Biographies

~ Jickling, John David ~

The best title one can establish to the high and generous esteem of an intelligent community is a protracted and honorable residence therein. John David Jickling, one of the best known and most highly esteemed men of the western part of Jasper County, has resided here since the pioneer epoch and his career has been a most commendable one in every respect, well deserving of being perpetuated on the pages of a historical work of the nature of the one in hand. Like his sterling father before him, he has been a. man of well-defined purpose and never failed to carry to successful completion any work of enterprise to which he addressed himself. Beginning life in a new country and under many unfavorable auspices, he has let nothing deter him, and before the lapse of many years he had a fine farm under cultivation. Knowing that the country was destined to take a very high rank in the productive and rich localities of the North, he applied himself very closely to his work and waited for the future to bring its rewards, and today he is one of the substantial and influential men of the county.

Mr. David John Jickling hails from Our Sister of Snows country, his birth having occurred about thirty miles east of London, Ontario, Canada, on June 22, 1837. He is the son of Robert and Mary (Whitby) Jickling, both born near London, England, the father on May 28, 1794, and the mother on December 30, 1807. There they spent the earlier years of their lives, immigrating to Canada in 1836, where they spent the balance of their lives, the father dying at the advanced age of eighty-two years and the mother when sixty-eight years old. There were eleven children in the Jickling family. By the father's first marriage, six children were born, namely: W. F., a soldier in the Civil War, later a policeman in Chicago, in which city he still resides; Mrs. Elizabeth McLean lives in the province of Manitoba, Canada; John David, of this review; Mrs. Susannah Woods lives in Ontario, Canada; Rowland died when nine years old; Thomas died in 1908; Samuel died in 1906. The latter was a veteran of the Civil war and he was connected with the Naval Academy at Annapolis, Maryland, for many years after the war; Hannah died when twenty years of age; Rebecca died in infancy; Joseph B. is living in Manitoba; one child died in infancy.

John D. Jickling spent his childhood in Canada and was educated in the common schools. On March 13, 1859, he settled in Kalamazoo, Michigan. He there engaged at his trade of harness making immediately, and lived there until 1865, when he removed to Sherman Township, Jasper County, and here he has continued to reside to the present time. He is deserving of a great deal of credit for what he has accomplished, for he landed at Kalamazoo with a total capital of four dollars and fifty cents. He is at present one of the wealthiest men in Jasper County. He is the owner of four hundred and fifty-one acres of choice land in Sherman Township, on which are three sets of good buildings. He has kept his land well improved and under a fine state of cultivation, and by his close application and sound judgment he has accumulated a competency. He has always been a lover of good livestock and has kept excellent grades. He owns a substantial business block in the town of Ira, a modern and imposing home in Ira, and two valuable lots in Des Moines.

Mr. Jickling talks interestingly of the early days of this country, which he has seen develop from a wild prairie to one of the leading agricultural sections of the state. He came from Kellogg to Newton by stage. There were no railroads in this part of the country. Mr. Jickling hauled grain to Colfax when there was but one building there. There were no bridges, the farmers being compelled to ford Skunk River. He has always been a man whose word was as good as the bond of most men, even if it were at financial sacrifice. At one time wheat was contracted for at one dollar per bushel. He had contracted to deliver about two thousand bushels, which he did although wheat had advanced to one dollar and fifty cents per bushel. Every dollar in his possession was honestly earned. He would never stoop to paltry things in order to gain his ends in dealing with his fellow men, consequently he has won and retained their confidence and good will.

Mr. Jickling was married on April 8, 1860, to Susan S. Cuthbert, who was born in London, England, on February 5, 1842, where she spent her early girlhood, emigrating to the United States in 1855 with her parents, George and Susan (Hall) Cuthbert, both born in England, the mother in Lincolnshire, and there they grew to maturity and were married. Upon coming to this country they took up their residence in Michigan. They spent the rest of their lives in America, each dying at the age of seventy-five years.

They were the parents of six children, namely: Jesse died in 1903; Moses is deceased; George, deceased; Mrs. Adam Maggard lives in Ira; Susan S., wife of Mr. Jickling, of this review; one daughter died in infancy.

Five children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Jickling, the two eldest in Michigan, the others in Jasper County, and here they were reared and educated; they were named as follows: George B., born July 21, 1861, the day of the first great battle of the Civil War, Bull Run; he is residing at Winterset, Iowa; William R., born on June 9, 1864, lives in Sherman Township; Mrs. Laura Zenor, born March 6, 1868, is living at Tryon, Nebraska; Mrs. Edith May Couch, born July 23, 1871, lives in Sherman Township, this County; Riley R., born September 14, 1874, died January 9, 1877.

Politically, Mr. Jickling is a Republican and while he has ever manifested an abiding interest in the affairs of his Township and County, he has never sought to be a leader in public matters, preferring to devote his attention to his home and business. He has been road supervisor of his district.

Mrs. Jickling is the possessor of an old Bible, given to her at the age of twelve years when she was a member of a Sunday school class, at Weltobe Wold, England, in July 1854, and she highly prizes the same.

Mr. and Mrs. Jickling have a pleasant and well furnished home, and here their many friends delight to gather and share their old-fashioned hospitality and good cheer, and they number their friends only by the limits of their acquaintance. Page 1142.

~ Jickling, William R. ~

Such has been the history of William R. Jickling, a successful farmer of Sherman Township, Jasper County. He was born in Barry County, Michigan, June 9, 1864, the son of John D. and Susan (Cuthbert) Jickling. Robert Jickling, the paternal grandfather, who was a native of England, emigrated to Canada in 1836, and there the father of the subject of this sketch was born, and in the Dominion his parents spent the rest of their lives. Susan Cuthbert, mentioned above, was born in England and when thirteen years of age she immigrated to the United States and selected Michigan as her future home. She was accompanied by her parents, who died in that State. John D. Jickling moved to Michigan in an early day and there he married. In 1863 he moved to Jasper County, Iowa, and here he worked at his trade of harness-making for three months, then bought eighty acres in Sherman Township, which he broke and improved and erected substantial buildings on it. Here he has prospered, being a hard worker and a good manager, and he is now the owner of four hundred and fifty-four acres in one body, constituting as good and desirable land as the Township affords. Since 1903 he has lived in the village of Ira, where he has a fine home. His family consists of five children, four of whom are living.

Politically, the elder Jickling is a Republican, but he has never been very active in public affairs.

William R. Jickling was reared on the home farm and there he worked when a boy, attending the public schools in his district. He remained at home until he was thirty-four years of age, working with his father; in fact, he still works with him a great deal. In 1891 be bought a farm of one hundred and twenty acres in Sherman and Poweshiek Townships, and he has made extensive improvements on the same, including a large, convenient and attractive home and good outbuildings, and he has met with a large measure of success as a general farmer and stock raiser. He has added to his original purchase until he now has four hundred and twenty-two acres in Sherman, Poweshiek, Independence and Mound Prairie Townships. He raises and feeds a great many cattle and hogs.

Politically, Mr. Jickling is a Republican, but is not a public man, preferring to devote his attention to his large farming interests, though he is always ready to support any measure looking to the general advancement of his community.

On March 5, 1898, Mr. Jickling was united in marriage with Clara Belle Day, a native of Story County, Iowa, and the daughter of Jackson and Maria Day, who came to this County from Indiana. Her fathers death occurred in 1889, his widow surviving until 1903. Two children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Jickling, namely: Ethel May died in infancy and Florence Fay, born August 23, 1900. Page 822.

~ Johnson, Albert ~

One of the owners of extensive farming interests in Jasper County is the gentleman whose name initiates this sketch. His valuable property has been acquired through his own efforts, his persistency of purpose and his determination, and the prosperity, which is the legitimate reward of all earnest efforts in today his. Mr. Johnson is easily the peer of any of his fellows in the qualities that constitute correct manhood and good citizenship. He is what he is from natural endowment and self-culture, having attained his present position solely through the impelling force of his own genius. He possesses not only those powers, which render men efficient in the material affairs of life, but also the gentler traits that mark genial and refined social intercourse. In his daily affairs he manifests a generous regard for his fellows and as a large-hearted whole-souled gentleman, actuated by principles of honesty, no man in the County merits and commands more fully the good will of the people.

Albert Johnson, of Lynnville, was born in Montgomery County, Indiana, August 19, 1840, and he is the son of Jervis and Malissa L. Johnson, both natives of Virginia, in which state the father grew up and engaged in farming until he was twenty-seven years of age, then came to Henry County, Indiana, locating at Dublin, and there engaged in manufacturing hats and eight years later he came to Montgomery County, Indiana, locating near Crawfordsville and there continued the manufacture of hats, also owned and operated a farm there. In 1851 he came to Lynn Grove Township, Jasper County, Iowa, and entered the old homestead of two hundred and forty acres from the government, near Lynnville, later adding one hundred and sixty acres more, which he improved, and there he carried on farming extensively until his death, in 1882. He was a member of the Friends Church. His family consisted of five sons, named as follows: Joseph, deceased; Albert, of this review; Jervis deceased; Charles lives at Hartford, Kansas; Henry lives in Grinnell, Iowa Albert Johnson attended school in Indiana and a short time after coming to Jasper County. His parents being pioneers here had plenty of hard work to do in getting a start, so he was compelled to do his share of the labor. They had come to Indiana from Virginia in a one-horse cart with all their belongings, the total value of which was practically nothing, and they immigrated to Iowa in a wagon, and upon their arrival in Lynn Grove they invited their neighbors for miles around to assist in building their first cabin. They became well known and influential here and developed a splendid farm, which is now owned by their son, Albert, of this sketch. The father was always a Republican and was during the days of slavery agitation a conductor on the "underground railroad." The day the subject was eighteen years of age his father sent him with a family of runaway slaves to J. B. Grinnell's residence, the next station.

Albert Johnson was married on June 24, 1903, to Anna J. Wilson, who was born in Wayne County, Indiana, February 6, 1858. She is the daughter of Gideon C. and Susan (Stokes) Wilson, both of whom spent their lives in Indiana, in which State Mrs. Johnson was born, at Milton, but they did not get acquainted until reaching maturity, having met in California, where Mrs. Johnson lived.

Mr. and Mrs. Johnson reside in Lynnville, where they have a fine residence. He is a member of the Friends Church, and is an openhearted, genial gentleman whom everybody likes. Page 826.

~ Johnson, Jervis C. ~

It is the pride of the citizens of this country that there is no limit to which natural ability, industry and honesty may not aspire. A boy born in ignorance and poverty and reared under the most adverse surroundings may nevertheless break from his fetters and rise to the highest station in the land and the qualities do not have to be of transcendent character to enable him to accomplish this result. It is more the way he does it and his skill in grasping opportunities, which are presented to him than to any remarkable qualities, which he may possess.

One of the enterprising and successful young agriculturists of this section of Iowa is Jervis C. Johnson, of Linn Grove Township. He seems to belong to that Argus-eyed, sound-minded class of men who are able to grasp a situation quickly and make the most of it, for while yet young in years, he has, with little outside assistance, become one of the most extensive farmers of Jasper County and one of her most progressive citizens.

Mr. Johnson was born in Poweshiek County, Iowa, on February 6, 1879. He is the son of Henry and Melissa (Charles) Johnson, both natives of Indiana, the father born in 1848 and the mother in 1849. Henry Johnson was four years old when his parents brought him to Iowa, making the overland trip with a wagon and team. They settled in Linn Grove Township, Jasper County, when this section was new and practically unsettled, and here they began life as pioneers, but in time were very comfortably situated. The grandfather of the subject took up a half section of land from the government. He also entered a great deal of land for other people and was an important factor in helping settle up the country. He took up as much as six thousand acres of land and was one of the best-known men in the County in the early days. The father of the subject bought eighty acres in Washington Township, Poweshiek County, when a young man, and he now owns about a section of land there. He retired from active life in 1910 and moved to Grinnell, Iowa.

He is a member of the Friends church. His family consists of the following children: Charlotte, Olivia, Jervis C., of this review; Warren lives in Hardin County, Iowa; Mrs. Beulah Renaud also lives in that County; DeVerne lives in Montana; Leland and Lelah, twins, live in Grinnell, Iowa.

Jervis C. Johnson went to school in Lynnville, and after leaving the high school there he spent two years in Penn College. Returning home, he remained on the homestead, assisting with the work there until he was twenty-four years of age, then came to his present farm in Linn Grove Township, Jasper County, the place which has been in the Johnson family so long. He now operates seventeen hundred acres, five hundred of which he owns in partnership with his uncle, Albert Johnson, the latter owning the rest of the land in question. The subject farms the greatest acreage of any one man in Linn Grove Township. He is a young man of unusual enterprise, foresight, energy and sound judgment and he accomplishes a maximum amount of work with a minimum outlay of labor. He is an advocate of modern, scientific farming and it is a pleasure to glance over his broad acres and note how everything is operated under a splendid system, with what ease he carries on general farming arid stock raising on a large scale. He is one of the best-known stockmen of the County and he feeds from ten to fifteen carloads of cattle and about ten carloads of hogs annually. He raises full-blooded Percheron horses. He is a good judge of all kinds of livestock.

Politically, Mr. Johnson is a Republican, but locally he votes for the man, irrespective of party politics. He is a member of the Friends Church.

Mr. Johnson was united in marriage on October 20, 1903, to Winema Pemberton, who was born in Marshall County, Iowa, the daughter of Henry P. Pemberton, an early settler of that County, where he became the owner of four hundred acres of land. To Mr. and Mrs. Johnson two children have been born, namely: Jervis Byron and Henry Maxwell. Page 858.

~ Johnson, W. S. ~

Those who know W. S. Johnson, well known editor and publisher of Jasper County, will readily acquiesce in the statement that there is much in his life record worthy of commendation and admiration. Like many other energetic young men who are leaving their impress upon the magnificent development of this favored section of the great Hawkeye commonwealth, he did not wait for a specially brilliant opening. Indeed, he could not wait, for his natural industry would not have permitted him to do so. In his early youth he gave evidence of the possession of traits of character which have made his life exceptionally successful and he is today admittedly one of the useful, public-spirited citizens of the locality of which this history treats; having long had its interests at heart and doing all in his power for its general progress along material, civic and moral lines, thereby becoming a molder of public opinion and winning the confidence and good will of all classes.

Mr. W. S. Johnson was born at Worthington, Ohio, October 9, 1860. He is the son of Rev. Silas and Harriet L. (Doolittle) Johnson, the father pastor of the Presbyterian Church at Worthington for a number of years, and a prominent figure in that denomination in the Buckeye State, from which the family moved to Oskaloosa, Iowa, in 1862, thence to Indianola, this state, in 1867, where the subject of this sketch grew to manhood and received his education in the public schools and Simpson College, located in that city. He later attended the Iowa State University. In 1883 he read law in the office of Young & Parrish at Leon, Iowa, and the same year was admitted to the bar by the district court and he at once opened an office at Leon, where he engaged in the practice of his profession for about two years. Although he was building up a large clientele and meeting with general success, the law was not exactly to his taste and in 1885 he turned his attention to the field of journalism, purchasing the Leon Journal, of which paper he was editor and manager for six years; since then he has been owner and editor of the Express at Garden Grove, Iowa, the Pioneer at Sanborn, Iowa, and the Record in the city of Newton, having bought the latter paper in 1905 and he still continues as editor and owner. He has conducted all these popular newspapers in a manner that reflects much credit on his ability and rendered them very potent factors in the community. He has improved the mechanical appearance of each, making them the disseminators of the brightest and best news of the day, greatly increased the circulation of each and rendered them most valuable advertising mediums. His editorials are always eagerly read and have much weight on whatever topic that is taken up. These papers are easily the peer of any of their class in the state. Mr. Johnson ranks high in the estimation of his professional brethren throughout the country.

Mr. Johnson was married on May 20, 1889, at Leon, Iowa, to Julia B. Hoodley, the representative of an excellent family and a lady of many estimable traits. This union has been blessed by the birth of three children, namely: Lewis, Ruth and Bertha. Mr. Johnson is a member of the Presbyterian Church of Newton, and in his fraternal relations he belongs to the Masonic order. He has been a member of the school board of Newton for four years and he is in his second term as president of the Newton Commercial Association. If he takes pride in any one thing it is that he has never lost an opportunity to boost his own city and state. Personally he is a genial, obliging and unassuming gentleman, popular with the masses, irrespective of party alignment. Page 972.

~ Jones, John N. ~

Success in agriculture is not, as a rule, achieved as early in life as in other lines. Independence is reached in this line after much hard toil and years of continuous effort and those who climb very high up the ladder are getting pretty well along in years. While John N. Jones, of Clear Creek Township, Jasper County, does not yet rank among our wealthiest and most widely known agriculturists, it is not too much to predict that future years will find him so, judging from the record he has already made in this line and knowing his habits of close application and minute knowledge of the various phases of husbandry.

Mr. Jones was born in Fulton County, Illinois, October 30, 1882, and there he spent the first ten years of his life, having moved with his parents to Story County, Iowa, and the family has been following general farming in this locality ever since. He is the son of T. M. and Matinden (Drummond) Jones, the father a native of Illinois and the mother of Indiana, the latter having come to Illinois when six months old, and there they both grew up, were educated and married. They now live in Independence Township, this County.

John N. Jones grew up on the farm and when but a boy made a regular hand in the fields during crop seasons, and in the wintertime he attended school in his neighborhood. On June 14, 1904, he was united in marriage with Edith C. Perry, who was born near Rhodes, Marshall County, Iowa, August 4, 1883, being the daughter of Harrison W. Perry and wife, a complete sketch of whom is to be found elsewhere in this volume. To Mr. and Mrs. Jones have been born four children, namely: Lela, born October 27, 1904; Minnie, born December 30, 1906; Blanche, born December 7, 1908; John, Jr., born June 23, 1911. The two eldest were born in Story County, the two younger children in Jasper County.

Politically, Mr. Jones is a Democrat and both he and his wife are members of the Yeoman lodge at Collins. They keep their home supplied with good literature, and have not made the accumulation of sordid dollars the only or the chief aim of life. Page 1203.

~ Jones, Lloyd D. ~

Standing for upright manhood and progressive citizenship, Loyd D. Jones has long occupied a conspicuous place among the representatives of the great agricultural interests of Jasper County and his influence in every relation of life has been for the material advancement of the community in which he resides and the moral welfare bf those with whom he has been brought into contact.

Mr. Jones was born in Ohio, December 16, 1840 and he is the son of Thomas and Lucinda (Triplet) Jones, both of whom were natives of Virginia. By trade the father was a moulder, continuing at this work all his life. He and his wife emigrated from Virginia to Licking County, Ohio, at an early day and there they both died when their son, Loyd D., was a small boy. Mr. Jones then went to make his home with Benjamin Dean, with whom he remained until he was nineteen years of age. Dean was a good man and did all he could for the friendless boy, sending him to school and in every way possible taking the place of a father. He was a hotelkeeper. At the age of nineteen Mr. Jones came to Illinois, where he farmed for over two years, after which he came to Newton, Iowa, and engaged successfully in farming, near there for twenty-five years, having arrived in this County in the fall of 1857. Newton was then but a small village and the whole country was practically undeveloped and new, and Mr. Jones has lived to see and take part in its wonderful transformation. Aside from farming and stock raising, he followed threshing all over the County. In March 1906, he came to Reasnor and purchased the residence and property where he now lives, conducting a hotel and livery barn for two years, but since then he has lived retired.

Mr. Jones was one of the honored boys in blue, having enlisted in the Federal army at Newton, in 1861, becoming a member of Company K, Twenty-eighth Iowa Volunteer Infantry. After serving about eighteen months he was discharged and sent home owing to a disability, being injured at the siege of Vicksburg. He had taken part in that siege and the battles of Port Gibson and Champion's Hill.

In 1866 Mr. Jones was united in marriage with Catherine Gifford, daughter of William and Sarah (Ritter) Gifford, both natives of Ohio and both now deceased. The father was a hotelkeeper and owned a large farm near Canton, Ohio, at the time of his death.

Two children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Jones, namely: Thomas W., who has remained unmarried, resides at home; Libbie married William Lark and they live in Des Moines. The subject and wife reared Ella Hales, the daughter of a sister of Mrs. Jones, who is at this time making her home with the subject.

On February 28, 1910, Mrs. Jones departed this life at the age of fifty-four years. She was a member of the Christian Church at Newton, of which Mr. Jones is also a member. She was a most excellent woman, beloved by all who knew her.

Mr. Jones was a member of Garrett Post, Grand Army of the Republic, at Newton for a number of years. He had no brother and but one sister, Mrs. Leonidas Ball, of Woodson, Illinois, who died about eleven years ago. Mr. Jones is a genial, kindly gentleman, of that type of sturdy manhood that has made Jasper County what it is. Page 928.

~ Jones, Thomas M. ~

One of the popular, neighborly and public spirited families of the northwestern part of Jasper County is that represented by the subject of this biographical record, a people who look not to the accumulation of material wealth as the sole reason of existence, being content when they know that others have been made happy and that they have been of some service to humanity and the community in general.

Thomas M. Jones, of the vicinity of Baxter, was born in Fulton County, Illinois, March 11, 1854, where he grew to manhood and received his educational training and took up farming for a livelihood, which he has continued to follow to the present time. He came to Iowa in 1891 and has since remained here. He is the son of Washington and Elizabeth (Hurl) Jones, the former dying in Illinois and the latter, who was born August 26, 1825, is living at Ottumwa, Iowa, being now advanced in years. There were three children in the Jones family, namely: Joseph lives in Arkansas; the second, a son, died in infancy; Thomas M„ of this review, is the youngest.

Thomas M. Jones grew up on the farm and was educated in the common schools. On February 21, 1875, he was united in marriage with Melinda E. Drummond, who was born in Vermillion County, Indiana, January 3, 1857. When six months old her parents took her to Illinois, where she grew to womanhood. She was the daughter of John and Eliza (Hasty) Drummond. The former, who was born in Indiana, enlisted for service in the Union army from Illinois, made a gallant soldier and died while in the service on August 10, 1865. The mother, born in 1834, died in Illinois in 1901. There were five children in the Drummond family, namely: Melinda E., wife of Mr. Jones, of this review; Mrs. Mary Anderson lives in Canton, Illinois; Mrs. C. E. Beard also lives in Illinois; Mrs. Livona Coakley is residing in Independence Township, Jasper County; Hubert lives in Seville, Illinois.

To Mr. and Mrs. Thomas M. Jones eleven children have been born as follows: Mrs. Mary E. Bartelle, born January 4, 1876, is living in Collins, Iowa; Mrs. Melinda E. Miles, born in Jasper County, October 7, 1877, lives in Los Angeles, California; Mrs. Belle Tracy, born October 26, 1879, lives at Collins; John lives near Collins; Clet, born in Illinois, January 5, 1885, is living in Jasper County; William Louis, born June 24, 1887, also lives in Jasper County; Mrs. Maud E. Haley, born October 29, 1889; Hubert D., born December 23, 1891, lives at home; Ira W., born August 4, 1894, lives at home; Frank, born October 5, 1896, lives at home; Vilda May, born February 23, 1900. There are fourteen grandchildren, all living.

Politically, Mr. Jones is a Democrat. He belongs to the Independent Order of Odd Fellows at Baxter, and both he and Mrs. Jones to the Yeomen at Collins and the Rebekahs at Baxter. This family is known for its hospitality and friendliness. Page 909.