Biographies

~ McConkey, Charles C. ~

To the strong, defeats are but milestones on the highway to victory. This truth seems to have been borne out by Charles C. McConkey, one of Jasper County's progressive citizens and an honored representative of one of her old pioneer families, members of which have done a great deal in various ways in contributing to the general development of this favored section of the great Hawkeye state. Mr. McConkey has never permitted obstacles to down him or turn him aside when once he has determined upon a legitimate course of action, and therefore he has succeeded in his life work.

Mr. McConkey was born May 18, 1872, in this County; and he is the son of Cobane and Sarah J. (Read) McConkey, early settlers of Jasper County. The paternal grandfather was Samuel McConkey. Cobane McConkey was a native of Ohio, born near Hopedale, Harrison County. When a young man he went to Virginia and was married there by Alexander Campbell, founder of the Campbellite Church at Bethany.

Cobane McConkey devoted his life to farming and in 1853 he brought his young wife to Scott County, Iowa, where they engaged in farming two years. He then moved to Jasper County and bought one hundred and twenty acres of good land in Newton Township, which he retained up to the time of his death, having improved it into a splendid farm. He spent his last years in retirement in Newton and died there in 1896 at the age of seventy-four years. He was a good man and had the respect of all who knew him. His widow survives, making her home with her daughter, Mrs. Sumner E. Gates, just north of the city of Newton.

The son, Charles C., was one of ten children, two of whom died in infancy; the others are Margaret I. Gates, widow of Sumner E. Gates, a prominent Jasper County citizen, his death having occurred in 1900; their sketch appears elsewhere in this work. Jane McConkey, who became the wife of Frank Graham, is now deceased; Alice married John Munn, of Newton Township; Edward died when seventeen years old; Mary died at the age of nineteen; Lillie married Bert Beatty, of Newton Township; William remained single and died when twenty-nine years old.

Charles C. McConkey attended the common schools, also Hazel Dell Academy two years. He began life for himself when about sixteen years of age, doing various things whereby he could earn honest money, but most of his labors were confined to the farm. He learned the carpenter's trade when a young man, which he has followed practically ever since.

On June 28, 1893, Mr. McConkey was united in marriage with Alice Stuver, who was born in Iowa in October 1874, the daughter of Joseph and Sarah (Palmer) Thomas. When but a small child she was legally adopted by Aaron and Josephine Stuver, who had no children of their own. She has two sisters living, Mrs. Sarah Davis and Mrs. Zoa King, both in Colorado. When but a girl of sixteen she taught school two years, being married at the age of eighteen. Not long after they were married Mr. and Mrs. McConkey moved to Brule County, South Dakota, where they purchased a quarter section of land, which they disposed of a few years later and returned to Jasper County, locating on the old home place, which Mr. McConkey farmed for two years, then moved to the city of Newton and followed the carpenter's trade until the desire for a change again seized him; thus three years later he moved his family to Chickasha, Grady County, Oklahoma; but he returned to Jasper County in 1909, since which time he has been following his trade, being very successful as a contractor and builder. He is regarded as a high-grade workman and his contract jobs are always turned out quickly and well done.

Mr. and Mrs. McConkey are the parents of four children, namely: Charles Harold, born in August 1905; Bertram, born in 1897, died in infancy; Edward, born in May 1902; Margaret, born in May 1909.

Mr. McConkey has been very successful in a business way and he is now the owner of three hundred acres of valuable land in Kaddo County, Oklahoma. Fraternally, he belongs to the Masonic lodge in Newton, and he is also a member of the Ancient Order of United Workmen, in Brule County, South Dakota, and of the Relief Association of Oklahoma, No. 59. He and his wife are members of the Congregational Church. Page 458

~ McCord, Milton A. ~

Milton A. McCord has long been recognized as one of Jasper County's foremost citizens, having long had the interests of the County at heart and which he has ever striven to promote in whatever laudable manner that presented itself. His life has been led along high planes of endeavor and has been true to every trust that has been reposed in him. Thus for many reasons, not the least of which is the fact that he is an honored veteran of the greatest of the world's wars, in which he valiantly upheld the Stars and Stripes, he is eminently entitled to specific mention in a history of this character.

Mr. McCord is the son of David and Eleanor (Temple) McCord, the father born in Virginia and the mother in Tennessee. Milton A. was the eighth in a family of eleven children, and he was born in Paris, Illinois, February 5, 1845. He lived in his native state until he was ten years of age, the family emigrating from Illinois in 1855 to Jasper County, Iowa, making the trip overland, locating in Newton Township where, as pioneers, they settled on an unimproved farm which they developed and on which a good home was established, the elder McCord becoming one of the County's well-to-do men, owning at one time over two hundred and forty acres of land. Here Mrs. McCord died in 1873, at the age of sixty-five years, the father's death occurring in 1884 at the age of seventy-eight years. The family has been identified with the business interests of Jasper County from its infancy and has borne an unsullied reputation.

Milton A. McCord grew to maturity on the home farm, and when but a boy he assisted in the general work about the place, attending the common schools in the wintertime. He remained on the parental homestead until August 1, 1862, when, heeding his country's call, although yet a mere boy, he enlisted in Company K, Twenty-eighth Iowa Volunteer Infantry, in which he served very faithfully for three years and nineteen days, during which time he participated in the battles of Champion's Hill, siege of Vicksburg, Port Gibson, Fisher's Hill, Black River, Cedar Creek and many others. His brothers, William B., Thomas T., James H. and David N., were also in the service.

After receiving an honorable discharge, Mr. McCord returned home and began freighting across the plains with ox teams, making two trips to Denver, later engaging in farming and stock raising, being thus successfully engaged up to 1890. He has always been more or less interested in public affairs and always stood ready to support such measures as made for the progress of his County, and his loyalty has been rewarded by his friends electing him to several positions of trust and responsibility, having been elected sheriff of Jasper County in 1891, in which capacity he served for two terms in a manner that reflected much credit upon himself and to the entire satisfaction of his constituents. On March 1, 1898, he was appointed postmaster at Newton, which position he held to October 1, 1910, and in which he further demonstrated his eminent fitness as a public servant, pleasing both the department and the people of the town and vicinity. Mr. McCord was a delegate to the Republican national convention in 1908.

On November 26, 1868, Mr. McCord married Gertie M. Reed, who was born in Indiana, and this union resulted in the birth of three children, Percy R., Hettie and Stella M. Page 471

 ~ McElroy, W. O. ~

There is no member of the Jasper county bar who occupies a higher position in the estimation of the people than does W. O. McElroy, attorney, whose office is over the Jasper County Bank. During his many years of practice he has built up a very large clientele and he occupies a peculiar position before the people in that he is regarded as an exceedingly safe counselor in all matters pertaining to legal questions. It speaks well for any man who may have the confidence of the people to such an extent that he is regarded as especially adapted to the settlement of estates and matters of equity. Mr. McElroy holds this position. His services are likewise in large demand where the drawing of intricate papers is involved, in fact, as a lawyer, he is easily the peer of any of his professional brethren throughout the state, and the honorable distinction already achieved at the bar is an earnest of the still wider sphere of usefulness that he is destined to fill, and the higher honors to be achieved in years to come as he is yet in the prime of manhood and a close observer of the trend of the times and an intelligent student of the great questions and issues upon which the thought of the best minds of the world are centered.

Mr. McElroy was born in Fayette County, Ohio, February 2, 1858, of a sterling old family of the Buckeye state, his parents being Hugh and Martha (Kerr) McElroy, both natives of Ohio, where they grew to maturity, received their education and married, and where they began life on a farm, emigrating to Jasper County, Iowa, when their son, W. O., of this review, was eleven years of age, locating about five miles north of Newton. Here the father continued to reside for forty years, becoming well established and an influential man in his community, making this his home until his death, December 8, 1908, having attained the advanced age of eighty-nine years. He lived to see and take part in the wonderful development of the County, being one of the honored pioneers, and known as an honest, plain, modest, unassuming gentleman whom to know was to respect. He owned a good farm and was industrious and thrifty. His wife passed away in 1880 at the age of fifty-four years. They were the parents of eight children, six of whom are living: J.K. makes his home near Waterloo, Iowa; Mrs. Lizzie A. Winstead, of Circleville, Ohio; Margaret H. Vanatta, of Newton, Iowa; W. O., of this review; Charles S. is living on the old home farm five miles north of Newton; Hugh E. lives in Boise, Idaho, where he is practicing law; Mrs. Agnes McClain died when thirty years of age, in 1876; Mattie died when eighteen years old.

W. O. McElroy spent his early life on the home farm where he assisted with the general work during the crop season, attending the common schools in the winter time, also took a course at Hazel Dell Academy at Newton. When twenty-one years old he entered Ames College, taking a course in civil engineering, graduating there in 1881. For two years he successfully followed this profession, but having entertained a laudable ambition to enter the legal profession, he accordingly began the study of law in 1883 with Col. David Ryan, of Newton, and, having made rapid progress, was admitted to the bar six months later. In May 1884, he formed a partnership with his preceptor, which continued most successfully until Colonel Ryan went on the bench in January 1887, at which time Mr. McElroy formed a partnership with J. A. Kerr, now of Seattle, Washington, this partnership continuing for three years, Mr. McElroy having been alone most of the time since, taking a first place among his professional brethren in this section of the state and figuring prominently in all the local courts, keeping abreast of the times in all matters pertaining to his profession and devoting his attention almost exclusively to his work.

The domestic life of Mr. McElroy began on September 6, 1888, when he was united in. marriage with Julia Cavanagh, of Iowa City, a lady of refinement and many estimable traits and the representative of a prominent family there, being the daughter of Matthew Cavanaugh, a prominent citizen of Iowa City. He and Mary Fellows constituted the first class of Cornell College at Mt. Vernon, Iowa. Mrs. McElroy was graduated from the State University. This union has been blessed by the birth of the following children: Margaret, who is a junior at Cornell University, Ithaca, New York; Harold is attending the Iowa State College at Ames; Richard is a junior in the Newton high school; Carroll, who is now ten years old, is attending the home schools.

Mr. McElroy has, by careful and prudent management and methods of strict integrity, acquired a handsome competence. He is a director in the Jasper County Savings Bank, and he has some valuable landed interests in Idaho. His home on East Main Street, Newton, is a commodious, modern and attractive one where the many friends of the family frequently gather.

Mr. McElroy has ever kept in touch with the affairs of his city and County and is an ardent advocate and liberal patron of all worthy enterprises making for their advancement and prosperity. His activity in behalf of every movement for the good of his fellow citizens has endeared him to the people among whom the greater part of his life has been spent, and his popularity is bounded only by the limits of his acquaintance. He has served as city solicitor, County Attorney, as a member of the school board and he has been president of the library board ever since the library was built, about sixteen years ago, in fact, the city is largely indebted to him for securing the handsome donation by Andrew Carnegie for the building, and Mr. McElroy spent a great deal of time in seeing that the building was erected according to plans and specifications, spending a great deal more time in this way than one would naturally suppose, but he has the good of the community at heart and has ever sought to serve the public well. For nearly twenty years he has been trustee of the Iowa State College at Ames, and he was chairman of the board for six years. He has been elected one of the trustees to administer the specific fund of one hundred and fifty thousand dollars given by G. W. Catt to the State College at Ames. He is loyal to the Republican Party, but is not especially active in political affairs. Fraternally, he stands high in Masonic circles, being a member of the blue lodge, and having attained the Royal Arch and Knight Templar degrees. He and his family worship at the Congregational Church.

Mr. McElroy is deeply interested in educational affairs and he was chairman of the committee on faculty and course of study at the State College at Ames for more than ten years, this being the most important committee in the college. Mrs. McElroy has also been active in educational matters, and she was head of the local high school for five years previous to her marriage.

Mr. McElroy is always master of himself in the trial of cases and is rarely not at his best, being uniformly courteous and deferential toward the court and forbearing to his opponents. His treatment of his case is always full of comprehension and accurate, his analysis of the facts clear and exhaustive, and he seems to grasp without effort the relation and dependence of facts, and so groups them as to enable him to throw their combined force upon the point they tend to prove. He is not only an able and reliable counselor, with a thorough acquaintance of the principles, intricacies and complexities of jurisprudence, but his honesty is such that he has frequently advised against long and expensive litigation, and this, too, at the loss of liberal fees which otherwise he could have easily earned. He is a man of the people, cosmopolitan in his ideas and of such sterling qualities as to render him popular with all classes; however, he is a plain, straightforward and unassuming citizen who is merely seeking to live a wholesome life in all its relations, and while benefiting himself, does not neglect his broader duties to the county, state, nation and his fellow men in general. Page 496

~ McIntire, Charles E. ~

Among the farmers of Sherman Township, Jasper County, who enjoy distinctive prestige as a neighbor and citizen is Charles E. McIntire, who has lived here for a period of thirty-two years, during which he has advanced to a position in material and civic affairs which entitle him to be called one of the progressive men of the County, for in every relation of life his voice and influence have ever been on the side of right as he has seen and understood the right.

Mr. McIntire was born in Neponset, Illinois, January 5, 1862, the son of Erastus and Hester A. (Russell) McIntire. His paternal grandparents, Ezra and Clarina McIntire, were natives of Maine, in which state they spent their lives on a farm; the maternal grandparents, David and Prudence (Webb) Russell, were also natives of Maine, where they grew up and were married and there they lived until the father's death, she subsequently remarrying and moving west, finally dying in Neponset, Illinois.

The parents of the subject were born and reared in Maine. In 1851 Erastus McIntire, the father, went to California, making the long transcontinental trip as a result of the gold excitement, returning to Maine in 1853. Soon afterwards he moved to Illinois, locating in Neponset and there was married. He devoted his life to agricultural pursuits and became the owner of several farms and dealt in land considerably. In March, 1879, he and his son, Charles E., of this review, moved to Jasper County, Iowa, and bought

three hundred and fifty acres in Sherman and Independence Townships, and two years later the rest of the family moved here. This land they improved, erected buildings, except the dwelling house, which they remodeled. The parents lived retired in Des Moines until his death, January 19, 1912. He was taken to Neponset, Illinois, his former home, for burial.

Politically he was a Republican, and they were both members of the Baptist Church. Their family consisted of three children: Charles E., married Elizabeth Lowry; Maud married Ernest Weishaar and they live in Rhodes, Marshall County; Mabel married William N. Jordan and they live in Des Moines.

Charles E. McIntire was educated in the schools of Neponset, Illinois. He was reared on the home farm, and upon coming to Iowa he took up farming with his father. In about 1901 he bought one hundred and eighty-eight acres of the old homestead, and here he has been successfully engaged in general farming and stock raising. He is a feeder of shorthorn cattle for the market, and has kept the place well improved in every respect.

Politically, Mr. McIntire is a Republican. He and his wife are members of the Brotherhood of the American Yeomen lodge. His wife is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church.

Mr. McIntire was married in 1892 to Elizabeth Lowry, a native of Jasper County and the daughter of James and Susannah Lowry, who spent their early lives in Indiana, moving from there to Minnesota, thence to Iowa, being among the early settlers in Poweshiek Township, Jasper County. Mr. Lowry was a carpenter by trade, which he followed most of his life, but upon coming to Iowa he divided his attention between carpentering and farming, having bought a farm here. His death occurred on April 7, 1878. His widow is still living in Poweshiek Township, being now advanced in years. Their family consisted of twelve children, ten of whom are living at this writing.

Four children were born to Mr. and Mrs. McIntire, namely: Ruth, a student in the West high school at Des Moines; Violet, Florence and Maud. Page 1259

~ McKinney, William B. ~

The gentleman, whose name appears at the head of this sketch was born January 17, 1839, at Noblesville, Indiana, the son of David and Rachel (Garrett) McKinney, both natives of North Carolina. The family came in 1834 to Indiana and purchased land and settled in Hamilton County, that State. For more than twenty-five years Mr. McKinney, Sr., carried on successful farming in the Hoosier state, at the expiration of which time he sold out his interests in Indiana and came to Iowa, locating first in Jasper County, in 1846, but a year later he purchased a large tract of land near Galesburg, where he lived until his death, which occurred in 1873, at the age of seventy-one years. He was among the early settlers in this County, and was a man of fearless and upright character. He was broad-minded and public spirited and commanded the respect and confidence of the community in which he lived, having held many and various Township offices, being justice of the peace at Galesburg for a number of years. He was twice married, his first wife, mother of the subject, dying at the age of twenty-seven years in Indiana. To this union there were born four children, of whom William B. was the youngest, the others being as follows: Margaret, now the widow of William Autry, living near Galesburg; Alfred, living in Washington; Mary, now the widow of Henry Hammer, living in Des Moines, Iowa. Mr. McKinney's second marriage was to Adaline Hammer, to whom seven children were born, namely: James W., who was a lecturer, now deceased; Elizabeth F. died at the age of thirty-five, Henry, deceased; Gideon died on the home place near Galesburg, leaving a family; Ellen Ora, who married Thomas Hinshaw, is now deceased; Rosanna, now Mrs. T. Farmer, living on a farm near Parsons, Kansas; Rachel, now Mrs. George Landmesser, living on a farm in Pocahontas County, Iowa.

At the age of nineteen years, William B. McKinney started out to make his own way in the world by farming and teaming. In 1862 he entered his country's service by enlisting in Company D, Tenth Iowa Regiment, and at the expiration of his first term of enlistment he re-enlisted and served with distinction until the close of the war, being mustered out at Little Rock, Arkansas. He participated in twenty-seven battles, among them being Champion's Hill, Corinth, Iuka, and many others, and went with Sherman on his celebrated march to the sea. He was twice wounded, the first time in the temple during the battle of Corinth, and on the 16th of May, 1863, at the battle of Champion's Hill, he was shot in the breast and severely wounded, and carries the bullet in his body to this day, it being too near the heart to allow of an operation. While lying wounded upon the field, he was taken prisoner by the enemy, but ten or fifteen minutes later he was re-taken by the Union forces. He says that was the longest ten minutes he ever experienced. He was sent to the hospital and it was not until in October that he was able to rejoin his regiment, at which time they engaged in the battle of Lookout Mountain.

On December 14, 1865, Mr. McKinney was united in marriage to Lydia Hammer, daughter of Henry and Francis (Blackburn) Hammer. To this union were born eight children, of whom the first two died in infancy. The others are: J. E., now deceased; Nancy E., now Mrs. Schuyler Morris, lives on a farm in Kellogg Township; William died in infancy; Hetty died when a small child; Ella, who married Francis Kasta, died, leaving one child, a girl; Alfred is living at Seattle, Washington.

In 1890, at the age of fifty-four, Mr. McKinney's wife died, and ten years later, on July 15, 1900, he married Rebecca F. Gettys, widow of Joseph Gettys, who was a soldier in the Civil War, a member of Company D, Fortieth Iowa. She was the daughter of Robert Wilson and Johanna (Demar) Wilson, her father a native of Delaware and her mother of Kentucky. Her parents were married in Indiana, but later moved to Arkansas, coming to Kellogg Township, Jasper County, Iowa, in 1854, where they purchased a quarter section of land. The father died here in 1890, as also did her mother, only a few months apart. To this union there were born ten children, namely: Ann Jane, deceased; Sarah Irene twice married, first to a Mr. Huffman, afterwards to a Mr. Adams, both farmers in Kellogg Township. She is now deceased; Charlotta V., widow of Steven Morris, lives in Kellogg Township; William, a farmer of Kellogg Township, now dead; David lives on a farm in South Dakota; Fletcher N. is in the dairy business in Oregon; Eliza, widow of Cyrus Calliston, of Kellogg Township; two died in infancy.

Mrs. McKinney's first marriage occurred in 1856, and after living in Kellogg Township for a few years the family moved to Kansas, where Mr. Gettys died in 1895. She is the mother of eleven children, namely: Mary Isabel Lockard lives in Kansas; Amanda Jones lives in Oregon; Emmerata Gaff, now deceased, lived in Kansas; J. Elsworth lives at Trouro, Iowa; Robert, a Methodist Episcopal minister located at David City, Nebraska; Wilbur, also a minister of the Methodist Church, living in Oklahoma; Walter lives in Kansas; Edward lives at O'Fallon, Illinois; Minnie Snider lives in Newton, Iowa; Maud Campbell lives in Denver, Colorado.

Mr. McKinney is a member of the Grand Army of the Republic, Garrett Post at Newton, and is also identified with the Masonic lodge in Newton. In 1866 he purchased his first land, which consisted of eighty acres in Kellogg Township. Later he added eighty acres more to this, which tract he sold in 1886, afterwards buying one hundred and sixty acres in Newton Township. After farming this land for about twenty years, he sold it and purchased two hundred acres in Kellogg Township, which he sold a few years ago and retired from active labor, buying a nice home with twelve acres of land adjoining it just outside the city limits of the city of Newton. He has made this his residence ever since. He is a very good man highly respected and esteemed by all with whom he comes in contact, and he and his good wife are active and zealous in all that pertains to the welfare of the community in which they live. Mrs. McKinney is a loyal member of the Woman's Relief Corps, of Newton.

Politically, Mr. McKinney is a Democrat, but has never been an aspirant to public office, although he has been school director and road supervisor in his district a number of times. Although having ceased from active labor on the farm, Mr. McKinney is not content to be idle, but is engaged in making private loans of his own money. Page 912

~ McLaughlin, E. M. S. ~

The name of E. M. S. McLaughlin, of Newton, needs no introduction to the professional circles of central Iowa. Selecting the law as his sphere early in life, he has devoted his energies to that, ignoring other aspirations to make himself what he is today, a thorough master of legal science in all its ramifications. The common law, the statutes of Iowa, the history, progress and growth of jurisprudence, as well as the higher and more abstruse principles of equity, are all completely at his command, constituting him a leader at the bar, which position is readily conceded him by his associates.

Mr. McLaughlin was born in Hamilton County, Iowa, November 4, 1869, the son of Angus and Catherine (Sells) McLaughlin, the father a native of Ohio and the mother of Pennsylvania, the paternal grandparents being natives of Scotland and the maternal grandparents of Pennsylvania. Angus McLaughlin spent his active life engaged in agricultural pursuits, and is present living retired in Los Angeles, California. He came west to Iowa 1855, and entered land in Hamilton County, which land he improved, transforming it from the wild prairie to a fine farm, the same still being in possession of the family. At one time he was the owner of four hundred and twenty-six acres, which, since his retirement, has been added to by the subject and his brothers until they now own jointly nine hundred and fifty-nine acres in one body, all well kept and valuable land, situated in one of the most favored agricultural sections in the state.

Angus McLaughlin is a man of exceptional intelligence and sterling innate characteristics. He was always much interested in educational matters, also politics, having served the Republican party in many capacities, having been supervisor of his County for two terms besides holding other offices, always with credit to himself and to the satisfaction of all concerned. His wife died on February 22, 1909, at the age of seventy years. In an early day the father made a trip across the western plains to the Black Hills and to Colorado, where he mined gold for a year. He is now making his home with his daughter, Elizabeth A. McLaughlin, an osteopathic physician of Los Angeles. His other children are: J. J., a veterinary surgeon of Blue Earth, Minnesota; A. A., of Des Moines, is attorney for the Chicago Northwestern Railroad Company; E. M. S., of this review; W. M. is an attorney at Des Moines and ex-city solicitor of that place; Maud M. is the wife of D. D. McGillivary, an attorney of Lowden, Iowa.

E. M. S. McLaughlin remained on the home farm until the fall of 1889, then, attended the Northern Iowa Normal School at Algona for one ten teaching the winter term of school. The following August he entered the Iowa State College at Ames for a four years' course, teaching during the winters. He made an excellent record and was graduated from that institution with the degree of Bachelor of Electrical Engineering, on November 10, 1894. Then he again taught school and worked some at his chosen calling

On February 26, 1896, Mr. McLaughlin was united in marriage with Minnie A. Parmenter, of Polk County, Iowa, and the daughter of Edward and Anna Parmenter, of Ohio. They came to Iowa in an early day and spent their active lives in farming; the father is now deceased, but the mother survives. Two children were born to Mr. and Mrs. McLaughlin, Ruth and Ralph, both of whom are at home and in school.

After his marriage Mr. McLaughlin lived on his farm for three years, after which he entered the law Department of Drake University, from which he was graduated with the degree of Bachelor of Laws. He applied himself very assiduously to his studies, becoming exceptionally well equipped for his life work, and in 1900 he opened a law office in Newton, which he has since maintained, doing a general practice in all courts and building up a large and constantly increasing clientele. He has met with a large measure of success, being a careful, painstaking, tireless and honest advocate and exceptionally strong in the trial of cases. His reputation extends far beyond the limits of his County and has placed him in the front ranks of his professional brethren in this section of the state, which has long been noted for its high order of legal ability.

Mr. McLaughlin has long been active in the affairs of the Republican Party and is at this time chairman of the County central committee. His advice and counsel is freely sought in campaigns by candidates and political leaders. He was formerly a member of the Newton Business Men's Association. Fraternally, a member of the Modern Woodmen of America, he is state consul of that organization, and served as its delegate to Indianapolis in 1903 and at Milwaukee in 1905, and he was delegate to the head camp at Buffalo in June 1911. He is also a member of the Brotherhood of American Yeoman, being its delegate to the grand conclave at Colorado Springs in 1903. He was also sent to Minneapolis in 1909 as a member of the national law committee and is at this time chairman of the national committee of appeals and grievances of said order. He is a member of the Delta Lodge No. 53, Knights of Pythias, of Newton. Personally, Mr. McLaughlin is a very pleasant gentleman, courteous, genial, obliging, straightforward and unassuming. Page 624

~ McLellan, Belding R. ~

One may live a life of busy and successful years, may fashion construct physical things and yet, if lacking true manhood and human sympathy, his works are as nothing. Time, the grim destroyer, is ever at work of devastation; but there are some things which endure. Long after we forget the material things a man may have possessed, we remember the sacrifices he made, his cheerful Godspeeds and his inspiring example. Principle is eternal, and courage and steadfastness of purpose have ever moved the world, such as that possessed by the stout-hearted pioneer and soldier, Bell McLellan, one of the best known and highly esteemed business men of Jasper County, who died July 21, 1911.

Belding R. McLellan was born in Laporte County, Indiana, May 12, 1842, and was the son of Joseph and Fidelia (Read) McLellan, the father a native of Grafton County, New Hampshire, and the mother of Bedford County, Pennsylvania. The father devoted his life to farming, owning land in Laporte County, Indiana, where he spent most of his life and where his death occurred. He is remembered as a strong character, a man of pronounced convictions, sterling honesty and persistent industry, a type of that class of citizens from the bone and sinew of which all new countries spring. His family consisted of seven children, two of whom are now living; the eldest, Andrew, died in Laporte County, Indiana, about the spring of 1910; Sarah Jane died in childhood; Belding R. of this review was next in order of birth; George W. lives on a farm near Laporte, Indiana; Martha married George Reed and died in Michigan City in 1910; her twin sister, Mary, married Charles McClure and they live in Gallatin, Missouri.

Mr. McLellan of this review spent his boyhood on the home farm which he worked during the summer months and in the wintertime attended the district schools. He received a good schooling at St. Mary's Academy in South Bend, Indiana, and Valparaiso University at Valparaiso, Indiana. He proved his patriotism when a mere boy by enlisting, in September 1861, in the Fourth Indiana Battery, and he was sent into Kentucky, first to Louisville, then to Green River. He was assigned to Buell's command and saw his first hard service at the battle of Shiloh; then he was at the siege of Corinth, and later he was at Nashville, after which his division went to the vicinity of Louisville, thence to Perryville and was in the battle there, in which Mr. McLellan was severely wounded October 8, 1862, just below the knee, the bullet fragment of shell passing entirely through his leg. For a time he remained in the temporary field hospital No. 8, at Louisville, in fact remained there three months, then was sent home. The injury incapacitated him from work for some time, but as soon as he was able he began assisting with the farming duties. He had been a very faithful soldier and, although thus sorely wounded, never regretted his services to his country. In the spring of 1865 he started over the plains of the great west with an ox team, this incident in his career proving, perhaps more than anything else, that he was a man of courage and energy; the many dangers, such as unfriendly Indians, wild beasts, etc., did not deter him. It was interesting to hear him recall reminiscences of this trip. He recalled the fact that Indians killed white men ahead and behind his wagon train. Upon reaching Central City, Colorado, he engaged in various lines of business. After an absence of about two years he returned to Laporte, Indiana.

On February 27, 1867, he was united in marriage with Rebecca A. Reed, daughter of Bazelleel and Catherine (Flood) Reed, the father a native of Ohio and the mother of Franklin County, Indiana. They were married in the County just named and owned a farm there, later removing to Laporte County, Indiana, and buying land there, where Mrs. McLellan was born. Mr. Reed came to Jasper County, Iowa, in 1855 and entered a half section of land in Mound Prairie Township, which is still in the possession of the family. He entered this land from the government and it remained undeveloped until 1872 when Mr. and Mrs. McLellan came out and located on it, and, resolutely taking up their labors, they had a good home in due course of time. Mr. and Mrs. Reed are both deceased, Mr. Reed dying October 29, 1878, and Mrs. Reed on September 4, 1861. All their children are also dead except two; four of them died in infancy; Joseph M. who died in Kansas just as he was starting for the army, May 15, 1864; Caroline died in Laporte County, Indiana, December 13, 1878; Rebecca A., wife of Mr. McLellan, was next in order of birth; Franklin died August 28, 1907, in Laporte County, Indiana; W. S. lives on a farm in Jackson County, Kansas; George W., who died October 26, 1901, in Michigan City, Indiana, as at one time sheriff of Laporte County, Indiana, being the youngest man ever elected to that office.

To Mr. and Mrs. McLellan, two daughters, both living, have been born, namely: Minnie B. married George W. Dickinson, lives in Newton part of the time, but has property interests in Buchanan County, Iowa; Effie married C. A. Chapman and they live in Hood River, Oregon. Both these children enjoyed the advantages of good educations, having passed through the common schools, later attending the State University, and they are both cultured and intelligent. Both were graduated from the business course.

Mr. McLellan was very successful in a business way and he established a pleasant home. He was a member of Garrett Post No. 16, Grand Army of the Republic, of Newton. He was formerly a member of the post at Prairie City and was quartermaster of the same. He belonged to Preston Lodge No. 218, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, of Prairie City. Politically, he was a Republican. Mrs. McLellan, a woman of refined tastes and pleasing address, belongs to the Methodist Episcopal Church and is prominent in the Woman's Relief Corpse at Newton. Page 679

~ McVay, Warren ~

The gentleman to whom attention is directed in this review is an individual who has attained pronounced prestige by reason of native and acquired ability, and also because of his high standing in the domain of private citizenship. Warren McVay, of Newton, Jasper County, is one of the representative men of this vicinity and for several decades past has been prominently identified with the industrial and business interests of the locality of which this history treats. He takes a deep and abiding interest in everything pertaining to the material advancement of the town and County and every enterprise intended to promote the advancement of the same is sure to receive his hearty support. He is rated as one of the progressive citizens of the County in which he has lived for a period of more than thirty years and the high respect in which he is held by all classes of people is a deserving compliment to an intelligent, broad-minded and most worthy man.

Mr. McVay was born on February 15, 1862, in Schuyler County, Illinois, near the town of Rushville, the son of Alvin and Phoebe (Sparks) McVay, the father having been born in Ohio, the son of Isaac McVay. The family is of Scotch-Irish extraction. Alvin McVay was a cooper by trade. He spent most of his life in Illinois, one year in Iowa and for a time resided in Denver, Colorado, later returning to Illinois, and, after a. successful and useful life he died in 1804 at the age of sixty-five years His wife was born in Indiana and her death occurred in Denver in October 1909, at the age of seventy-four years, having made her home in that city after the death of her husband. Warren McVay was the third child in a family of ten children, the others being named as follows: Mary J., wife of Milton McVay, a distant relative, lives at Camp Point, Illinois; Rosa, wife of John Hasley, lives in Newton; Bert died in Silk, Colorado; Myron died in Newton; Nancy, the eldest child, and Calvin, John and Laura, all died in infancy.

Warren McVay attended school in Adams County, Illinois, and on October 7, 1880, he arrived in Newton, Iowa, and he attended one term of school in Adamson's Grove, after coming to Jasper County. In order to get a start in the new country he worked by the month on different farms for five years, then went to Denver, Colorado, and he farmed in that state for six years; but not taking any too kindly to ranching in the Centennial state, he returned to Iowa in 1891, locating in Jasper County, living for a time at Kellogg.

In 1893 he was united in marriage with May Belle Peters, who was born in Fayette County, Iowa, the daughter of John and Elizabeth (Landers) Peters. Her mother was a native of Pennsylvania and the father of Ohio. He devoted his life to farming. He was only nine years of age when he accompanied his parents to Iowa and here he grew up with the country, the state being new when he arrived. John Peters was a soldier in the Union army during the Civil War, having enlisted early in the struggle in Company F, Ninth Iowa Volunteer Infantry, in which lie served very gallantly until the close of the war, receiving an honorable discharge. He saw some hard service in many campaigns and battles, in one of which he received a wound, but not of serious consequence. Although he was compelled to undergo many hardships of camp, skirmish and March, he never regretted his service to his country. He is still living, making his home in Marshalltown, being now sixty-eight years of age. Mrs. Peters passed away in 1900.

Eight children were born to Mr. and Mrs. John Peters, namely: May Belle, wife of Mr. McVay; Ida, wife of T. E. Roseman, who is in the mail service at Kellogg, this County; Etta, wife of Horace Morgan, lives at Marshalltown; Anna, wife of Albert Haines, also lives at Marshalltown; Nellie, who married Harvey Gilbert, lives at Grinnell, Iowa; Wilder makes his home in Wisconsin; Willis is a citizen of Marshalltown; Martha died in infancy.

After his marriage Mr. McVay farmed for himself and as a general farmer and stock raiser met with encouraging success all along the line. In 1910 he moved to Newton and started a dairy business, which has grown into extensive proportions, and his patrons still constantly increase. He is well prepared for this work and understands every detail of the same. He has every modern appliance and equipment to carry on an up-to-date, sanitary and successful dairy. His honesty has been so pronounced that all who have had dealings with him have confidence in his integrity. He has been very successful in his life work, and besides his dairy, owns a substantial and pleasant home on Greencastle Avenue, Newton.

Three children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. McVay, namely: Alma and Glen are both attending school in Newton; Leola, the youngest, died in infancy.

Politically, Mr. McVay is a Republican, and while he is loyal to his party and a booster for Newton and vicinity, he is in no sense a politician, preferring to give his attention exclusively to his individual affairs. He is a member of the Modern Woodmen and of the Christian church at Kellogg. He and his wife have made a host of friends since coming to Newton. Page 600

~ Mendenhall, E. P. ~

It is an excellent thing to be born to great wealth, like a Vanderbilt, but it is also excellent to be born to a good name. When ancestors through many generations have lived useful and distinguished lives and have made a splendid name for themselves by devotion to duty and honor, it is one of the biggest inheritances that can be left to descendants. And so the families who had ancestors in the Revolution or other early wars of our Republic or in other lines of service of the country in its formative period boast of such services and found organizations of the descendants, with the record of their fathers for the foundation stone. And so descendants of families that came to the wild, untamed and seemingly interminable planes of Iowa when it was the land of the red man and wolf and carved out fine farms and comfortable Christian homes from the primeval wilds may well boast of the deeds of their fathers and mothers who conquered the land and made the soil blossom with flowers of industry and peace. When in addition to all this they have behind them a name of honor and a principality of acres, their children may well rise up and call them "blessed." This has been the inheritance of E. P. Mendenhall, well-known agriculturist of Lynn Grove Township, Jasper County.

Mr. E. P. Mendenhall was born in Hendricks County, Indiana, May 21, 1858, and he is the son of Temple and Sarah (Newlin) Mendenhall, the father born in North Carolina, November 22, 1806, and the mother in Clinton County, Ohio, April 10, 1815. The Mendenhalls came to America from England with the famous William Penn, there being three brothers of them, and from one of the three is descended the subject of this sketch; the trio were Benjamin, John and George; the latter returned to England, the first two named remaining in the new world and here reared families. It is believed that they spelled their name Mendenhall, later members of the family corrupting it to Mendenhall, or perhaps these brothers changed their name upon establishing themselves in America, for it is known that they owned a splendid country home in England, called Mendenhall. From the early colonial days to the present time the members of this house have figured more or less prominently in many sections of the Union.

When thirteen years of age, Temple Mendenhall, father of E. P., of this review, accompanied his parents, Richard and Polly Mendenhall, from the old home in North Carolina to Indiana and there the mother died. The maternal grandparents, John and Esther Newlin, moved to Indiana in a very early day and there reared a family and spent their lives, the grandmother dying there; the death of the grandfather occurred in Ohio. The parents of the subject of this sketch were married in Indiana on January 20, l835, and there they remained until 1859, when they came to Jasper County, Iowa, and bought a small farm which Mr. Mendenhall developed and to which he added more land as he prospered until he became the owner of nine hundred and thirty acres in Jasper County, and was known as one of the leading farmers and citizens of his day. He was well known and influential among the early settlers here. Although his business interests were large and required much attention, he found ample time to aid in the general development of the locality and was regarded as one of the most useful men in this corner of the County. He was public spirited and always gladly supported any measure calculated to be of general good. He was kind-hearted, neighborly and useful in times of sickness, misfortunes, deaths or wherever the services of a strong-minded, sympathetic spirit was needed. He was a well-informed man and, in fact, he was doctor and dentist to his children, of which there were an equal number of sons and daughters, fourteen in all, but only three of them are living at this writing, namely: Temple, of Plainfield, Indiana; Jeremiah, who lives at Lynnville, Iowa, and Enos P., of this review. A twin brother of the latter, Calvin W., died in January 1908. The death of Temple Mendenhall occurred on December 14, 1874, in his sixty-eighth year; his wife died on September 20, 1891, having reached the age of seventy-six years. They were a fine old couple and held in high esteem by all who knew them.

E. P. Mendenhall, of this review, grew up on the home farm and when of proper age he made himself useful about the home place, especially during crop seasons, attending the public schools in the wintertime, after which he took four terms in Penn College. Since leaving school through his home study and reading he has become well educated. He took up farming for a livelihood on the old home place and at one time he owned in partnership with his brother, Calvin W., seven hundred and twenty acres. Upon the death of the latter the estate was settled and the subject bought the home place of two hundred and eighty acres, and sold all the rest of his land in Richland Township, this County, and in Poweshiek County. He farmed and raised livestock on a large scale for many years, and prospered by reason of close application and good management. For nearly four years he has been practically retired from active life, though he still manages the home place and maintains his residence on the same. He has made a specialty of stock and grain farming and has quite a local reputation as a corn raiser. He has kept well up on modern methods of farming.

Politically, Mr. Mendenhall is a Prohibitionist and is an active worker in the party. He was reared among the Society of Friends and he has not departed from that faith. Two of his sisters made their home with the subject until their deaths, each of whom owned some good land here. Then a third sister, Mrs. Sarah Kitchin, widow of Joseph J. Kitchin, and a blood relation of John G. Whittier, kept house for him until her death, on August 17, 1910. Since then her daughters, Blanch and Nellie, have remained with Mr. Mendenhall. They are two of a family of seven girls, the others being Etta, Chla, Anna, Julia and Lillian. Gurney and Furney, twin brothers, died in childhood. Blanch and Nellie, who are looking after the home, are popular young ladies in the community, both well educated and talented musicians, having attended Penn College at Oskaloosa for some time. Page 976

~ Meredith, Harlan ~

Agriculture has been an honored vocation from the earliest ages and as a usual thing men of honorable and humane impulses, as well as those of energy and thrift, have been patrons of husbandry. The free out-of-door life known to the tiller of the soil has a decided tendency to foster and develop that independence of mind and self-reliance, which characterizes true manhood, and no truer blessing can befall a boy than to be reared in close touch with nature in the healthful, life-inspiring labor of the fields. It has always been the fruitful soil from which have sprung the moral bone and sinew of the country, and the majority of our nation's great warriors, renowned statesmen and distinguished men of letters were born on the farm and were indebted largely to its early influence for the distinction which they attained. From the farm came the Merediths, one of the honored and representative families of Jasper County, of whom Harlan Meredith, one of Linn Grove Township's most progressive young agriculturists, is a worthy member.

Mr. Harlan Meredith was born in Sugar Creek Township, Poweshiek County, Iowa, August 21, 1879, the son of Robert and Alice Rachel (Sheridan) Meredith, both natives of Indiana, the father born at Westfield, on July 13, 1846, and the mother in Henry County on March 17, 1850. The father moved from Indiana with his parents about 1863 to Poweshiek County, Iowa, and there he grew to manhood. It was about three years later, in 1865 that Alice R. Sheridan left the Hoosier state and came to Poweshiek County, Iowa, where she met and married Robert Meredith in October 1868. Their parents had settled on adjoining farms, so the parents of the subject practically grew up together from childhood. Robert Meredith was a very industrious and thrifty young man and a large degree of success always attended his efforts, and as the years passed he has accumulated valuable and desirable lands aggregating eight hundred and fifty acres, mostly in Poweshiek County; this he has placed under excellent improvements and a high state of cultivation. In 1880 he and his family moved to Lynnville, Jasper County, this state, and bought one hundred and sixty acres of land near the town, and there the elder Meredith prospered, added to his holdings from time to time and became known as one of the leading farmers and stock raisers of this part of the County. In 1909 having accumulated a competency, he and his wife retired from active life and moved to California, where they established their permanent home, turning the farms here over to the son, Harlan, of this review, who has full charge of them, and he has operated the same in a manner that reflects much credit upon his ability, keen discernment and progressive ideas.

In 1890 Robert Meredith started on a trip around the world, which he completed in a year and six days. Upon his return he embodied his interesting experiences in a book entitled, Around the World on Sixty Dollars. It attained a large sale almost immediately after publication, having been issued in a number of editions, and it has been placed in many schools over the country for its educational interest. It is well and entertainingly written, having a pleasing literary finish and conception and is a most worthy contribution to the travel literature of the world. It goes without saying that to make such a trip proves the individual's grit, tact, diplomacy and other attributes of a sterling nature. He stopped quite a while on the Sandwich Islands, where he worked as overseer of a sugar plantation, and he also made an extensive visit to the Holy Land and to Greece. Such a trip is usually made by tourists at the cost of several thousand dollars, and for one to accomplish the feat, by expending only sixty dollars above what he earned during the trip, certainly is criterion enough of his resourcefulness. He is now engaged in the real estate and orange growing business in California. Robert Meredith has always been a very progressive man along educational lines, and each of his children excepting the youngest is a graduate of Penn College and has had one or more years in some Eastern institution.

The son, Harlan Meredith, grew up on the home farm and was educated in the Lynnville high school and Penn College at Oskaloosa, of which institution he is one of the directors. He also spent two years in Columbia University, New York city, taking a course in law, but he has never practiced the profession for which he prepared himself, but returned to Lynnville, Iowa, in the spring of 1907 and has since been engaged in the management of his father's extensive farming interests. He has remained unmarried and his younger sister, Lucile, keeps house for him. There were seven children in the family of Robert Meredith and wife, named as follows: Clara, deceased; Mary Anna married Benjamin L. Miller; Rosella married Harry J. Dutton; Harlan of this review; Lucile; Ralph Bartlett was next in order of birth; Roberta is the youngest.

Harlan Meredith carries on general farming on an extensive scale and he feeds a large number of cattle annually. He and his father own several tracts of unimproved lands in California and Old Mexico.

This family belongs to the Friends Church and are known for their high sense of honor, hospitality, genial natures and steady habits. Page 962

~ Meredith, Oliver C. ~

It is the progressive, wide-awake man of affairs that makes the real history of a community and his influence as a potential factor in the body politic is difficult to estimate. The examples such men furnish of patient purpose and steadfast integrity strongly illustrate what is in the power of each to accomplish, and there is always a full measure of satisfaction in adverting even in a casual way to their achievements in advancing the interests of their fellow men and in giving strength and solidity to the institutions which make so much for the prosperity of the community. Such a man is Oliver C. Meredith, the present popular and efficient mayor of Newton, and as such it is proper that a review of his career be accorded a place among the representative citizens of Jasper County.

Mr. Meredith was born in Henry County, Indiana, of an excellent old Hoosier family, his birth occurring on December 15, 1847, and he is the son of J. H. and Eliza (Stanley) Meredith, the father being a native of North Carolina and the mother of Indiana. J. H. Meredith was only ten years of age when he came to Indiana, and there he grew to maturity and received a good education, remaining in that state until 1859, when, with his family, he came to Jasper County, Iowa, and settled on a farm near Lynnville. Later he purchased a farm six miles from Newton where he lived seventeen years, then returned to Lynnville, where his death occurred on January 26, 1876, at the age of fifty-seven years. He was a successful farmer, and in religious matter, was a zealous Quaker, a man of sterling worth and integrity. His wife died in Jasper County, in 1860. J. H. Meredith was again married, his last wife being Ardella Roberts, a native of Iowa who died at Lynnville in 1886; the first marriage resulted in the birth of six children, two sons and four daughters, all of whom are living, namely: Jane married Andrew Elliott, farmer, residing in St. Cloud, Kansas; Oliver C. of this review; Ellen married William Elliott, a farmer of St. Cloud, Kansas, and brother of Andrew Elliott; Caroline is the widow of John B. Elliott, a brother of the two Elliotts mentioned above, and she resides in Lynnville; Mary Moody, who lives in Denver; Owen L. died in Denver. To the second marriage of J. H. Meredith three sons were born, all of whom are living, namely: William J. is a real estate dealer in Newton; Albert is the general agent for the McCormick Harvester Company, with headquarters at Minneapolis, Minnesota; Elkana lives in Omaha.

After receiving a good education, Oliver C. Meredith, when twenty-one years of age, started out in Iowa as a farmer, later conducted a mercantile business at Lynnville for seven years, studying law in the meantime. On July 29, 1880, he moved to Newton where he has been engaged in the practice of law ever since, soon taking a place in the front rank of the able professional men of the County and building up a large and lucrative clientele, which has continued to grow. He has figured prominently in the local courts for many years and is regarded as a painstaking, capable and conscientious attorney whose peculiar persuasiveness and eloquence have great effect with a jury. He has kept fully abreast of the times in all matters pertaining to his chosen vocation. After coming to Newton he was elected County Attorney by the Republicans, in which office he served very faithfully for four years, and in March 1909, he was elected mayor of Newton, which office he still holds, giving the city one of the best administrations it has ever had and doing a great deal for its permanent good, managing the affairs of the office with the same courage, energy and fidelity as he would his own private affairs. For two years he was president of the Newton Business Men's Association; he has also served as city solicitor and has been a member of the city council for two years.

On April 7, 1872, Mr. Meredith was married to Sarah Masteller, daughter of Emanuel and Elizabeth Masteller, natives of Ohio. Mrs. Meredith's death occurred in 1881. Two children were born to this union, Fred C., whose birth occurred January 7, 1874, is in partnership with his father in the law business, and he is regarded as one of the rising young businessmen of Newton. He is one of the leading abstractors and is secretary of the Jasper County Agricultural Society. Clyde W., born in December 1881, is auditor of the One Minute Manufacturing Company, is a good businessman and has climbed up step by step with this enterprise.

Mr. Meredith's second marriage was solemnized on March 18, 1886, when he was united with Delia B. Brown, daughter of John and Elizabeth Brown, the father being a Kentuckian and the mother a native of Indiana. One child has graced this union, Ora Bess, whose birth occurred December 1888; she has remained single and has devoted her life principally to music, possessing a rare and remarkable voice and has obtained a high musical education, and is a graduate of the Oberlin Conservatory of Music, at Oberlin, Ohio. She is a contralto, and while in Oberlin she was at the head of the church choir of one hundred and seventy voices. She is now in New York City teaching and pursuing her musical studies.

Mr. and Mrs. Meredith are members of the Congregational Church at Newton, in which he has held nearly every office. He has been a teacher in the Sunday school for thirty-seven consecutive years, during which time he has been most faithful. Mrs. Meredith is also a teacher in the Sunday school.

Fraternally, he belongs to Newton Lodge No. 59, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons; Gebal Chapter No. 12, Royal Arch Masons, and of Oriental Commandery No. 22, Knights Templar. He has held practically all the offices in these several lodges; he and his wife belong to the Order of the Eastern Star, Newton Chapter No. 100. He is past grand worthy patron of the state of Iowa of that order, and Mrs. Meredith is a past grand worthy matron of the Iowa grand chapter. Eight years ago Mr. Meredith introduced a resolution before the grand chapter of Iowa for the establishment of an Eastern Star Masonic Home, which was passed and a splendid home was subsequently established at Boone, Iowa. A farm of eighty acres was purchased by the committee, of which Mr. Meredith was a member. This committee afterward became the board of trustees. This home is now valued at forty-five thousand dollars; it is intended to be used by the worthy dependent people of this order. The subject is its treasurer and he has been on its board of trustees since its establishment. He is one of the most prominent Masons in the state and is influential in fraternal circles.

On June 4, 1864, when but sixteen years of age. Mr. Meredith enlisted for service in the great war of the Rebellion, becoming a member of the Forty-eighth Iowa Volunteer Infantry at Newton. He was sent to Rock Island and did guard duty. He received an honorable discharge at the close of the war.

He is a member of the Grand Army of the Republic, Garrett Post No. 16, at Newton. Page 780