Biographies

~ Gilson, Benjamin S. ~

The enterprise of Benjamin S. Gilson, long connected with the agricultural interests of Jasper County, now living in retirement in Newton, has been crowned by success, as the result of rightly applied principles which never fail in their ultimate effect when coupled with integrity, uprightness and congenial disposition, as they have been done in the present instance, judging from the high standing of Mr. Gilson among his fellow men, who's individual esteem he has justly won and retained.

Mr. Gilson was born near Emmetsburg, Maryland, October 25, 1846. He is the son of Thomas S. and Susan E. (Groff) Gilson, the father born in Frederick County, Maryland, February 27, 1825, and the mother was also born in that state. There they grew to maturity, were educated and married. They came to Dubuque, Iowa, in 1852, where they made their home until the spring of 1870, when they removed to Marshall County. Mr. Gilson devoted his life to farming, remaining on his place in Marshall County until 1885, when he removed to Marshalltown, where he died in 1802. He was a man of energy, upright character and well liked wherever he lived. He was an enthusiastic worker in the Methodist Church, and at the time of his death was trustee of the Church at Marshalltown, and he had held other positions in the Church. His wife was also a member of this Church from her early youth. They were the parents of three children, Thomas R., of Sioux Falls, South Dakota, and Benjamin S., of this review, the other child being deceased. The mother passed to her rest in 1907, having attained the advanced age of eighty-five years.

Benjamin S. Gilson came west with his parents and was reared on the home farm, where he worked in the summer, and attended the public schools in the wintertime. He has always been a farmer and delights in rural surroundings. He began life for himself on a farm in Dubuque County, and after he was married moved to Marshall County, and in 1891 located at Newton and retired from active farm work. For some time he has been speculating in lands on his own account, and his efforts have met with success.

Mr. Gilson was married March 2, 1869, to Frances E. Hamilton, who was born in Dubuque County, Iowa, the daughter of James S. and Mary (Walker) Hamilton, natives of Pennsylvania. To this union three children have been born: Jeanetta Mabel, who keeps house for her father, is a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution. She is rarely accomplished in china, watercolor, pastel and oil painting. She is a graduate of the high school and is a young lady of marked intellectual attainments; Charles W. who married Mrs. Grayce (Mertz) Dixon, August 30, 1911, lives at Scott, Saskatchewan, Canada; James Harold. Both boys are homesteading in Canada. James H. is a graduate of Northwestern University at Chicago, receiving the degree of Bachelor of Arts; he is also a graduate of the Comnock School of Oratory of Evanston, Illinois, having spent six years in college. He was offered a professorship, but he preferred outdoor life on the farm. He has financial interest in the Kittleman Leather Goods Company, of Chicago He was married November 9, 1911, to Ruth Ormiston Warrington, daughter of Rev. Thomas C. Warrington, pastor of McKinley Park Church of Chicago, and lives in Canada.

Mrs. Gilson passed to her rest in December 1906, when fifty-eight years of age. She was a member of the Methodist Church, as is also Mr. Gilson and the entire family. The father is a Prohibitionist and so votes. He has a beautiful and neatly kept home on East South Street. While Mr. Gilson is a retired farmer, he is still engaged in business, having large land holdings in Canada, Kansas, Iowa, and South Dakota. Walter, the eldest son, is an expert machinist, and is doing expert work for the International Harvester Company in Canada, making his headquarters at Scott, Saskatchewan.

Mr. Gilson is a class leader in the Methodist Church at Newton and has held nearly all the offices in the church. He has been a teacher in the Bible class for fifteen years. He was twice a delegate to the World's Sunday School Congress, and he is a member of the Red Cross Society.

The reputation of the Gilson ancestors is most exemplary, there having been no criminals and several preachers among them, and one of them fought in the Revolutionary War. William Gilson was the founder of the family in America. He married Elizabeth Craighead. Their son, Thomas Gilson, married Nancy Boyd, and their son Richard married Mary Smith, and Thomas, the son of the latter couple, was the father of the subject.

David Boyd was captured by the Indians and lived three years with them. Upon his return to his friends he joined the patriot army in the Revolutionary War, throughout which he served.

Mr. Gilson is a pleasant man to meet, hospitable, kind-hearted and possessing every characteristic of a Christian gentleman and he makes friends easily and has no trouble in retaining them. Page 638.

~ Gipson, Albert A. ~

The gentleman whose name heads this paragraph is regarded as one of the progressive young agriculturists of Independence Township, where he has spent all his life. His well directed efforts in practical everyday affairs, his capable management of his business interests and his sound judgment have brought to him prosperity and his life demonstrates what may be accomplished by any man of energy and ambition who is not afraid to work and has the perseverance to continue his labors in the face of any discouragements which may seem to arise. In all the relations of life he has commanded the respect and confidence of those with whom he has been brought into contact.

Mr. Gipson was born in Independence Township, Jasper County, November 22, 1876. He is the son of George and Emma (Davey) Gipson, the father born in Lincolnshire, England, May 2, 1831, and the mother in Cambridgeshire, England, July 21,1839.

Albert A. Gipson, of this sketch, grew up on the home farm, where he assisted with the general work when a boy, and during the winter months he attended the neighboring schools. On April 30, 1901, he was united in marriage with Ella Vansice, who was born in Independence Township, on the farm where she now resides, June 18, 1877. She is the daughter of John M. and Malinda (Richmond) Vansice, the father born in Bradford County, Pennsylvania, May 12, 1855, and the mother in Jasper County, Iowa, on January 11, 1860. The father was thirteen years old when he left his native state and immigrated to Jasper County with his parents in 1868 and here he grew to manhood, received his education and has resided here ever since. A full sketch of him appears elsewhere.

To Mr. and Mrs. Gipson have been born five children, namely: Marvin Hewitt, born April 9, 1893; Merrill Alfred, born April 7, 1905; a daughter, born April 17, 1908, died three days later, unnamed; Hazel Wanda, born June 3, 1910; Helen Myrtle, born March 4, 1912.

Mr. and Mrs. Gipson own the old Vansice homestead in Independence Township, which consists of one hundred and sixty acres of excellent land, which is well improved. Mr. and Mrs. Gipson own the old Vansice homestead in Independence Township, which consists of one hundred and sixty acres of excellent land, which is well improved

Politically, Mr. Gipson is a Republican and he has been road supervisor of Malaka Township. He is a member of Baxter Lodge No. 168, Knights of Pythias, of Baxter. Page 1242

~ Gipson, Alfred D. ~

Tireless energy and honesty of purpose seem to be the chief characteristics of A. D. Gipson, one of the leading farmers of Independence Township, Jasper County, where he has been content to spend his entire life. He is a member of one of the oldest and most highly honored pioneer families of this locality, he and other members of which have played well their parts in the general development of the northern part of this County from the early pioneer days to the present.

Mr. Gipson's birth occurred here on November 22, 1876. He is the son of George and Emma (Davey) Gipson, the father born in Lincolnshire, England, May 2, 1831, and died July 17, 1903; the mother was born in Cambridgeshire, England, on July 21, 1839, and is still living, making her home with her son, the subject. These parents grew to maturity, were educated in the common schools of England and their marriage took place in New York state on May 25, 1856. There they lived one year and a half, then came West, locating near Joliet, Illinois, then to Missouri and back to Illinois and later moving to Jasper County, Iowa, being pioneers here and they purchased eighty acres of land here, for which they paid six dollars per acre. They later added to their holdings and became well established and influential in this community. They became the parents of eleven children, all living but one, namely: Elizabeth Ann, born June 14, 1857, was thrice married, first, to Thomas Alexander Jones on December 24, 1878; his death occurred on December 16, 1879, and she married Samuel A. Shellady on October 12, 1881; his death occurred August 16, 1901, and she married J. B. Hampton in 1911; she lives at Lincoln, Nebraska. Emogene Izora Gipson was born April 26, 1859, married B. F. Johnson on May 2, 1883, and her home is at Boone, Iowa; Adeline Louise, born December 2, 1861, married Richard Thomas on August 12, 1884, and her death occurred on May 17, 1887; Mary Jennett, born April 25, 1864, married C. A. McCreary on November 12, 1884, and they live in Toledo, Iowa; Susan Amelia, born June 10, 1866, lives in Los Angeles, California; Lillian Samantha, born February 11, 1869, married Frank W. Hampton on January 20, 1897, and they live in Lincoln, Nebraska; George Henry, born January 15, 1871, lives in Independence, Iowa; Dora Musetta, born September 9, 1874, married John Scott on October 28, 1896, and they live in Monroe, Iowa; Albert Adalbert and Alfred Delford, twins, the latter the subject of this sketch, were born, as before stated, on November 22, 1876; the former married Ella Vansice on April 30, 1901; both these sons live in Independence Township, Jasper County, Iowa; Myrtle Edna, born January 27, 1882, married Archibald Donaldson on December 24, 1891. All these children were born in Independence Township, this County, with the exception of the three oldest, who were born in Illinois.

Alfred D. Gipson, the immediate subject of this sketch, was reared on the home farm and educated in the common schools. When but a boy he assisted with the general work about the home place, which he helped develop and on which he still lives, successfully operating the same, cultivating two hundred and seventy-five acres in a manner that stamps him as fully abreast of the times as a general farmer and stock raiser, having kept the place well improved in every respect and rotated his crops so as to retain the original fertility of the soil, and there is today no more desirable place in Independence Township.

Mr. Gipson is a public-spirited man and has always supported all worthy measures. He has been constable of Independence Township for four years and has given eminent satisfaction in this office. Politically, he is a Republican. He belongs to Unity Lodge No. 520, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, of Baxter, also Baxter Lodge No. 168, Knights of Pythias, and Baxter Camp No. 5642, Modern Woodmen of America, at Baxter.

Personally, Mr. Gipson is a man of fine sentiments, good-natured and whole souled and it is safe to say that all who know him are his friend. Page 1244.

~ Gipson, George H. ~

In the collection of material for the biographic department of this publication there has been a constant aim to use a wise discrimination in regard to the selection of subjects and to exclude none worthy of representation in its pages, and now that the biographer has come to the name of George H. Gipson, one of the worthy citizens of Independence Township, he takes, pleasure in giving the reader something of his life history and that of his honored family on both sides of the house, for they have been well known in this locality since the days of the early settler.

Mr. Gipson was born in the Township where he still resides, on January 15, 1871, and here he grew to manhood and has always been identified with the agricultural life of this community. He is the son of George and Emma (Davey) Gipson, both born in England, the father in Lincolnshire in 1831, and the mother in Cambridgeshire. The elder Gipson came to America in 1853 and settled near Joliet, Illinois, and later came to Jasper County, Iowa, where his death occurred on July 17, 1903; the mother is still living, making her home with her son, A. D., of Independence Township. Their family consisted of eleven children, ten of whom are living, namely: Lizzie Hampton, of Lincoln, Nebraska; Emma Johnson, of Boone, Iowa; Addie Thomas died at Iowa City; Mrs. C. A. McCreary lives at Toledo, Iowa; Susan lives at Los Angeles, California; Mrs. F. W. Hampton lives in Lincoln, Nebraska; George H., of this review; Mrs. J. A. Scott, of Monroe, Iowa; Albert and Alfred, twins, both live in Independence Township; Mrs. Myrtle Donaldson also lives in Independence Township.

George H. Gipson, of this review, grew up on the home farm and was educated in the local schools, and on February 23, 1911, he was united in marriage with Mattie Perry, who was born near Laurel, Marshall County, Iowa, January 21, 1877, the daughter of Harrison W. and Minerva (Barbee) Perry, the father born in Belmont County, Ohio, February 27, 1849, from which state he came with his parents to Marshall County, Iowa, in an early day and there the family became well established and have been well known there to the present day. He and Minerva Barbee were married in 1874. She was born in Jasper County, this state, on December 25, 1853, her parents being among the earliest settlers in this County, having settled near Newton, and here the father, John Barbee, died when about seventy-four years of age, and the mother, whose maiden name was Olive Newton, also died in this County when seventy years of age. Their family consisted of eleven children, six of whom are living.

Mrs. Gipson is one of a family of seven children, named as follows: Mary died when five years of age; Marshall, born in Laurel, Iowa, in May 1878, is living at home; Edith Jones, born August 4, 1883, is living in Clear Creek Township; Oscar, born in May 1886, is living in Independence Township, this County; Odessa, born May 14, 1894, is living at home.

George H. Gipson has been very successful in his life work, being a hardworking, conscientious, straightforward farmer. He is the owner of a valuable and well-improved farm of one hundred and fifty-five acres of land in Independence Township, on which stand a substantial dwelling and convenient outbuildings. Fraternally, he belongs to the Baxter Camp of the Modern Woodmen of America. Page 1246.

~ Goodhue, Edward Payson ~

(An Autobiography) Edward Payson Goodhue, the third and youngest son of David and Betsey Goodhue, was born in Groton, New Hampshire, March 7, 1839. My father was the oldest son of Joseph Goodhue and he was born in Groton, New Hampshire, February 11, 1903, and his death occurred on February 26, 1886. He was a man of sentiment as well as enterprise, but more philosophical than emotional, a great reader, in fact, was a better scholar than his sons; he was strictly honest and temperate had no use for tobacco, whisky or profanity. He took an active part in the organization of Malaka Township, Jasper County, Iowa, and acted as clerk at the first town meeting, and he was commissioned by A. W. Randall, postmaster-general, on the 24th of April 1868, as the first postmaster at Horn, and he held the office eleven years, and I was commissioned by Postmaster-General D. M. Key in 1879 to take his place and I occupied this position nine years. My father was a descendant of William Goodhue, who came from England in November 1636. He is known to have been a man of high integrity and wisdom and many of his descendants have ranked high in Church and state. They are a quiet, peace-loving people. I have never heard of a divorce in this family, and neither is there any record of any Goodhue having been in the poor house or the penitentiary. They have their share of faults, but so far have held their own counsel and adjusted their differences outside of court.

My mother's people were from Scotland. Her maiden name was Betsey McGoo; she was born in South Berwick, Maine, February 2, 1811, and died July 18, 1906, at the advanced age of ninety-five years, five months and sixteen days. She married Thomas Warwick, of Boston, Massachusetts, November 21, 1826. Four years later he died in Baltimore, Maryland, leaving two young sons, James and Thomas; the former died in Lynn, Massachusetts, in the spring of 1900, and the latter, who was in the marine service during the Civil War, died while thus employed for his country. On February 4, 1833, my parents were married and, besides myself, two other sons were born, George Clinton and David Dexter. She was a noble woman and true mother in every sense of the word, always full of hope and cheer, generous to a fault, sympathetic and energetic. It was her custom back in New Hampshire, to take the wool when sheared, and card, spin and weave enough to cut and make my older brother new suits for winter, and she performed her tasks in this line with more grace than ease, singing more than complaining. Of course these mantles were sooner out-grown than out-worn and naturally fell upon me; a fair deal was the height of my expectancy, but this was more than I had bargained for. It is better to be born lucky than rich.

When I was fourteen years of age my father sold his farm at Croton, New Hampshire, and on April 1, 1854, he took Horace Greeley's advice and came west, arriving a month later, on the first of May, at Marengo, the County Seat of Iowa County, Iowa. Besides these parents, their three sons and "Ring," their dog, Uncle Warren Goodhue and Cousin Frank also came along, and in June we were joined by Uncle Harford and Aunt Harriet Barton, from Reedville, Massachusetts. Uncle Harford and my brother, George C., entered land just east of Hilton Creek, but my father, in company with Uncle Warren, bought a section, including some timber, that lay across the Iowa River. Fifty-five acres of this had been broken and enclosed by a seven-rail stake-and-rider fence, two houses built and two wells dug square and timbered up cob-house fashion. The houses were constructed in a similar manner of logs and shingled with undressed oak splits, three feet in length and from four to six inches in width; these were laid in courses and a log placed across the roof to hold them in place. Like Solomon's temple, the sound of the hammer was never heard in their construction, for the buildings were minus nails. This land was surveyed and divided during the summer of 1855. It was well located, a little southeast of Marengo on a divide that overlooked the town; but the climate was so different from that of New England, it gave all of us the shakes. As soon as I had recovered, my father, mother and brother Clint fell ill with typhoid fever and brother Dick was still in a serious condition. To get a nurse was quite out of the question, for there was no room nor place for one, and, although a boy of sixteen years, I was their only help and watched over them both night and day. Our good Doctor Hendershot gave me much praise for skill and untiring devotion.

A little later in the fall my good Aunt Harriet died, which fact proved so depressing to my parents that they sold out and moved in the early spring of 1856 to Jasper County, making the journey in a lumber-wagon, drawn by £our oxen. Attached to the end of the wagon was a handcart of my making, filled with trinkets and "Yankee notions" from the East. We had sold our livestock and took with us only the oxen, one bay stallion, a small drove of sheep, a coop of chickens and our little black dog to bring up the rear. We frequently stuck in the mud, for the sloughs were not bridged, but they managed to pull through by doubling teams with some mover who chanced to come by in an opportune time, or who were also stuck in the deep mire on the evening of the third day we landed at the North Skunk River. There my I father bought one hundred and ninety-five acres of choice land, of which twenty-five acres had been broken and fenced, and upon which a house had been started and left partly finished. The land was well watered and on it stood a fine grove of timber, which was quite an item, for the country was principally prairie and so far as the early settlers knew, there was no coal in the state, nor railroad to furnish them with building material. Some of the black walnut was cut and sawed at John Cary's mill, and in the fall after it was seasoned, my father purchased for me a set of tools and I was put to work finishing the house. After making the panel doors, there was enough left to make my mother a light-stand, a leaf-table and cupboard. I still retain the latter as a true specimen of what a boy can do with Yankee "gumption" at the age of seventeen years. The country was new and needed to be developed. I had little time for books or sport. I never owned a gun and I never killed a rabbit or songbird. I got enough pleasure out of the use of tools, which I took too most readily. I made barrels, churns, trays, boots, shoes, sleds, spoke-wheels and many other things. While in Dubuque in the winter of 1862, in company with my brother Deck, I offered to enlist with a company of carpenters and join the Union Army in Tennessee, but our services were rejected.

My first vote was cast for President Lincoln, and I have voted for every President since, with the exception of Hayes; however, I am liberal both in my political and religious views, believing more in men and principles than in parties or any special denominations, although I attend Church and contribute something to the support of Churches. I do not believe the story of creation, believing that light, heat, motion and all phases of vegetable and animal life to be spontaneous, springing from the ever changing but indestructible atom. Matter and space are too vast to be cornered and controlled by art, and nature is too full of tragedies to admit of design. It would impeach justice as well as mercy and set at naught the command of Moses, "Thou shalt not kill."

I have always tried to do my full share in the work of developing this locality, having had its interests at heart from the first, and I hope I have been of some small service in this respect. When twenty-one years of age I was elected road boss, and my district run the length of the Township, and after spending the tax bridging the sloughs, I donated twenty-one days grading the bank and reconstructing the first bridge across the North Skunk river. The next year I was elected justice of the peace, and I have held at different times every office in the Township, except constable.

It was while acting on the building committee of the school board that I first met Carlton Braley, who proved to be a genial Vermont Yankee, who owned the stone quarry at Kellogg. He introduced me to his daughter Ellen, who, by the way, is the present Mrs. Goodhue. She had been well educate and had taught several terms of school in our district, and of course, the first

one in our new schoolhouse. We were married by the Rev. Addison Lyman and served a sumptuous Thanksgiving dinner, November 25, 1869. On March 13, 1871, Birdie, our only child, now Mrs. F. G. Maple, was born. We had some reverses, but in spite of that, prospered fairly well, so in the summer of 1890, after a lapse of thirty-six years, in company with my wife and daughter, I visited my native land, where every hill and dale are hallowed by the sacred memory of bygone days. We visited relatives in and around Boston and every town of note in Vermont, Mrs. Goodhue's native state. We had the pleasure of attending a liberal camp meeting at Queen City Park, bordering Lake Champlain, and we crossed that historic lake to the place where my grandfather fought under McDonough in the War of 1812. We came home through Canada, by way of Montreal. The following winter we bought the place where we now reside. The following summer we sold our farm in Malaka Township and since then have bought ninety-five acres more. I have given my daughter a deed of twenty, and sold some, but still retain eighty-five acres, the most of which we keep rented. We keep a little livestock for every day use, including a favorite horse. Page 554.

~ Goodhue, George Clinton ~

Since he came to Jasper County, over a half century ago, the gentleman of whom this sketch is penned has been a witness of very important changes in this vicinity, and his reminiscences of the early days here are most interesting and entertaining to a listener. But change is constant and general, generations rise and pass unmarked away, and it is the duty of posterity as well as a present gratification to place upon the printed page a true record of the lives of those who have preceded us on the stage of action and left to their descendants the memory of their struggles and achievements. The years of the honored subject are a part of an indissoluble chain which links the annals of the past to those of the latter-day progress and prosperity, and the history of Jasper County would not be Complete without due reference to the long, useful and successful life Mr. Goodhue has lived, having been adequately rewarded as an earnest, courageous laborer in one of the most important fields of endeavor, agriculture. Generous and big-hearted, kindly in disposition, he has never lacked for friends, and many of them will pursue his life record, as written here, with deep interest.

George Clinton Goodhue, the oldest living resident of Malaka Township, Jasper County, is the scion of a hardy and substantial New England family. He was born in Groton, Grafton County. New Hampshire, May 22, 1834, and there he grew to manhood and received such education as the early schools afforded. He came west with his parents in 1854 and settled at Marengo, Iowa County, Iowa, where his father and uncle established the family home, and since then the Goodhues have maintained their residence in the Hawkeye State.

David Goodhue, father of the subject, purchased, in partnership with an uncle of the latter, six hundred acres of choice land upon their arrival in Jasper County in 1854, for which they paid the sum of three thousand dollars. They bought two hundred and forty acres of David Betz for the sum of fourteen hundred dollars, and three hundred and sixty acres of Isaac Chenoweth for the sum of sixteen hundred dollars. At that time it was considered a very large sum for Iowa land. In 1856 the family settled in Malaka Township, where David Goodhue, the father, had purchased one hundred and ninety-five acres, for which he paid twenty-three hundred dollars, and here he became one of the substantial pioneer farmers and influential citizens.

The Goodhue family came west by railroad as far as Rock Island, Illinois, from which place the family walked the greater part of the way to Iowa City. They endured many of the hardships and privations encountered by all who cast their lot in a new country.

George Clinton Goodhue, of this sketch, grew to manhood on the home farm, where he found plenty to do as soon as he was old enough to handle a hoe or look over the plow handle, but he was quite a boy when the family started the development of their Jasper County farm and did much in getting the raw land under a good state of cultivation, and he has continued to make his home in this County, with the exception of two years spent in Massachusetts, where he followed the shoemaker's trade; he also learned the cooper's trade when a young man. Before he returned to Massachusetts he had purchased one hundred and twenty acres of land in Malaka Township, for which he paid nine hundred dollars. This land is now a part of Mr. Goodhue's home farm. He owns two hundred acres of valuable and well-improved land. He has been very successful as a general farmer and stock raiser and has a pleasant, well-furnished home.

Mr. Goodhue was married on April 11, 1865, to Lefea S. Thomas, who was born in East Wheatland, Illinois, March 31, 1847; and she died in Jasper County, Iowa, August 17, 1885. She was the daughter of Ira B. and Mary (Munson) Thomas, both natives of New York, from which state they came to Mt. Vernon, Iowa, and lived there the rest of their lives, both being now deceased. Mrs. Lefea S. Goodhue had one brother, Elihu B. Thomas, now deceased.

The following children have been born to Mr. Goodhue and wife: Mrs. Lizzie M. Farr, born in 1866, lives at Cummings. Iowa; Elmer C., born July 30, 1869, is living in Malaka Township, this County; Franklin Eugene, born in 1873, also lives in this Township; Edward Falor, born July 5, 1878, is the youngest of the family. These children were born and reared in Jasper County and they attended the local schools.

Mr. Goodhue has taken an active interest in public affairs. He was the first constable of Malaka Township, which office he filled with credit and satisfaction. He has also been road supervisor. He is a stanch Republican and he cast his first vote for John C. Fremont, "The Pathfinder." He is a member of the Church at Wittemberg. He has so ordered his actions among his fellow men that he has retained the respect of all with whom he has come into contact. Page 1216

~ Goodwin, Edwin J. ~

Independence Township, Jasper County, can claim many young enterprising farmers who are adopting the best of the twentieth-century methods of tilling the soil, while on the other hand some seem to prefer clinging to the style of work followed by their forefathers when this country was in its infancy or in the older localities of the Eastern states. Of course, the farmers of fifty and one hundred years ago succeeded, but this was due not so much to their skill as to the fact that the land was fertile, being new, and to their hard labor, persistently applied. None will gainsay that they worked harder than do their descendants of today. It is doubtful if the young husbandmen of this epoch would make more than a bare living should they go back to the simple methods of the early days; the land must be managed differently to get the best results.

One of the scientific farmers of this locality who has succeeded through his ingenuity and close application to advanced methods of agriculture is Edwin J. Goodwin, who was born in Pennsylvania, February 11, 1873. He is the son of Dr. Eugene A. and Sarah Louise (Smith) Goodwin, the father born at Hallowell, Maine, April 10, 1831, and the mother was born at Hackettstown, New Jersey, July 8, 1841. They grew up in the East, received their education and were married there, immigrating to Newton, Jasper County, Iowa, in the fall of 1878. The father was a successful physician and for years was one of the best known in this locality. His death occurred in Marshall County, Iowa, on October 18, 1910, and his wife died in Jasper County on April 18, 1904. Doctor Goodwin was graduated from the Long Island Hospital and the New York College of Medicine, also from the University of Michigan College of Medicine, class of 1871, being a colleague of the well-known Dr. Perry Engle, mentioned elsewhere in the work. The subject has the two diplomas awarded by these institutions to his father. Doctor Goodwin served in the Civil War, having enlisted in the Ninety-ninth New York Volunteer Infantry, on June 14, 1861, and after a very praiseworthy record, he was discharged on July 2, 1864. His family consisted of two children: Edwin J., of this sketch, being the sole survivor; the eldest child, a daughter, Mrs. Edith May Atkinson, who was born in Bethlehem, New Jersey, June 23, 1868, died in Des Moines, Iowa, February 17, 1896.

Edwin J. Goodwin was five years old when he came with his parents to Jasper County in 1878 and here he grew to manhood and received his education, and here he has continued to reside. He lived in Newton one year and there attended the public schools, then moved with the family to near Old Baxter and attended the rural schools there. He supplemented his graded schoolwork with two years' study in Highland Park College, Des Moines, in 1896 and 1897, after which he returned to the farm where he has since devoted his energies.

Mr. Goodwin was married on January 23, 1901, to Genevieve A. Cool, who was born in Jasper County, Iowa, January 27, 1882. She was reared here, attended the local schools and has always resided in this County. She is the daughter of Peter J. and Lucina B. (Stone) Cool, the father born in Freeport, Illinois, July 1, 1852, and the mother was born in Wisconsin, June 16, 1860. He came with his parents to Jasper County, Iowa, in 1853 and was one of the pioneers of the County. The parents of Mrs. Goodwin both live in Baxter, a well-known and influential family here for over a half-century.

Mrs. Goodwin was the third in order of birth in a family of six children, namely: Mrs. Agnes Workman, born December 15, 1878, of Baxter; Mrs. Leota Allen, born August 12, 1880, lives near Baxter; Mrs. Winifred Curyea, born December 16, 1883, is living at Parker, South Dakota; Mrs. Alphone Gallagher, born August 2, 1887, is living at home; Mrs. Ethel Dodd, born November 30, 1891, lives in Marshall County. All these children were born and reared in Jasper County.

After the death of Mr. Goodwin's sister, he took into his home his niece, Edith May Akinson, who was born on February 12, 1896, who has been educated in the rural schools of this community and will enter the Baxter high school in the fall of 1912.

Mr. Goodwin owns forty acres of good land in Independence, which he is rapidly placing under modern improvements, and he has a pleasant home. Politically, he is a Republican. He has been secretary of the board of education of Independence Township for a number of years. He belongs to Baxter Lodge No. 168, Knights of Pythias, of Baxter. He and his wife are members of Baxter Temple No. 202, Pythian Sisters, and they are members of the Congregational Church at Baxter.

Mrs. Goodwin is a lady of talent along musical lines and for some time has been a popular instructor in that branch of the fine arts, the piano being her specialty, for which she has well qualified herself. In addition to the work with competent teachers in this community, she supplemented this with one year's work in the Grinnell College Conservatory of Music. These are popular young people in all circles of their community, representing as they do a splendid type of our best citizenship. Page 1146.

~ Gorrell, Hon, Joseph R. ~

That life is the most desirable that results in the greatest good to the greatest number, and, though all do riot reach the heights to which they aspire, yet in some measure each can win success and make life a blessing to his fellow men. It is not necessary for one to occupy eminent public positions to do so, for in the humbler walks of life there remains much good to be accomplished and many opportunities for the exercise of talents and influence that in some way will touch the lives of those with whom we come into contact, making them better and brighter. In the list of Jasper County's successful citizens, Hon. Joseph R. Gorrell has long occupied a prominent place. In his record there is much that is commendable, and his character forcibly illustrates what a life of energy can accomplish when plans are wisely laid and actions are governed by right principles, noble aims and high ideals. In his professional career as well as his private life, no word of suspicion has ever been breathed against him. His actions have always been the result of careful and conscientious thought, and when once convinced that he is right, no suggestion of policy or personal profit can swerve him from the course he has decided on, his career being rounded in its beautiful simplicity, for he has done his full duty in all the relations of life, and it is safe to say that no man in Jasper county enjoys to a greater extent the affection and confidence than does Doctor Gorrell. This feeling has been demonstrated for him on more than one occasion, and there is no one who could be more appreciative than Doctor Gorrell when he is made the recipient of signal favors at the hands of friends. The good Doctor has the right of way into the homes of the people and an opportunity to ingratiate himself into the affections of the people, and he has made the best of his opportunities while administering to the sick, in leaving a pleasing and effective impression. For nearly a half century he has been a resident of Newton and a maker of her history. The best part of his life has been given to the service of Jasper County and we are glad to chronicle the fact that this long and faithful service has been rewarded with a competency sufficient to insure his old age from want. Newton has grown from a village under his eye and he has helped it grow. Besides his modern and attractive residence and a substantial business block, he has erected a number of good dwellings, keeping his surplus money active in building up the town and county and he has done much good in a material way, and he is distinctively one of the notable characters of his day and generation in this locality and is eminently deserving of the high esteem in which he is held and of a place in his country's history.

Doctor Gorrell is the scion of a fine old family of the Buckeye State, he himself having been born near. Warren, Trumbull County, Ohio, May 6, 1835, being the fifth of a family of ten children born to Joseph and Easter (Glass) Gorrell. Little definite information can be gleaned with reference to the origin and early history of the family, but the ancestry has been traced to continental Europe, either Italy or France. The paternal great-great-grandfather was born on the ocean while his parents were en route to America about 1721, from an island in the Mediterranean Sea. Upon arriving in the United States this family located in South Carolina, but later moved to Pennsylvania, in which state Grandfather James Gorrell was born, and there in 1802 occurred the birth of Joseph Gorrell, father of the Doctor, he being one of a family of twenty-one children, nineteen of whom grew to maturity. Three brothers served in the War of 1812. About 1825 Joseph Gorrell went to Ohio and in 1845 he moved to Wells County, Indiana, where he remained until his death in 1888, his wife having died there in 1877.

The maternal grandfather, James Glass, was born in Pennsylvania, to which state his father had emigrated from Scotland. Little is known of the Glass family.

Doctor Gorrell passed his boyhood upon his father's farm, where he laid the foundation for a sturdy manhood by working in the fields during the crop seasons. When seventeen years of age he entered an academy for one year, then spent three years in a Presbyterian college at Ft. Wayne, Indiana, where he mastered the ancient classics and gained a thorough scientific education. He began reading medicine with Dr. J. R. McCleary, at Bluffton, Indiana, and later he took a course of lectures in the University of Pennsylvania at Philadelphia, later entering the University of Buffalo, from which he was graduated in February 1850. He had made a very creditable record at all these institutions and, thus well equipped, he opened an office at Newville, DeKalb County, Indiana, in August 1859, and there he remained until the fall of 1863, enjoying a very satisfactory patronage. Then his patriotic impulses led him to offer his services to his country during the dark days of the great rebellion, entering the service as a surgeon of the One Hundred and Twenty-ninth Indiana Volunteer Infantry, continuing in that capacity until the close of the war, performing his duties in such a manner as to reflect credit upon himself, to win the high esteem of his comrades and the hearty commendation of his superior officers. Seeking a new field for his operations. Doctor Gorrell came to Newton, Iowa, at the close of the war and here he has since resided, enjoying an ever-growing and lucrative practice and soon taking rank with the leading physicians and surgeons of the state, always keeping fully abreast of the times in all matters pertaining to his profession. Being an assiduous student and an independent and vigorous thinker as well as a keen observer and a tireless investigator, he has long since become one of the noted men in the medical profession of his day and generation.

Doctor Gorrell was married in 1860, while living at Newville, Indiana, to Frances E. Hendricks, of DeKalb County, that state. She is the daughter of Dr. Joel E. Hendricks, a prominent physician of his day in that county during the time of his practice. Doctor Hendricks was noted as a mathematician, and was recognized by Asop Hall, now manager of the National Observatory of Washington, D. C., and by the Astronomer Royal, of London, England, and by Simon Newcomb, as one of the great mathematicians of the world. Mrs. Gorrell is a lady of splendid attributes of mind and heart and has enjoyed a host of warm friends all her life. This union has been blessed by the birth of two children: Carrie, born January 10, 1862, is the wife of J. W. Hunter; Arthur R., who died October 23, 1911, was born in 1867, and graduated from the Iowa State University and the Northwestern University of Chicago.

Doctor Gorrell has ever acted upon the principles that he who serves his country best serves his party best, and with this object in view his political efforts, although in the highest degree successful and influential, have been above the slightest suspicion of dishonor, and his career as a public servant has been eminently satisfactory to all concerned, irrespective of party alignment. He was elected to the state Senate in 1893 on the Republican ticket and he was elected again to this important office in 1897 on the Democratic ticket. Such a record is evidently criterion enough of his high standing in his district. He made a most worthy and commendable record, making his influence felt for the good of his county and the state, and figuring prominently in the councils and debates among his colleagues, where his ideas were respectfully weighed and usually heartily endorsed.

Politically, Doctor Gorrell is an adherent of principle to the defiance of party demands and party affiliations. He was a Republican until the party strayed from the paths of the fathers, when he identified himself with the Bryan Democracy with all the energy and enthusiasm of his nature, and proved stronger personally than either party. No man ever received a more striking testimonial of personal popularity than to be elected to a high office first by one party then by the other. The Doctor has retired from politics save for the good he can do his friends in their aspirations. When he is a friend to a man he is loyal through every vicissitude. Being of a literary and philosophical turn of mind, his office and dwelling may be said with truth to be the intellectual center of Jasper county, bringing together more of the thinkers of the locality than any other place or places. Here questions of science, philosophy and religion are discussed honestly and fearlessly and, above all, intelligently. Doctor Gorrell is himself a writer of force and great versatility, articles from his trenchant pen being copied far and near, and he has contributed to literature a small volume entitled "Sins Absolved," embodying his views on religion, interwoven with a thrilling story of the war in which he was an active participant. He is not a believer in the creed or doctrine of orthodox churches, but he is a liberal supporter of the gospel.

Sufficient has been said to indicate Doctor Gorrell's character and high standing in the community and state where he has so long resided, and it only remains to be said that throughout his entire professional and official career he has been animated by lofty motives, and made every personal consideration subordinate to the higher claims of duty. Broad and liberal in his views, with the greatest good of his fellowmen ever before him, his conduct has been that of the lover of his kind and the true and loyal citizen, who is ready at all times to make reasonable sacrifice for the cause in which his interests are enlisted. He is, withal, a man of the people, proud of his distinction as a citizen of a state and nation for whose laws and institutions he has the most profound admiration and respect, while his strong mentality, ripe judgment and unimpeachable integrity demonstrate to the satisfaction of all his ability to fill honorably important official positions and to discharge worthily the duties of his trusts. In point of critical scholarship, keen intellectuality and

professional success, he easily stands in the front rank, while in all that constitutes the upright man, the public-spirited citizen and the polished gentleman, his position in the social circle and the world of affairs has been firmly established and he stands today among the leaders of thought and moulders of opinion in a state prolific of great men. Page 777.

~ Gove, William S. ~

Many elements contribute to the development of a new country, but no one thing plays so large a part as sterling worth and character. It is to the rugged, steadfast men and women who come into its domain that the new land must look, and it is most often the plain, blunt men of business and every-day affairs who most affect a new country's history. While William S. Gove, the present able and popular sheriff of Jasper county, is not among the oldest of the county's settlers, yet he came here just at the close of the I Civil war, and, throughout the years that have, passed since then, his life has been a busy and fruitful one, and he has played an important part in the affairs at the community during the most important period of its development. Nearly everyone in the county knows big, bluff, honest Will Gove, and the secret of his popularity lies in the fact that he has always been allied with those things which tend toward the advancement and betterment of men. While a keen, careful and straightforward businessman, he has never become a dollar worshiper or permitted the lust of greed to eradicate his higher ideals, believing that life holds much of greater value than mere wealth of estate.

Mr. Gove was born in Vermont on May 23, 1855, the scion of a sterling old New England family, being the son of Sabin P. and Harriet (Kendall) Gove, both natives of Vermont. The father was a farmer and it may truthfully be said of him that he was a self-made man. Left an orphan when but a mere child, he was early bound out to an old doctor named Sabin, with whom he lived until almost reaching his majority. While this man was kind and did all for the boy he could, yet the youngster's life was very lonesome and he was glad to reach the day when he could start out in life for himself, which he did empty-handed. All he subsequently acquired he obtained alone and unaided, and when he died he had the respect and love of all who knew him. Sabin P. Gove and wife were married in Vermont, coming from that state to Kane County, Illinois, when the son, William S., was but three months old. Upon their arrival there they purchased one hundred and twenty acres on which they lived nine years, then moved to Grinnell, at that time the terminus of the Rock Island Railroad. That was in 1864, and the following spring they came on to Jasper County, locating on one hundred and sixty acres in Richland Township, which land still remains in the family, there having been but one transfer made of it, the land being originally homesteaded by Mrs. A. K. Banett, a sister of the subject's mother, from the government and transferred by her to the subject's father, Sabin P., in 1863. Here the family prospered, the father added to it until he finally became the owner of six hundred acres of valuable land, thus becoming one of the country's largest landowners and most progressive farmers. In the spring of 1883 he retired from active life and moved to the town of Sully, where he built a comfortable residence. Later, his health becoming very poor, he and his wife moved to Pasadena, California, where he purchased two good residence properties, and there he resided until death ended his earthly career, on September 10, 1895, when he had reached the age of sixty-five years, the immediate cause of his death being heart trouble. He was a man of fine character and had the good will and admiration of all who knew him. After his death his widow returned to her home in Sully, Iowa, where she still resides, being now seventy-seven years of age. Her eldest son lives with her. She has a host of warm friends who admire her beautiful characteristics.

William S. Gove, of this review, is one of four children, all of whom are living; of these, the subject and an elder brother were born in Vermont, the others being born in Illinois; they are Albert K., born August 9, 1853, lives in Sully; William S., of this review; Harry M., born October 24, 1859, lives in Grinnell, Iowa; Tracey L., born August 2, 1861, also lives in Grinnell. At the age of twenty-one the subject began his independent life work by taking up farming and this he followed continuously until October 1909. During the last twenty years of this period, however, he engaged in a very extensive stock business, buying all kinds of live stock all over the county and, in fact, throughout many states, especially those of the West and South. It is said of him that he has shipped stock over almost every railroad running into Chicago, and he is universally regarded as an expert judge of all kinds of stock. Few men are more widely known in this vocation and few have achieved greated success.

While never at any time pretending to be a politician, Mr. Gove has always taken a keen and intelligent interest in political affairs, and so, at the November 19I0, election the people of Jasper County testified to the respect, confidence and esteem they held for him by electing him sheriff of the county, which position he is filling in a worthy and most acceptable manner, reflecting much credit upon himself and giving eminent satisfaction to all classes, discharging his official duties with that painstaking care and discretion, that unswerving fidelity and aptitude that has ever characterized his business career. His son, Harry Gove, is acting deputy sheriff under his father, and they have the distinction of being the first sheriff and deputy to occupy the new courthouse. Mr. Gove has also held a number of the offices in Richland Township, among them being that of supervisor of roads and director of the township schools.

On November 2, 1876, Mr. Gove was united in marriage with Amarilla Allen, a native of Illinois and the daughter of Ervin and Amelia (Moshier) Allen, both of whom were natives of the State of New York. They spent their lives on a farm and are now deceased, the father dying in Richland Township, this county, at the age of seventy-eight years, his death occurring while he was here on a visit. He was buried in Oklahoma, where he had maintained his home for some time. The mother died in that state at the age of sixty-six years. Mrs. Gove's parents came to Iowa when she was but three years old, her birth having occurred on July 17, 1856, she being the eldest of four children, all living, namely: Laura married Albert Gove, a brother of the subject, and they live in Arabia, Arizona, where Mrs. Gove is matron of the Indian school; Frank M. Allen lives at Gates, Oklahoma; Susan E. lives in Alva, Oklahoma.

To Mr. and Mrs. Gave of this review six children have been born, five of whom are living, namely: Jennie May, born May 1, 1877, is the wife of Frank B. Sparks and resides on a farm in Richland Township, this county; Cecil Rose, wife of Charles W. Sparks, a brother of Frank B., was born

January 8, 1880; they live on a farm in Richland Township; Harry E. Gove, born September 15, 1882, married Naomi Ewing and lives in Newton; Hattie A., born January 14, 1885, died December 10, 1905; Bessie E., born January 29, 1890, is unmarried and is still with her parents; Mabel E., born July 31, 1892, has also remained single and is a member of the family circle.

In 1887 Mr. Gove went to southwestern Kansas and lived a year in Haskell County. While there he homesteaded one hundred and sixty acres, which he later paid out under the provisions of the pre-emption law, receiving his patent from the President, December 28, 1889, it being the first patent ever issued in that county. He still holds this land, and also has other valuable and extensive interests.

Mr. and Mrs. Gove are kindly, affable people and their home life is ideal, their attractive and commodious dwelling being known to their many friends as a place where hospitality and good cheer ever prevail. They have long been prominent factors in the social life of the town and county and richly deserve the high esteem and good will, which are freely accorded by all. Mr. Gove comes of a long line of Quaker ancestry.

Mr. Gove has made a success of his life work, succeeding because he has been an adherent to those principles and ideals which the world admires everywhere. He has not depended upon the assistance of any one, preferring to be the architect of his own fortune, and is a fine type of the virile, useful, industrious, broad-minded and public-spirited self-made American.

The office of biography is not to give voice to a man's modest estimate of himself and his accomplishments, but rather to leave upon the record the verdict establishing his character by the consensus of opinion on the part of his neighbors and fellow citizens. The life of Col. Elliott E. Lambert, a leading businessmen of Newton, Jasper county, has been such as to elicit just praise from those who know him best, owing to the fact that he has always been loyal to the trusts reposed upon him and has been upright in his dealings \with his fellow men, at the same time lending his support to the advancement of any cause looking to the welfare of the community at large.

Colonel Lambert was born in Licking county, Ohio, January 8, 1863, and he is the son of R. K. and Cynthia (Benjamin) Lambert, both natives of Ohio;' The father, who devoted his early life to farming, came to Iowa in 1868 and settled in Newton, soon buying one hundred and sixty acres of land, which he farmed until 1876, in which year he came to Newton and established the famous Lambert hotel, which 'he and his wife conducted successfully for a period of twenty-eight years, the same being popular with the' traveling public and known throughout this part of the country. Mr. Lambert is now living retired in Newton. He is one of the interesting pioneers and has had a varied and interesting history, a representative of that sterling type of men who constitute the bone and sinew of any country. His grandfather, Francis Lambert, was a soldier in the War of 1812. The subject's father was a soldier in the Civil War, a faithful and efficient follower of the Stars and Stripes in many a trying campaign and hard-fought battle. Page 435.

~ Greenlief, Charles E. ~

Clearly defined purpose and consecutive effort in the affairs of life will inevitably result in the attainment of a large measure of success; but in following out the career of one who has gained success by his own efforts there comes into view the intrinsic individuality which made such accomplishment possible, and thus there is granted an objective incentive and inspiration, while at the same time there is enkindled a feeling of respect and admiration. In carving out his career Charles E. Greenlief, one of the leading business men and enterprising citizens of Newton, lived a useful life and it seems that he tried to be of benefit to those who came into contact with him, while laboring to advance his own interests, thus he is eminently entitled to the universal esteem in which he is held.

Mr. Greenlief is one of the honored native sons of Jasper County, and he has been content to spend his life here, taking part in the development of the same through all its stages. His birth occurred on January 19, 1868. He is the son of William C. and Eunice (Brown) Greenlief, the father a native of Montreal, Canada, and the mother of Steuben County, New York. They came west when young and were married in Davenport, Iowa, the father having come to Illinois from Canada in 1854, and after living in that state four or five years, went to Davenport in 1861. Near that city he worked for a year breaking prairie, then, in 1862, came to Jasper County, settling in Mound Prairie Township on one hundred and sixty acres of raw prairie land. To this he subsequently added eighty acres more and developed it all into a fine farm and here they spent the remainder of their lives, the father reaching the remarkable age of ninety-three years, the mother having died at the age of fifty-five years. For additional facts relating to their lives the reader is directed to the sketch of Leonard A. Greenlief in this work.

Charles E. Greenlief is one of a family of four children, two boys and two girls; Hattie died when a baby; Emma J. died when seventeen years of age; Charles E. of this review; and Homer B., of Des Moines, Iowa.

After the death of his mother the subject left home to make his own way in the world, and, although but thirteen years old, he successfully ran a feed mill for Will Arten of Prairie City for eight months. He then worked as a farm hand for two years, after which he began working in a machine shop at Des Moines, continuing there for several years, becoming a very adroit workman. He then opened a sawmill in Marion County which he operated two years, also ran one two years in Jasper County. He then secured employment with the Parsons Band Cutter and Self-Feeder Company, being foreman of the machine shop for eight years. He then purchased the home place and lived on it for two years, then went to Canada and operated a steam plow for six months, having previously purchased a section of land in that country. Returning to Newton, he bought an interest in the One Minute Manufacturing Company and for six years has been superintendent of the factory, no small amount of its success being due to his able management and extensive knowledge of this line of work.

On December 25, 1892, Mr. Greenlief was united in marriage with Mrs. Jomattie Cure, daughter of J. B. and Marian (Hibbits) Rumbaugh, of Ohio, Mrs. Greenlief being born in Jasper County. Her parents were farmers and are now living a retired life in Oskaloosa, Iowa. Their family consisted of ten children, four of whom died in childhood; Mrs. Armittie Cunningham died at the age of thirty-two years; Newton M. is in Des Moines; Mrs. Mariah Swanegan and N. G. also live in Des Moines; Jomattie, wife of Mr. Greenlief; Oliver B. lives in Seversville, Iowa.

Five children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Greenlief, namely: Nellie, born April 6, 1895; Harry L., born May 29, 1897; Delta Grace, born October 3, 1899; Pearl May, born March 21, 1902, died when five months old; Jesse William, born March 9, 1910.

By a former marriage Mrs. Greenlief became the mother of these children: John Edward, born February 2, 1886, died when five months old; Thomas J., born March 5, 1888; Hazel I., born April 19, 1890.

Mrs. Greenlief's father was a soldier in the Civil War and he is now an invalid as a result of the hardships of army life. In an early day he was a freighter, having hauled goods by wagon from Keokuk to Des Moines. The first school ever taught in Mound Prairie Township was taught in the house of Mr. Greenlief's father. He was a pioneer here and has long been known in this part of the County.

Mrs. Greenlief is a member of the Christian Church. Fraternally Greenlief belongs to the Yeomen lodge, also the Newton Business Men's Association. He is one of the well-to-do and prominent men of this city, is well known and has the respect and good will of all classes. Page 683.

~ Greenlief, Leonard Alding ~

One of the most interesting figures in Jasper County is Leonard Alding Greenlief. Genial, kindly and at all times cheerful, he is as alert in mind and body as a man much younger in years. Although almost blind for the past few years, this great affliction has by no means cast a shadow over his courageous and buoyant spirit, and his fund of ready humor is a delight to all who know him. As a teller of war stories (for he is one of the veteran heroes of the great civil strife of the sixties) he has few equals. While his stories are told in a humorous vein, for it is his nature to hold up the brighter side of a picture to one's view, yet their dramatic quality graphically portrays the horrors of that great conflict.

Mr. Greenlief was born on February 22, 1841, in the eastern part of Canada, in Shepherd County, about seven miles north of Vermont. He is the son of William C. and Mary (Whitcomb) Greenlief, both natives of Canada, where the father engaged in farming, moving with his family in 1858 to Illinois, settling near Bloomington, later moving to the southern part of the state, remaining there about a year, then went back to Canada; but in a little while he came back to Illinois, locating in Henderson County. In 1862 he moved to Scott County, Iowa, where his son, Leonard A., of this review, had preceded him the year before. In 1864 he came to Jasper County and bought two hundred and forty acres of land, in Mound Prairie Township, not far from Prairie City, and here he lived until his death, which occurred in 1894, at the advanced age of eighty-eight years. William C. Greenlief was twice married. His first wife, mother of the subject, died in Canada before the family came to the states. After her death he married Eunice Brown. Seven children were born of the first union, namely: Mary, Adaline, Leonard Alding, George, Lyman, Lottie and Mark. Lottie is a widow, living in California. By the second marriage four children were born: Hattie died in infancy; Emma J. died when seventeen years old; Charles lives in Newton; Homer has no fixed home.

Leonard A. Greenlief received his education in the district schools of Canada, and was seventeen years of age when he accompanied his parents to the United States. He broke prairie sod for his father in Illinois. In 1861 he came to Scott County, Iowa, and worked for some time at breaking sod. In July 1862, he proved his loyalty to the constitution by enlisting in the Union Army, taking out his first papers looking toward citizenship at that time. His enlistment was at Davenport in Company C, Twentieth Iowa Volunteer Infantry. He saw a great deal of hard service, and, according to his comrades, made a most efficient soldier. He was in the battle of Prairie Grove, Arkansas, the Siege of Vicksburg for two months, at Fort Morgan, Fort Gaines, Fort Blakely, the outer works of Mobile, Alabama. After the engagement at Prairie Grove their company was sent to Van Buren, taking no provisions with them, expecting to find forage there, but the enemy had decamped, taking or destroying everything in the nature of forage, and the day following they marched back to Prairie Grove again, covering a distance of forty miles without a bite to eat. Whenever videttes were called for he always volunteered, until after he had a most horrifying experience, after which he was not so eager for vidette duty. He was one of five who were sent to different posts to watch the movements of the enemy. He was the only one of the five who succeeded in reaching the post assigned him. The enemy advanced rapidly and the opposing factions engaged each other at about a distance of twenty rods with vidette Greenlief between them, lying among the weeds as close to the ground as he could, remaining there from eight in the morning until nine at night, when, under cover of darkness, he got back to camp. After that his voice was not the first to answer for vidette duty. He was sent on detached duty to serve in guarding a fleet of sixteen boats from Duvall's Bluff to Little Rock. He was never injured nor was he in the hospital during the service. He was mustered out at Mobile, Alabama, and discharged at Clinton, Iowa, after three years of gallant service under the flag of his adopted country. After his return from the army he remained in Scott County only a month, then came to Jasper County. In the fall of 1866 he bought eighty acres of land in Mound Prairie Township, and from time to time he has added to it until at the present time he owns nine hundred acres of valuable, productive and well improved land, in two tracts.

He made a pronounced success as general farmer and stock raiser, becoming one of the substantial men of this part of the County. Thirteen years ago he retired from active work and moved to Newton, where he has since made his home, having a modern, attractive and neatly furnished home in one of the choice residential sections of the city.

On May 1, 1866, Mr. Greenlief was united in marriage with Hattie Chapman, who was born in Logan County, Ohio, in 1848, the daughter of J. O. and Mary (Woodruff) Chapman, both natives of Ohio, where Mr. Chapman followed farming and, owned a general store at Marysville, also at Richland. He came to Jasper County, Iowa, in 1865 and bought land in Mound Prairie Township, and here he became very well established. He died at the age of eighty-five years. There were six children in his family, namely: Mrs. Martha Thompson, deceased; Mrs. Ellen Hurd, deceased; Mrs. Frances Halferty lives in Spokane, Washington; Albert is engaged in the butcher business in Colfax; George is farming in Newton Township; Hattie, wife of Mr. Greenlief of this review. The mother of these children died when the wife of the subject was five years old, and the father married again, two children being born by his second union, Charles A., who is living in Oregon, and Mrs. Mary Galusha, of Wichita, Kansas.

Mr. and Mrs. Greenlief have one child, Mertie, who married Frank Clymer; they live on their farm near Prairie City and have five children, Vera, Kathryne, Nellie, John L. and William.

Mr. Greenlief is a Democrat, and is a member of the Congregational Church, as is also his wife; she is a member of the Woman's Relief Corps. Page 578.

~ Guessford, W. M. ~

The methods of W. M. Guessford, well known real estate and insurance man of Newton, who for many years was a leading farmer of Jasper County, have always been progressive, and he is quick to adopt new ideas which he believes will be of practical value in his work. Indolence and idleness have been entirely foreign to his nature and owing to his close application to his business and his honorable methods he has won the prosperity that he richly merited, while he enjoys the friendship and esteem of the people throughout the County.

Mr. Guessford was born in Adair County, Kentucky, November 20, 1848. He is the son of William D. and Emily J. (Smith) Guessford, both natives of Kentucky. The father emigrated to Missouri in 1850, coming on to Iowa in 1856, locating four miles south of Newton where he remained until seventeen years ago, when he moved to Newton and died here in October 1906. He devoted his life to farming and his efforts were crowned with abundant success. He was a good citizen, but plain and retiring, seeking no public honors. The mother of the subject passed away when he was but seven years old, in 1855, preceding her husband to the grave over half a century. They were the parents of six children, four of whom are living, namely: Mrs. Louise Booyer, of Viola, Illinois; Mrs. Anngemona Springer, of Harlan, Iowa: D. M., of Sumner, Nebraska; and W. M. of this review. The father of these children married a second time, his last wife being Lucy Evart, a native of New Jersey, this union resulting in the birth of five children, four of whom are living, namely: Joshua and Leander, both of Newton; George lives southeast of Newton; and Ida lives in Newton.

W. M. Guessford grew to maturity on his father's farm and assisted in the general work about the place. He received a very good education in the public schools, and he has made farming his chief life work, following the same, with unabated success for a period of thirty-five years in Jasper County, having maintained a very desirable, productive and well improved place ten miles southeast of Newton. Seven years ago he gave up farming and moved to Newton where he has since engaged in real estate and the insurance business with singular success, having succeeded in building up a very satisfactory patronage. He is well informed on the various grades and range in prices of real estate in this locality and his scrupulous honesty in all his dealings with his fellow men has given him an excellent standing in the business world, so that he has both the goodwill and the confidence of all who know him.

Mr. Guessford is the owner of two valuable farms, one of eighty acres a mile south of Newton, and one of one hundred sixty-seven and a half acres near Colfax.

On September 20, 1869, he married Catherine I. Blakely, a native of Ohio. She was the daughter of Z. W. and Elizabeth Blakely, who came to Jasper County, Iowa, in 1866.

The following children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Guessford: Cora; Edward lives east of Newton; Mrs. Lucretia Donald lives in Wayne County, Iowa, near Corydon; Elmer lives near Cambria, Wayne County, Iowa; James R. is associated with his father and is also in the auction business; Earl C. is employed in the First National Bank of Newton. Mr. and Mrs. Guessford are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, Mr. Guessford being a teacher in the Sunday school; their children also belong to this church. Mr. Guessford is an enthusiastic worker in the church and Sunday school and has held every official position in the church. Fraternally, he belongs to the Woodmen of the World. Page 463.

~ Guthrie, A. T. ~

Among those whose life history is closely interwoven into that of Jasper County is A. T. Guthrie. He is the son of Isaac and Martha Guthrie and was born in Palo Alto Township, Jasper County, Iowa, June 22, 1859. His parents emigrated from Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, in 1853, taking up land in Jasper County, which is still in the family. The story so often recited of the hardships and privations of the early settlers in a new country is the story of the parents of the subject of this sketch, and the boyhood of A. T. Guthrie was replete with the weird charm and rugged romance of the wilderness. It was from this primitive surrounding, from this nearness to God's great unclaimed solitude, that the little pioneer boy drank in that strength of manhood and sterling worth which stamp him as one of Jasper County's best citizens. Mr. Guthrie moved to Cairo, Nebraska, at the age of twenty-two, where for a time, he engaged in farming with very good success, and there in Hall County he owns a splendid farm of one hundred and sixty acres. That region was at that time very new and the land yielded readily to cultivation. After a period of six years Mr. Guthrie returned to Jasper County, Iowa. It was upon his return to Iowa that he was married to Agnes Stewart in 1888, whose history will be treated in detail later in this article. The next move of Mr. Guthrie was to Holyoke, Phillips County, Colorado, where the subject engaged in farming. He was elected sheriff of the County by the Republicans and served in that capacity two terms of two years each, performing his duties well and efficiently. Upon retiring from the office of sheriff he engaged in the implement business for six years, after which he sold out and returned to Jasper County, Iowa, in 1902, where he has since resided.

Mr. Guthrie is the owner of a splendid farm of one hundred and twenty acres in Jasper County, one mile south of Newton known as the old Andy Stewart farm. Aside from general farming Mr. Guthrie is engaged in the raising of thoroughbred stock, registered Percheron and Shire horses, shorthorn cattle, and Shropshire sheep. He owns a fine set of farm buildings, furnished with many modern, up-to-date conveniences.

Mr. Guthrie is a member and steward in the Presbyterian Church and is affiliated with the blue lodge and Royal Arch Masons at Newton, Iowa. He is the oldest of three children now living, having one brother, Charles Guthrie, and a sister, Mrs. Lillie Spencer, wife of Bert Spencer, all residing in Jasper County and all of them prosperous people.

Agnes Guthrie, wife of the subject of this sketch, is a daughter of Andrew Stewart, who came to America from Scotland in 1865, engaging in the coal mining industry. Her mother's name was Mary Stewart and no hardier or better people ever come to any country than they. By their industry and frugality they came to own one of the best farms in the entire County. Mrs. Guthrie was seven years of age when she came to this country, and, with the exception of her sojourn in Colorado with her husband, has since resided in Jasper County, Iowa. She is the type of the thrifty housewife, a good mother and a woman of rare discernment and intelligence. She is a member of the Presbyterian Church.

Three children have blessed the union of Mr. and Mrs. Guthrie, the eldest, Stewart I. Guthrie, being twenty years of age; Vernon A. Guthrie, seventeen years, and Frank A. Guthrie, aged thirteen years. They are also raising a young lady, Violet Wilson Guthrie, aged fifteen years. All reside at home with their parents and assist in the farming and stock raising, the stock raising being conducted under the name of A. T. Guthrie & Sons. Page 932.