, he migrated to Newburg, Oregon, with a colony of Friends. Later, he retired to Portland, Oregon, where he still lives at the advanced age of eighty years. His wealth is invested in city property which yields him a comfortable income. There are four children in the family of Hinchman Cooper, as follows: Albert B., Robert J., Nettie Cooper Grable, all of whom are residents of the city of Portland; and William E., the eldest son of the family of whom this review directly treats.
William E. Cooper received his education in the schools of New Sharon, Iowa, and graduated from the New Sharon high school. For eight years he taught school in Shelby county after removing here with his parents. He was married in Harlan and removed to a farm in Fairview township in the spring of 1882. For twelve years, he cultivated his farm of one hundred and twenty-six acres. He has increased his holdings in land until he now owns two hundred acres in Shelby county, besides two hundred acres of land elsewhere in the state. In 1894, he made his home in Harlan and served as deputy sheriff of the county for three years. In the fall of 1896 he was elected clerk of the district court and hued this official position for two successive terms, to the satisfaction of his constituents. In 1902, he engaged in the general merchandise business in Harlan, but a few years later he disposed of his store and entered the Shelby County State Bank in charge of the land and farm loans department.
Mr. Cooper was married in February 15, 1882, to Laura A., daughter of Daniel B. Walters, a native of Pennsylvania and an early Iowa settler, who first lived near Walnut, Iowa, and in 1877 removed to Shelby county. To this union have been born two daughters and a son, as follows: Myrtle A., wife of William Hayes, city clerk of Harlan; Laverne Robinson, whose husband is a veterinary surgeon at Atlantic, Iowa; Emerson, a student in the State University at Iowa City, who is pursuing the law and liberal arts courses.
Mr. Cooper has always been allied politically with the Republican party and has been reasonably active in behalf of his party. The Cooper family are adherents of the Congregational church and contribute to the support of this denomination. He is affiliated with the Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, Chapter and Commandery of Harlan; and is a member of the Knights of Pythias. Mr. Cooper is held in the highest esteem by all who know him and is in every respect an excellent and enterprising citizen, and one of that admirable body of men who can truly style themselves "self-made."
Source: 1915 Past and Present of Shelby County, Iowa, pp. 1084 - 1086.
Contributed by: Marthann Kohl-Fuhs
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The success of men in business or in any vocation depends upon character as well as upon knowledge, for business demands confidence and where that is lacking business ends. In every community are men noted for their upright lives, strong common sense, and moral worth rather than for their wealth or political standing. Their neighbors and friends respect them and the younger generation heeds their examples. They win their way from the bottom rung of the ladder of success through untiring energy, coupled with right principles and ambition, and hold the respect of their fellow men by their genuine worth. Among these men of Harlan, and Shelby county, who have won for themselves success in a business capacity is Ben B. Griffith, who has the honor and distinction of being one of the pioneer merchants of Harlan. When a young man not long out of high school he hearkened to Greeley's famous advice, "Go West, young man; go West, and grow up with the country" and left his far away Buckeye home and came to Harlan. Mr. Griffith has grown up with the city, prospered as he well deserved, and is one of the highly esteemed and likeable men in a city noted for its able and warm-hearted people.
Ben Griffith was born in Bridgeport, Ohio, May 24, 1861, and is a son of Ben B. and Hannah M. (Lash) Griffith, natives of Lancaster county, Pennsylvania, and Belmont county, Ohio, respectively. Ben B., Sr., a contractor and builder by vocation, erected many large buildings in the city of Wheeling and had the distinction of building the big suspension bridge across the Ohio river near the city of Wheeling and the plant of the National Nail factory at Benwood.
At the outbreak of the Civil war he enlisted as a volunteer soldier in Company B of the Ninety-eighth Ohio Volunteer Infantry and participated in many famous battles during the term of his enlistment which extended from 1861 until the close of the war in 1865. He took part in the battles of Perryville, Missouri, Lookout Mountain, Missionary Ridge and many others of note.
In 1878, Ben. B., Sr., followed in the pathway of his son and came to Harlan where he was engaged in contracting and building for two years. His health failed him and he became unfitted for strenuous endeavor such as had been his lot during his active days. He died in Harlan January 4, 1902. Mrs. Griffith died in October, 1902. They were the parents of eight children, five of whom are yet living: Alma R., wife of J. W. Powell of Alameda, California; Kate K., wife of W. W. Wheeler, formerly of Harlan, but now a resident of Mitchellville, Iowa; Ben. B., with whom this chronicle is directly concerned; Paul S. of Rochester, Washington; Platti
M., widow of John Carmichael of Dunlap, Iowa; Mary died at the age of seventeen years; Edith died at the age of three years; Abram, eldest son of the family, died in March, 1914, at the age of sixty-four years, in Kansas, and is buried at Topeka, Kansas.
Ben. B. Griffith was educated in the public schools of Bridgeport, Ohio, and was graduated from the high school in 1876. After coming to Harlan, he was employed by W. H. Bowlin & Bro. in a general merchandise store for a period of five years. He was then in the employ of W. H. Bowlin for five years longer. In 1888 he became a partner of Mr. Bowlin and the firm was known as Bowlin and Griffith. He sold out after a time and for ten years was employed by W. W. Wheeler in the hardware business. In 1898 he took charge of the Harlan Clothing Company's store and in 1901 purchased the interest of Mr. Gibbs in the business. Mr. Wheeler and he then operated the store under the name of the Harlan Clothing Company until 1911, when Mr. Griffith purchased Mr. Wheeler's interest and became the
sole proprietor. His store is one of the best and most modernly equipped in this section of Iowa.
Mr. Griffith was married January 12, 1888, to Miss Lilian Long, a daughter of Columbus Long of Otley, Iowa. They are the parents of one son, Harry B., born January 15, 1893. He is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin, class of 1914, and is now associated with his father in the business.
Politically, Mr. Griffith is a Republican in politics, but confines his political activity to voting for good men running for office. He is a member of the Congregational church, and Mrs. Griffith and he take an interested part in the affairs of the flourishing denomination. He is fraternally connected with the Ancient Order of Free and Accepted Masons, the Knights of Pythias, the Ancient Order of United Workmen, and the Modern Woodmen. He is one of those genial, obliging and affable men whom it is a pleasure to meet and who has hundreds of warm friends that esteem him for his sterling qualities of manhood.
Source: 1915 Past and Present of Shelby County, Iowa, pp. 1086 - 1088.
Contributed by: Marthann Kohl-Fuhs
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Among the enterprising and progressive citizens of Shelby county, none stand higher in the esteem of his fellow citizens than the gentleman whose career is delineated in this sketch. He has long been actively engaged in agricultural pursuits in this county and the years of his residence here have but served to strengthen the feeling of admiration on the part of his fellow men, owing to the honorable life he has led and the worthy example he has set the younger generation, consequently the publishers of this biographical compendium are glad to give such worthy character representation in this work.
Lewis Carter, the son of Wiley and Mary (Brown) Carter, was born December 18, 1861, in Clinton county, Illinois. His parents were both natives of Illinois and lived there all of their days. William Carter was the son of John Carter, while John Carter was a native of Virginia, where he was born of Scotch-Irish parentage. John Carter was a soldier in the Revolutionary war, while his son, Wiley, was in the Civil War, serving from 1861 to 1865. During the Civil War his wife, the mother of Lewis, whose history is here given, died leaving seven children, Mrs. Martha Clark, John C., James R., Charles A., two who died in infancy and Lewis, with whom this narrative deals. Soon after the father William came home from the war he again married.
Lewis Carter was educated in the schools of Clinton county, Illinois and when twenty-one years of age came to Shelby county, Iowa, where he has since continued to live. When he first came to this county he began working by the month and for the first five years in this county continued to work in this way. He saved his money with the intention of acquiring a farm of his own. Upon his marriage in 1889 he rented one hundred and sixty acres, for a five-year period, and then purchased eighty acres of land in Jefferson township. In 1900 he sold the eighty acres and bought two hundred and thirty-three acres in sections twenty and twenty-nine of Jefferson township. where he is now living. The Chicago & Great Western railway went through his farm as well as the west branch of the Nishnabotna river. Mr. Carter
carries on general farming and stock raising, applying himself particularly to the raising of grain, and now manages five hundred and one acres of land. He is known as one of the most skillful farmers of the county. He was formerly a large breeder of full blooded Shorthorn cattle, but has temporarily dropped the cattle industry, although he expects to return to it again in the near future. He raises high grade Poland China hogs and has one hundred and fifty head of fine hogs on the farm at the present time. He had sixteen head of work horses and five head of colts, most of which were Percherons, at the time the data for this history was collected. In 1914 Mr. Carter remodeled his house and installed many modern conveniences, thereby adding to its comfort and attractiveness.
Mr. Carter was married February 21, 1889, to Anna M. Constable, who was born in Cambria county, Pennsylvania, December 16, 1867. Her parents were William and Elizabeth (Horner) Constable. Her father was a native of Sussex, England. William Constable and wife were the parents of thirteen children, eight of whom are living, William, Edward, Oliver, Melvin, Frank, Nelson, Mrs: Clara Douglas and Anna, the wife of Mr. Carter. Mr. and Mrs. Carter have four children: Lora B., born January 7, 1890; William O., born April 30, 1891; Ray, born January 18, 1895, and Charles M., born October 10, 1898. All of the children are still residing with their parents.
Politically, Mr. Carter is a Republican but has never been an aspirant for any public position, feeling that his energies should be entirely devoted to his own interests. He and his son, William, are both members of the Ancient Free and Accepted Masons of Irvin and he is a member of the Modern Woodmen of America. Mr. Carter and his family are loyal members of the Christian church and Mr. Carter has been an elder in this denomination for the last fifteen years. Two of the children of the family, Lora and William, teach in the Sunday school, while the whole family have been actively interested in church work. Mr. Carter and his wife are highly esteemed in the neighborhood where they have lived for many years. Mrs. Carter is a woman of fine personal characteristics and is devoted to her family and
domestic duties. The children have all received good educations and very careful home training and are likewise popular wherever they are known. Mr. Carter is a man who has always taken an active interest in all measures which promise to better the community in which he and his fellow citizens
reside.
Source: 1915 Past and Present of Shelby County, Iowa, pp. 1088 - 1090.
Contributed by: Marthann Kohl-Fuhs
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One of the earliest pioneers of Shelby county was Alexander Samuels, who came to this county and located in Fairview township in 1870. The present generation can little realize the privations, tribulations and discouragements which often faced these sturdy old pioneers and for this reason too much honor can not be accorded them in this volume. It was their labors which started the county on the road to prosperity and induced others to come here to settle. The forty-four years which Mr. Samuels has spent in this county have been filled with all the joys and sorrows which fall to the lot of all early settlers in a new country. Yet, through it all, he has prospered, reared a large family of children to become useful citizens and thus performed the best service which any American citizen can do for his country.
Alexander Samuels was born in Denmark on July 24, 1844 and received his education in the land of his birth. He left his home for America at the age of nineteen and settled in Ottawa, Canada. The following year, in the fall of 1864, he crossed over the border into the United States and located at Racine, Wisconsin. During the winter of 1864-1865, he worked in the lumber camps of Michigan and in the spring of 1865 returned to Racine where he lived for the next five years. He was married in 1866 and found steady employment in a planing mill in Racine as long as he remained in the city. In the fall of 1870 he made the change which started him on the road to prosperity.
He had heard of the excellent land which could be secured at a low rate in Shelby county, Iowa, and in the summer of 1869 came to this county and bought sixty acres of unimproved land in Fairview township. In the fall of 1870, Mr. Samuels brought his family to this county and started in to improve his farm. He set out trees, built a house and barn and put his farm in such a condition that he could make a comfortable living from it. He farmed it several years and then sold it and bought eighty acres where he is now living. To this he has since added and now owns two hundred and sixteen acres, of well improved land in Fairview township. He has planted many trees of all kinds on the farm and derives no small income from his orchard crops each year. He is fortunate to have running water on the
farm.
Mr. Samuels was married in September 19, 1866, to Catherine Jacobsen, born September 19, 1849, near Rebe, Denmark, the daughter of Julius and Marie (Peterson) Jacobsen. The parents of Mrs. Samuels were born in Denmark and came to the United States in 1849 and located in Brown county, Wisconsin. Mr. Jacobsen and wife are the parents of nine children, six of whom died in infancy. The living children are Mrs. Carrie Peterson, Mrs. Anna Jacobsen and Catharine, the wife of Mr. Samuels. The children of Mr. and Mrs. Samuels are as follows: Wilton, Julia A., Anna H., Stella V., Randal, Olive, Belle, Clifford W. and Alexander F. Wilton married Louisa Sorensen and has five children: Estella; Pearl L., who married Clyde Davis and has one child, Luella Pearl; Junette, Alta and Meta. Julia is the wife of J. M. Cox of Harlan, and has three children: Clyde A., Lulu M., who married George Ezra Thomas, and Worth H., who resides in Los Angeles,
Mrs. Cox died in 1909. Anna H. is the wife of Peter Klindt and has two children, Louis and Myrtle L. Randal and Stella V. are deceased, the latter dying October 5, 1889. Olive is the wife of Henry Tobiason and has two children, Belle L. and Henry W. Belle is the wife of Ralph Jensen and has two children, Catherine R. and Carrie Muriel. Clifford married Ida Livingston; Alexander F. lives at home.
Mr. Samuels and his family are devoted members of the Baptist church and have always taken an active interest in the affairs of their church. He has been a deacon in the local church for several years.
Source: 1915 Past and Present of Shelby County, Iowa, pp. 1090 - 1091.
Contributed by: Marthann Kohl-Fuhs
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The people who are the strength of this country are those who are engaged in agricultural pursuits. It is the farmer who furnishes the means whereby the rest of the nation exists. The farmers of Shelby county, Iowa, are alive to the best interests of their communities, and are the men who have given the county an enviable position in Iowa. One of the men of Grove township, Shelby county, who has done his share in placing his county in the front, is James E. Woodard, who has achieved a distinct success as an agriculturist.
James E. Woodard, the son of Mason and Sarah (DeGraw) Woodard, was born in Jackson county, Iowa, in 1871. His father was born in Canada in 1848, and his mother in the state of Michigan in 1844. His father left Canada in 1889 and came to Shelby county, Iowa, where he first rented land and later purchased forty acres. He and his wife are still living on that forty acres. Four children were born to Mason Woodard and wife. James E. Woodard received his education in the schools of several states, his parents not permanently settling in this county until he was eighteen years old. He then began work as a farm hand in Grove township, where he married. Two years later he rented eighty acres in the township and began farming for himself. Soon he bought eighty acres and as he has prospered from year to year he has added to his possessions, until he is now the owner of four hundred and forty acres of fine land. He has thirty-five acres of timber land and does not need to plant forest trees, as do most of the farmers of this county. Mr. Woodard has been a hard working and conscientious farmer, and his success has been achieved by close economy and the exercise of frugality and thrift. He is an extensive breeder of live stock and disposes of several car loads from his farm each year.
Mr. Woodard was married in 1890 to Rosa Hinkle, born in this county in 1860, and to this union have been born seven children: Jessie, Joseph, Bessie, Howard, Dow, Faye and Sylvia. All of these children are still unmarried with the exception of Bessie, who became the wife of Frank Fouts.
Politically, Mr. Woodard is a Republican, and has always been actively interested in local politics. At the present time he is a member of the school board of his township, an office which he has filled with satisfaction to his fellow citizens for the past two years. He is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and is deeply interested in the welfare of that society. Mr. Woodard is a man of industry, and while he has devoted his attention primarily to the accumulation of a competency for himself and family, yet he has never neglected to bear his full share of the burdens of civic life.
Source: 1915 Past and Present of Shelby County, Iowa, pp. 1094 - 1095.
Contributed by: Marthann Kohl-Fuhs
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John Kuhl is the son of Valentine Kuhl and Clara (Kramer) Kuhl, pioneers of Westphalia township, where they settled in 1874. John Kuhl was educated in the public schools of Harlan, and was graduated from the commercial department of St. John's University, and attended Notre Dame University for one year. After his mother's death in 1885 he worked on the home farm and in the spring of 1886 he accepted a position with a harness and implement dealer of Earling, buying the business in the fall of 1889 and selling it in 1891, immediately thereafter locating at Randolph, Nebraska. In company with others, Mr. Kuhl operated a line of harness stores at Randolph, Fender, Belden, Wausa and Bloomfield, Nebraska. After 1896 he gave his attention to buying and selling of farm lands and the supervision of his own lands in Nebraska and Oklahoma. He was elected director of the Randolph State Bank in 1911 and director of the Indian Territory Building and Loan Association of Durant, Oklahoma. He was a passenger on the steamship "Carpathia," in April, 1912, and witnessed the rescue of the passengers of the "Titanic," after which he continued his trip to Europe. He visited Brazil, Argentine, Chile, Peru and Panama in 1913. In the fall of 1906 he was elected to the Nebraska State Legislature as a Democrat, the Legislature at that time being Republican. He was a member of the Committees on judiciary, revenue and taxation, and banks and banking. Subsequenyly Mr. Kuhl was chairman of the committee on privileges and elections. While in the Legislature he was a member of the joint committee of the House and Senate to draft new banking laws, embodying the principle of guaranty of deposits, which feature had been promised in the Democratic platform of Nebraska. This law was subsequently upheld by the supreme court of the United States without division. Mr. Kuhl also made a motion in caucus looking to the taking of appointment of standing committees from the speaker, and giving the selection of committees to a committee on Committees, selected by the caucus of the dominant party, a rule which was subsequently adopted by the national House of Representatives and first suggested there by Senator Norris of Nebraska, then a member of the national house, following its adoption by the Legislature of Nebraska. His highest political honor came to him when he was chosen speaker of the thirty-second session of the House of Representatives of Nebraska. He organized the Nebraska Legislative League, was elected first president of the league, composed of members of territorial and state legislatures of Nebraska, past and present, also governors, past and present. The society holds a reunion every year and is in a flourishing condition.
Source: 1915 Past and Present of Shelby County, Iowa, pp. 553 - 554.
Contributed by: Marthann Kohl-Fuhs
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John D. Maxwell, one of the early pioneers of Douglas township, Shelby county, was born at Peoria, Illinois, September 20, 1849. His father was Robert M. Maxwell, a native of Hampshire county, Virginia, born in 1822, and his mother, Margaret Slane Maxwell, born in Guernsey county, Ohio. The grandfather of the subject of this sketch, John Maxwell, was born in Scotland and served for a period of ten years and three months in the English army. During this service he helped to fight Napoleon at the battle of Waterloo. The maternal grandfather of Mr. Maxwell was Daniel Slane, of Virginia, and his maternal grandmother was Mahala Lafollette, also a native of Virginia. The Slane family was, however, originally from Tyrone County, Ireland. Mr. Maxwell, together with his father, R. M. Maxwell, and his brother, Allen Maxwell, and their mother, came to Shelby county, November 9, 1874. They settled on section seven in Douglas township. Mrs. Jemima
J. Goodman was born in Tazewell, Virginia.
Mr. Maxwell was married in Shelby county on February 10, 1881, to Miss Jemima J. Goodman. Miss Goodman was born in Tazewell county, Virginia. Mr. Maxwell's father first came with the family to Wayne county, Iowa, in 1855, where he broke out a piece of prairie and later sold his farm. He returned to Peoria county, Illinois, and in 1857 went to Minnesota, locating twenty miles west of what is now Minneapolis, then known as St. Anthony. The grasshoppers became bad and Mr. Maxwell and his family, in the summer or fall of 1858, moved to Missouri, and again in 1859 or 1860 removed to Illinois, where the family remained for several years.
After, the war the Maxwell family farmed for some years in Illinois and until 1873, when they moved to Nodaway County, Missouri, where they farmed one year. Here they were obliged to pay cash rent for a large farm and grew no crops. They, therefore, drove their teams northward through Shenandoah into Iowa, striking the Botna near Macedonia, thence through Avoca to Harlan. The father had one hundred and fifty dollars with which to build a house. He had, however, four teams, including two spans of mules. He bought railroad land from C. J. and D. M. Wyland and farmed it four years without making a payment, since he had nothing with which to pay. At this time there were as neighbors in the west part of Greeley township a number of homesteaders, including Ebenezer Trefry, an old English
sea captain, also Mr. Roper and Mr. Bundy.
R. M. Maxwell, the father of John D. Maxwell, was one of the very first in Douglas township to sow clover and timothy, which he did soon after coming to the township. He had been warned that it would be of no use to sow the tame grasses, but in spite of this warning, he sowed timothy, without a nurse crop, about the time of planting corn and had excellent results. At this time Mr. Maxwell's nearest neighbor was Bradley McCord, who had just moved into Douglas township. Other neighbors were A. N. Buckman, J. C. Buckman and John Kingsbury. There were also at this time in Douglas township Lytle Woods, Samuel Slates, Thomas French (father of J. W. French, later county auditor of Shelby county), and W. A. Johnson and wife.
Mr. and Mrs. Maxwell are the parents of the following named children: Elmer A., a resident of Woodbine, Iowa; Stella M. Paustian, a resident of Ballantine, Montana; John L., residing in Center township; Florence M. Larson, residing in Center township; Ross M., living with his parents; Myrtle M. Edwards, residing in Shelby township; D. W., residing at home, and Robert A., who passed away at the age of three years.
In the early eighties John Maxwell and his brother Allen, now residing near Defiance, under the firm name of Maxwell Brothers, began breeding thoroughbred Poland-China hogs, buying one of their first animals of Mr. Laughlin at New London, Iowa. They have bought sires chiefly from Illinois, some from Iowa, visiting the Iowa state fair often for the purpose of securing good breeding stock. They made an exhibit at the Iowa State Fair about 1890. They were highly successful in the development of a fine herd of these hogs.
Mr. Maxwell is a Republican in politics and has been prominent in the councils and conventions of his party in Shelby county. He is an Odd Fellow, having joined the order at Defiance about twenty years ago, and is also a Mason, having belonged to the Defiance lodge for six or seven years. Mr. Maxwell has taken a lively interest in the farmers' institutes and in all other movements, having for their purpose the placing of Shelby county in the first rank as an agricultural and live stock community. Mr. Maxwell and his wife, together with the children at home, now reside in Cass township, where they have a pleasant home.
Source: 1915 Past and Present of Shelby County, Iowa, pp. 1303-1305.
Contributed by: Marthann Kohl-Fuhs
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A prosperous merchant and public spirited citizen of Elkhorn, Iowa, is Jens P. Nielsen, a native of Denmark and a resident of this city for the past twenty-two years. Coming to this country at the age of twenty, he has labored to a definite end and with a success which indicates that he is a man of more than ordinary ability. He had no resources to start with, but with a determination born of necessity, he commenced to work at any kind of honest labor he could find to do. A very interesting feature of Mr. Nielsen's career is the fact that he attended Elkhorn College for two years although he was twenty-two at the time he entered. He felt the need of a better education and his future career shows that he profited by his course in the college. His life since coming to this county has been such as to merit the hearty commendation of every one with whom he has been thrown in contact. Jens P. Nielsen, the proprietor of a general mercantile establishment at Elkhorn, was born in 1868, in Denmark. His father, Peter Nielsen, was born in 1837 and spent his whole life as a farmer in his native land, dying in 1909. His mother, Marie Jensen, was born in Denmark in 1844 and is still living on the old home place in the land of her birth. Of the nine children born to Peter Nielsen and wife, four are still living.
Jens P. Nielsen attended the country schools of Denmark and helped his father on the farm until he was twenty years old. He then decided to come to the United States to seek his fortune, feeling that this country offered much better opportunities than his native land. He first located in Council Bluffs, Iowa, where he found work as a section hand on a railroad. Being offered a better place as a farm laborer he left the employ of the railroad and started to work on a farm in the vicinity of Council Bluffs. Two months later he left the farm and went to Chicago where he worked at different occupations for less than a year, after which he came to Shelby county, Iowa. He worked on a farm in this county for a year and in the fall enrolled as a student in Elkhorn College. He was in attendance at this excellent institution for two full years and has always felt that the training which he received there was of inestimable benefit to him. After leaving college he became interested in the making of butter and for the next fifteen years was engaged in the creamery and butter business in different parts of Iowa. In 1907 he returned to Elkhorn and purchased a half interest in a general mercantile store with Joseph James and five years later Mr. Nielsen bought out his partner's share. Since acquiring the store he has increased the stock and now has about fifteen thousand dollars worth of goods in the store. He has his stock arranged in an attractive manner and has a large trade in the city and surrounding country. In addition to his interest in the store he is a stock holder in the Atlantic Northern railroad and the Farmers' Lumber Yard of Elkhorn and Brayton, Iowa.
Mr. Nielsen was married in 1896 to Kattie Johnson. She is the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. James C. Johnson and was born in Illinois in 1874. To this marriage have been born two daughters, Agnes and Anna. Agnes graduated from the common school of Elkhorn and is now clerking in her father's store.
Politically, Mr. Nielsen is a member of the Progressive party and takes a deep interest in its success. He has always been interested in local politics and is now serving as a member of the city council of Elkhorn. He and his family are loyal members of the Danish Lutheran church and in its welfare they are very much interested. Mr. Nielsen deserves a great deal of credit for the success which he has attained for it is solely due to his own efforts. He has a winning personality and is one of the best known and most highly respected men of his community.
Source: 1915 Past and Present of Shelby County, Iowa, pp. 683-684.
Contributed by: Marthann Kohl-Fuhs
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