Keokuk County Iowa IAGenWeb - 1903 Biography

GODFREY SAYLER

Godfrey Sayler is a retired farmer and an honored pioneer settler of Keokuk county, where he has made his home for more than a half century. He was born in Blount county, Tennessee, March 20, 1821. His father, William Sayler, was a native of Virginia, and came to Pennsylvania in an early day. In 1849 he removed to Iowa, being accompanied by his son Godfrey. They located in Warren township, Keokuk county, and there purchased a farm of one hundred and twenty acres of government land. This was raw and unimproved, not a furrow having been turned on the prairie land, but with characteristic energy the father and sons cleared away the timber, broke the prairie land and prepared it for the planting of crops, which in time yielded to them a good return for their labors. The father was married in Tennessee to Catherine Keller, and they became the parents of eight children, three sons and five daughters, but with the exception of the subject of this review all are deceased. The family record is as follows: Sallie, Jacob, Rebecca, Mary, Godfrey, Elizabeth, Selina, and a baby that died in infancy. William Sayler, the father of this family, spent his remaining days upon the old homestead in Warren township. Throughout his life he had carried on agricultural pursuits and he was an honored and respected citizen of the community in which he lived, where he bore his share in the improvement and development which was taking place in those early days and which laid the foundation to the great future prosperity of the state of Iowa. His death occurred about 1861.

Godfrey Sayler is the second son and fifth child of his father's family. The early days of his childhood were passed in Tennessee. With his parents he came to Indiana when about seven years of age, and remained there with his parents until his marriage. In Montgomery county, that state, he was united in marriage to Miss Prudence Taylor, a native of Indiana, where she remained until her marriage. She was a daughter of Abner Taylor, a pioneer settler of Indiana and later a pioneer settler also of Mahaska county, Iowa, where he removed in 1848 and spent the remainder of his life. As has been stated, the subject of this review removed to Keokuk county in 1849, and here has been engaged in agricultural pursuits, as was his father before him. He has witnessed much of the progress and improvement which has taken place in county and state since he became a resident therein, and has contributed in a large measure toward the up-building of the community and the development of the wonderful natural resources of the state. The rich fields of grain in harvesting time indicate the careful cultivation which has been bestowed upon the land of which he is the owner, and they yield to him a good return for his labor. When Mr. Sayler came to Keokuk county there were few white settlers but many Indians. He now owns about two hundred acres of the original purchase made by his father and himself, and he and his wife reside upon the old homestead.

Unto Mr. and Mrs. Sayler were born seven children, two sons and five daughters, as follows: Mary Elizabeth, Nancy, and Thomas, all deceased; Annie, living in Nebraska; Ella and Charlie, also deceased; and Levada. The children were all born in Keokuk county with the exception of the eldest, who was bom in Indiana. Mr. Sayler has now reached the eighty-first milestone on life's journey, while his wife, who has been his faithful companion through many years, has reached the age of seventy-three. They are living in peaceful enjoyment of a well-earned rest from the active labors of life, and Mr. Sayler rents his land. A Democrat in his political views, he is strong in his adherence to the principles of the party, although always content to live the life of a private citizen, never seeking office. No man in Keokuk county is more honored and respected than he, and well may he be classed among the representative citizens of his community.

EDWARD SCHILTZ, JOHN SCHILTZ, FRANK SCHILTZ

There is probably no more enterprising citizen in the township of Lancaster than this prominent young agriculturist, Edward Schiltz, residing on his carefully cultivated and attractive farm in section 29. Besides managing his own affairs with the wisdom and science that would do credit to a man of twice his years, he takes a leading hand in all public doings and is one of the most prominent lodge men in the vicinity. His high intellectual endowments and energy and push, which have thus brought him to the front, he has undoubtedly inherited from his good German ancestors.

His grandfather, John Schiltz, possessed to a remarkable degree these same traits, added to a dauntless courage, which made him bold to undertake what to other men would seem the impossible. He was born in Prussia, Germany in 1821. Desiring when a youth of nineteen to seek his fortune in America, though possessed of scarcely money enough to pay his passage, he bravely ventured forth and upon landing in New York had but twenty-five cents in his pocket. Undismayed, however, he wisely set to work and soon found what was equivalent to money to him, a good position in a flouring mill, whose owners, two brothers, also possessed a large elevator. Here he remained for a considerable time, acquiring a knowledge of milling of great value to him in later years. After a few years, however, he left New York and went west, locating at Peru, Illinois. Here he purchased a mill and engaged in business for himself for awhile. Though successful, he finally sold out and came to the new territory of Iowa, settling first in the vicinity of Solon. Purchasing a water-power mill near by, he conducted an extensive manufacturing industry for a short time, which proved highly profitable. Seeing, however, a better opening for his business at Riverside, he soon disposed of his Solon property and moved there, purchasing at the same time another large mill. This he managed with more than his usual good fortune, and kept it in operation for many years. Later, in 1857, while residing in this same place, in company with a Mr. Steavenson, he built what has been widely known as the Black Hawk Mill, on North Skunk stream, in Clear Creek township, Keokuk county. The mill is a large one, was then run by water power, and proved as a business venture the crowning success of his life. He continued to run it to the time of his death, which occurredin 1869. While residing in Peru, Illinois, Mr. Schiltz married Josephine Wendling, who was born in Germany. She died at Riverside, in 1857, and some years later, after moving to Keokuk county, Mr. Schiltz married Anna M. Baker, who was also born in Germany. She survived her husband many years. By the first marriage there was one child, Frank, who is mentioned below. By the second marriage there were five children. Mr. Schiltz's eminently successful career commended him to the confidence and respect of all who knew him, and his influence was felt far and near in any community in which he happened to reside. To his children he left not only a large inheritance of brains, but also considerable property as a stepping stone to success in life.

Frank Schiltz, the well known proprietor of the Sigourney Rolling Mills, even surpasses his father as an efficient business man, has also been eminently successful as an agriculturist, and now owns two large farms in Keokuk county. He was born in Riverside, Johnson county, Iowa, May 31, 1855, being but two years old when the family came to Keokuk county, where he has resided most of his life. In his youth, however, he spent considerable time with his maternal grandparents, who were residents of Iowa City, and there in the public schools received a good practical education. While in that city he also worked for some time in a mill as a preparation for the business he intended to pursue in life. Having some means with which to start in life, in 1874 he purchased one-third interest in the Black Hawk Mill, in which his father had taken a hand in building, and he remained with the firm for about three years, earning for himself a large income. After selling out he purchased a farm in Lafayette township, which he carried on for five years, meeting with the most gratifying results. Having by this time, March, 1886, saved considerable money, he purchased a two-third interest in the Black Hawk Mill, and here again carried on a flourishing business for five years, that is, until 1891. Then selling out his interest, he once more turned to agriculture, this time in Lancaster township, where he purchased another large farm. Applying both science and practical experience to his efforts, he caused his place to yield large and valuable crops, and gained the reputation of being one of the most successful agriculturists in the vicinity. In November, 1897, he came to Sigourney and purchased the Rolling Mills, of which he has since been the proprietor. He has conducted here a large and increasing business, giving employment to many men, and deriving for himself good profits. He has done well in all his business ventures, and is now a large property owner, possessing among other real estate the two farms already referred to.

In 1875 Mr. Schiltz married Elizabeth Stein, born in Keokuk county, of German descent, and they had seven children. Mr. Schiltz has always been an influential man in the community in which he happened to reside, and his large business interests have greatly benefited the county. He is an influential member of the Catholic school.

Edward Schiltz, son of Frank, was born in Black Hawk Mills, in Clear Creek township, September 9, 1876, and was the oldest of his parents' seven children. In the district schools of his neighborhood he received his early education, and later attended the Bloomfield Normal School for a while and the Normal Institute of Keokuk county, where he prepared himself for teaching. After leaving school he taught for two terms in Keokuk county, giving excellent satisfaction. Deciding, however, to turn his attention to agriculture, in 1899 he rented the old Reynolds farm in section 29, Lancaster township, where he still resides. This place is a large one hundred and thirty-five acre tract, is well improved and here he carries on general farming and engages in some stock raising. An excellent manager and possessed of a large capacity for work, he is meeting with splendid results, and is looked upon as one of the most progressive and yet practical agriculturists in his county. Mr. Schiltz has recently purchased the old Mintur farm, consisting of sixty acres and situated a mile and a half southeast of Sigourney, on which he intends to make his future home.

In 1898 Mr. Schlitz married Alice Utterback who was born in Lancaster township, daughter of Corbin and Jane (Lippard) Utterback; she received her education in the common schools of the neighborhood. Though quite young, Mr. Schiltz's remarkable capacity for leadership has commended him to the confidence of the people, and he is exceedingly prominent in the public affairs of his community. As a staunch Republican he is now serving as chairman of the central committee of the township, and has in other ways made his influence felt. He is one of the most prominent members of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, has completed every degree, and filled all the chairs of the order. A man of brilliant social attainments, he is well known throughout the county, and has many warm friends.

SCHIPFER BROS.

In the biographical sketch of Francis A. Schipfer, Sr., some history of the business firm of Schipfer Bros. is indicated. The business has resulted from that established by Francis A. Schipfer, Sr., in 1856. As his sons grew into years of usefulness as clerks, they entered their father's store and were brought up and trained to the business. About 1890 the father relinquished active connection with the business, and the firm of Schipfer Bros, came into existence. The business is conducted in three adjoining store rooms, one room being devoted to dry goods and notions ,one to clothing and one to groceries. In these lines of merchandise a large and well selected stock of goods is carried. The firm enjoys an extensive trade, and is noted for its fair dealing and courtesy, and is perhaps the leading business firm of Sigourney, to the growth and development of which town it has materially contributed. Francis A. Schipfer, Jr., is the senior member of the firm, he being the eldest of the brothers. While all the sons and their only sister constitute the firm, the sister and Herman J. are not active members of the firm. All save these two are identified closely with the management and direction of the affairs of the firm. Herman J. is interested in farming. All the sons and the father are numbered among the enterprising and representative citizens and the entire family are noted for much merit, enjoying the esteem and confidence of a wide circle of acquaintance.

FRANCIS A. SCHIPFER, SR.

Francis A. Schipfer, Sr. was born in the kingdom of Prussia, Germany, on February 12, 1831, and is a son of Kaspfer and Barbara (Wessbecher) Schipfer, who lived and died in Germany, their native land. Eight children were born to Kaspfer Schipfer and wife, but Francis A. was the only one who came to America. At that time he was a fairly well educated young man of twenty years and had already sufficiently filled a clerical position in a mercantile establishment. In 1851 he landed in the great metropolis of New York, but he remained there but a short time, spending over a year looking about for a suitable place in which to locate, and visiting Newark, New Jersey; Hamilton, Ohio; and then Burlington, Iowa. In that city he lived for two and one-half years, coming to Sigourney on July 3, 1856. Prior to this location he had filled clerical positions, but here he embarked in business for himself, opening up a general store, his business house continuing all these years. Mr. Schipfer is the only merchant of Sigourney who was in business when he settled here. His success has been very satisfactory, ahhough several changes have been made in the firm style. It began as the firm of F. A. Schipfer, later was changed to Schipfer & Sons, and about 1890, when the sons took active charge, the name became Schipfer Bros., as it now appears to the trade and the public. In 1890 Mr. Schipfer made a visit to Germany and renewed old associations.

Jn 1858 Francis A. Schipfer was married in Sigourney to Emily Knape, who was also born in Germany. The children born to them are: Francis A., Herman J., Louis J., Oscar A., Eugene, Fred C. and Clara, all of the sons and the daughter making up the present firm of Shipfer Bros. Mr. Schipfer has never been active in politics, but votes the Republican ticket.

JOHN W. SCHRIEVER

Born December 10, 1842, in Germany, he spent his boyhood years in acquiring a college education and also in fitting himself for a practical life by learning the profession of druggist. In 1860, at the age of eighteen, he emigrated to the United States and located in New York City, where he remained seven years, partly engaged in the New York Stadt Theatre, and partly as private teacher of ancient and modern languages. In 1867 he removed to Highland Falls, New York, near West Point, where for a number of years he was engaged in the manufacture of cigars. In the year 1873 he concluded to go west and decided on Sigourney as a location. There he continued in the manufacture of cigars, and also tried his hand at the newspaper business by becoming the founder of the Sigourney Courier, a German paper, which still fiourishes. At the start Mr. Schriever had as partners in the enterprise Messrs. T. Schiffer and Levi Bower, who soon withdrew, leaving Mr. Schriever in sole possession. He then took Mr. Charles Starr as partner, to whom he sold out his interest after the paper was firmly established, but continued in charge of the editorial department a year longer.

In 1882 Mr. Schriever removed to the town of Delta, where he remained about a year in the drug business, and then came to Richland, where he has since resided. He was first in partnership with Henry Burns about five years, then be bought that gentleman's interest and has since conducted the business alone. During the Civil war Mr. Schriever served in the United States navy on board the sloop of war Lackawanna, the flag-ship of the West Gulf blockading squadron, which was mainly engaged in blockading the port of Galveston, Texas. At the close of the war he received an honorable discharge.

The married life of Mr. Schriever began in 1869, when he was joined to Margaret Young, a native of Bavaria, Germany, who came to America as a child. She died in 1886, after having become the mother of six children, of whom only two are living, Alice Clara and Elma May, who both reside with their father. Mr. Schriever belongs to the Grand Army of the Republic and the Modern Woodmen of America. While not a party man, he has always taken a great interest in politics without striving to attain any political eminence. Still he has been honored by minor offices of trust, such as treasurer of his school district, and for seventeen years as treasurer of the town of Richland. Though leading a busy life, the subject of this biography has found time to give his thoughts to economic subjects, on which he holds original ideas, embodied in his work entitled "Equal Chances," which is, in his opinion, bound in due time to greatly improve mankind mentally, socially and physically.

JOHN SCHROEDER

From Germany, the land of his nativity, in 1835, Dedrich Schroeder, the father of the subject of this sketch, emigrated and came to Keokuk county, Iowa; in 1845 with his step-father and mother he settled on a farm of one hundred and thirty-seven acres in German township, land which they improved and increased by addition of one hundred and forty-seven acres. Dedrich Schroeder, who was born in 1819, still lives on this farm and takes an active interest in all the affairs of life; is a Republican, and a member of the Methodist church in German township, which he helped to build and has always supported. Our subject's mother was Caroline Neibomer; at an early day she came from Germany to Keokuk county, and there was married to Mr. Schroeder. They had two children, of whom John was the youngest; the other was named Henry.

John Schroeder was born in German township, Keokuk county, on the 28th day of February, 1860, and there his school days were passed. He remained on the home farm with his father until he was thirty years of age and in 1890 he occupied his present place of one hundred and forty acres of well improved land, to which he has since added forty acres.

In the same year he was married in Lafayette township to Anna Hoelscher, who was born in German township, Keokuk county, November 16, 1867; her father, Henry Hoelscher, was born in Burlington, Iowa; her mother, Barbara, was a native of Switzerland; they came to Keokuk county about 1870. Mr. and Mrs. Schroeder had three bright children: Edith, born February 28, 1892; Glenwyn, born July 10, 1894; and Mildred, born June 8, 1899. Mrs. Schroeder died March 21, 1902.

Mr. Schroeder has always been identified with the Republican party, and as a member of the school board, seeks to promote the cause of education. His church membership is in the Methodist church of German township, and the family, being among the oldest of the county, has always enjoyed an excellent reputation.

FRED SCHWENKE

Fred Schwenke, who resides on one of the well improved and fertile farms in section 6, German township, Keokuk county, Iowa, is one of the leading German-American farmers of this section, who since 1851 has been a resident of the United States. The birth of Mr. Schwenke took place in Hanover, Germany, April i, 1827, and he remained in his native place until he was twenty-five years of age. Until he was fourteen years old he went to school and then began work as an apprentice to the tailor's trade; he completed the term of his apprenticeship in three years and then worked as a journeyman until he came to America in 1851. His parents died when he as about four years of age and he was reared by his father's sister. He landed in this country at the port of New Orleans and there for nine months he was employed at his trade. Times becoming dull in that locality, our subject decided to make his way to Keokuk county, Iowa, tales of the rich farm land in this section having reached him. Hence he started up the Mississippi river, reaching Burlington, and later came by team to Sigourney. While working through the succeeding three years at his trade in Lancaster, he sought out a valuable tract of land, entered it from the government and founded his home.

The first marriage of Mr. Schwenke was to Caroline Oldenburg, and one son, Henry, still survives from this union. After the death of his first wife, our subject married Anna Mary Luers, who was born in Hanover, Germany, March 28, 1840. She came to America in i861 and to Keokuk county in the same year. A family of nine children was born to this union, as follows: David, still unmarried, who operates the farm; Herman D., who is a druggist in Sigourney; Caroline, who married Ferdinand Buhnemann, lives in German township; Mary C,. who married Fred L. Strohmann, lives near Delta; Fred G., who conducts a grocery business at Sigourney; Miss Martha M. resides at home; John follows the trade of carpenter; Dora M., who married Charles M. Goeldner, lives on a farm in German township; and George H. W., who is a teacher, lives at home.

Mr. Schwenke is one of the pioneers of Keokuk county, and during his fifty years of residence has gained the esteem of all who know him. He owns one of the well improved and valuable farms of German township, comprising one hundred and twenty-seven acres, and his buildings and farm surroundings testify to the excellence of his methods of agriculture, as well as his thrift and good management. In politics he is a Republican, and has served very acceptably as school director. His religious membership is with the Evangelical church and in its founding and progress he has had much to do. His influence has always been in the direction of improvement and no worthy enterprise in the township finds him indifferent. He has been an important factor in the development of his part of the county and is ranked among its representative men.

ERASTUS P. SCOTT

Iowa is indebted to the eastern states for much of her population. Her broad acres and beneficent institutions attracted a body of immigrants in the early days, who for various reasons were dissatisfied with the crowded east, in whose blood coursed the intrepid spirit of their pioneer ancestors. Among those who came to the state from the land of the Buckeye just after the Civil war was the gentleman whose name forms the heading for this article. He is a leading representative of the agricultural interests of Benton township where he cultivates a farm of one hundred forty-eight acres. Mr. Scott is of Irish descent, his father Andrew Z. Scott having been a native of Guernsey county, Ohio, where he was born May 18, 1826. When quite young he removed to Pennsylvania, where he was reared to man's estate. His father was Charles Scott, who came to America from Ireland with his parents when he was six years of age. Upon arriving at manhood our subject's father left the Keystone state, and settled on a farm in Ohio, taking with him his newly married wife, whose maiden name was Susan McCullough. After a residence of some years in Ohio his parents removed to Wapello county, Iowa, where they settled with their family of eight children on a farm. This was in the year 1869, and they continued to cultivate the farm in that county until 1893, when they moved to Hedrick, Keokuk county, where the parents still reside. Fourteen children were born to our subject's parents, the same number that was born to his paternal grandparents. Mr. Scott is the eldest child, the names of the other living children being—Samuel C., Charles A., Thomas M., Debidee, Alice and Anice, (twins), Susan, Grant, Jennie, Narado, Josiah, Andrew.

Mr. E. P. Scott, the immediate subject of this sketch, was born in Guernsey county, Ohio, November 24, 1847. He accompanied his family on their various moves and was twenty-two years of age when they arrived in Iowa. He continued to reside at his home, and aided in the education of his parents' large family until 1873, when he began life for himself, choosing as a companion Miss C. W. Buchanan, a native of Illinois, where she was reared and educated. She is the mother of seven children, five of whom are living, viz.: Nellie, Cameron, Lloyd, Charles and Raymond; two dead, Forest and Harrison: and all born in Keokuk county. Mr. Scott has a beautiful farm of one hundred and forty-eight acres which he is cultivating successfully together with forty acres in another tract in Wapello county. He is a good farmer and has his land in a highly cultivated state. He is regarded in his community as being a man whose word is as good as his bond and he merits and receives the respect of a host of friends and neighbors. In politics he adheres to the principles promulgated by the Republican party and takes an active part in its campaigns.

WILLIAM A. SHAFFER

One of Richland's successful business men is William A. Shaffer, who has a prosperous harness trade and whose grandfather and father were both in the same occupation. The grandfather was John Shaffer, a native of Pennsylvania. William Shaffer, the father, was born in Washington, Pennsylvania, in 1819, where he learned the trade of harness maker, and later moved to Zanesville, Ohio, about 1835. He continued business there until 1864 and then went further west to Fairfield, Iowa, where he engaged in his trade until his death in 1884 at the age of sixty-five years. For many years he was a member of the Methodist church. While the Whig party was in existence he devoted himself to its principles and later was an adherent of the Republican party. His wife was Ann Ruth, born in Washington', Pennsylvania, of Scotch origin, and lived to the age of eighty-three years. They were the parents of ten children and nine grew to maturity, five daughters and four sons.

William A. Shaffer was the sixth child and third son of the above and was born January 30, 1848, in Zanesville, Ohio. During the Civil war he enlisted in the Seventy-eighth Ohio, serving for three months, and from that time acted as agent for a recruiting office. In April, 1864, he went to the front again with the army of the Potomac and served till August I, 1864, when he was mustered out at Zanesville. There he remained a short time, then came west and began the harness trade as an apprentice, November 28, 1864, in Fairheld, Iowa. After completing his apprenticeship he worked at his trade at different places in Illinois for twelve years. On February 17, 1879, he began work by the day in Richland, Iowa, for Dan Bryfogle, who after eighteen months sold his business to A. F. Bridge. For the latter Mr. Shaffer worked for eleven years and four months and then bought out the business and has conducted it since. He recently built a fine shop of brick, twenty-two by seventy-five feet.

Mr. Shaffer was married on July 3, 1881, to Margaret M. E. Lang of Kahoka, Missouri; no children have been born of the union. He is allied with the Democratic party, takes part in various social organizations, the Masons; Grand Army of the Republic, Post No. 143, in which he has filled most of the oflices. He is president of the Fraternal Aid Association and has held this office for six years. In all these orders and other affairs he takes active part, and in his business he has the most extensive harness manufactory in the county, employing several men and selling the output not only to local trade, but outside the county.

ANANIAS A. SHRADER

Ananias A. Shrader is a well known business man of Keota, Keokuk county, Iowa, where he carries on a contracting and building business, and many structures in the town and throughout the county attest his skill and industry. His father was Samuel W. Shrader, who was born in the state of Pennsylvania, and after receiving his education learned the trade of a millwright and lived in that state until he was forty years of age. In 1856 he moved with his family to Iowa and settled on eighty acres in Muscatine county; he conducted this farm and engaged in milling for eight years. In 1864 he went to Iowa county and bought a farm, for the most part well improved; after remaining here until 1880 he took up his residence in Keota and there lived retired from active labor until his death, April 23, 1893. He was a member of the Democratic party and was connected with the Lutheran church. While in Pennsylvania he married Sarah Aldinger, a native of that state and born in 1826. Six children were born before they left Pennsylvania and one in Iowa, three boys and four girls: Joseph A., Mary, Katherine (deceased), Ananias, Susan, Rebecca (deceased), and Samuel H.

Ananias Shrader was born in Lancaster county, Pennsylvania, April 8, 1849, and was seven years old when his father left that state and came to Iowa. Up to his twenty-fifth year he farmed with his father, and then in 1875 he was married to Emma Pugh, a native of Illinois and a daughter of William and Sarah Pugh, old settlers of that state, where both of them died. Mr. and Mrs. Shrader had two boys, but both are now dead, one of whom was named WilHam; they were born in Iowa county. Iowa.

In 1881 our subject removedfrom Iowa county to Keota, and for two years was employed in the Henkle and Ritche furniture store; at the end of that time he and his brother opened a general store, which they successfully carried on for three years. After selling out his business in 1886 he began contracting and building and has engaged in this ever since. The principles of the Democratic party have appealed to his political reason; in religion he is an ardent member of the Methodist church and helped financially and also erected the present church at Keota.

JAMES SINGLETON

James Singleton has resided in Richland township for sixty years, a period antedating the residence of any other settler here. His memory forms a connecting link between pioneer times and the present, when all the evidences of an advanced civilization are found in the county. He can relate many interesting incidents of pioneer times, for he has experienced all the hardships and trials as well as the pleasures of life upon the frontier. He is now well known as an extensive buyer and shipper of stock and in his business dealings he has prospered. His home is on section 15, Richland township.

Mr. Singleton was born in Blount county, Tennessee, December 9, 1842. His father, John Singleton, was a native of Virginia and in early life removed to Tennessee, where he was united in marriage to Delilah Bond. There were no children by that marriage, but after the death of his wife he married her sister, Nancy Bond. For his third wife he chose Mary Jones and they became the parents of seven children who are yet hving. By the second marriage there was but one child, the subject of this review.

Mr. Singleton came with his father and stepmother to Keokuk county, Iowa, when he was only two years of age. They settled here among the Indians and when a little lad our subject frequently mingled in the sports of the sons of the forest. He pursued his education in a log schoolhouse such as was common at that time. It had a clapboard roof, a puncheon floor and a mud and stick chimney. The desk was formed by laying a slab upon pins which were driven into the wall. It was in that kind of an institution that Mr. Singleton completed his education. As soon as old enough to handle the plow be became an active factor in farm work. The land was wild and unimproved. Not a furrow had been turned when the family took up their abode upon this place. Their meal was ground in a coffee-mill or by a pestle and mortar. The family endured many hardships during those early days. On one occasion the father sold his only vest for twenty-five cents in order to buy salt to go into the bread. As the years advanced, however, changes came for the better and the farm, producing richly, brought to the family the means which supplied them with the various comforts of life.

Mr. Singleton remained with his father until his marriage, which occurred in 1866, Miss Abigail Jones, a representative of an old family of the county, becoming his wife. Mr. Singleton purchased a place in Yankee street, in Richland, located there and after making it his home for some time sold the property and purchased his present farm, which he has improved in many ways. About 1886 he began dealing extensively in stock, buying, shipping and feeding. He followed that pursuit continuously for thirteen years, when he retired from business. His wife died in 1900, and feeling the need of an occupation after this he once more began deaHng in stock, which he now continues with excellent success. He has a valuable farm of one hundred and forty acres, which he has placed under a high state of cultivation and upon this place he has a large number of hogs and cattle. He buys stock all over the county and is one of the leading representatives of this business in his locality. His extensive purchases and sales have brought to him a good financial return for his labor and he is now one of the well-to-do residents of Richland township. He is one of the stockholders of the First National Bank of Richland, having made judicious investments in that bank. He has lived in this township for sixty years and is one of the honored pioneers of the county.

Mr. Singleton belongs to the Friend's church and in politics he is a staunch Republican. A self-made man, he deserves great credit for what he has accomplished through industry, perseverance and capable management. He lived in this county when he had to go to Burlington to mill, a distance of sixty miles, making the entire trip by team. In those early days the pioneers also used wooden mold-boards on their plows, and other farm implements were equally primitive. Mr. Singleton has kept abreast with the progress and improvements of the times and as the years have advanced he has prospered until he is now one of the substantial residents of Keokuk county. From his boyhood days down to the present he has taken an active part in the work of improvement and upbuilding and well may he be classed among the honored pioneer settlers.

CHARLES F. SINGMASTER

Charles F. Singmaster was born in Perry county, Pennsylvania, February 29, 1834, and came to Keokuk county, Iowa, in 1844, with his father, Samuel Singmaster, of whom mention is made elsewhere in this volume. He was reared on the farm and early in life became associated with his father and brothers in the importation and sale of high-class draft horses. The style of the firm was Singmaster and Sons, and later Singmaster Bros. In 1891, at the death of William Singmaster, our subject dissolved partnership with his father and his brother Thomas, and established the firm of Singmaster & Sons, he being the senior member of the firm and his sons, J. Omer and Charles A., constituting the other members. Locating about two miles north of Keota the firm has since maintained their horse ranch here. The farm is known as "Maple-hurst," and here are ten large barns, and other modern facilities for the care of their horses, and Mr. Singmaster has a large and modern residence; just across the road in a pleasing cottage home resides his son Charles A., while his son J. Omer and only daughter reside in the parental home.

Mr. Singmaster was married in 1867 to Mary Ann McCarty, daughter of Charles and Mary (Collins) McCarty. Six children were born unto the marriage, three of whom, Samuel, Alice and Tressa are deceased, those living being J. Omer, who married Edna Verchevai; Charles A., who married Sadie McFarlane; and Sophia, unmarried.

The firm of Singmaster & Sons is second to no other firm of horse importers in this country. They import and breed Percheron, Belgian, Clyde and Shire drafts, the preference being the Percheron, which our subject deems to meet the largest demand and in his judgment is the best of all draft horses. The sales and shipping barn is located in the town of Keota, and is a model bam, attractive and convenient. Much credit for the splendid success of the firm is due the excellent business judgment and unflagging energy of our subject. He is a hard worker, and carries his undertakings to a successful issue with noticable determination.

His son, J. Omer, is the purchaser in Europe and on his judgment much depends; he has gained an enviable reputation among Americans visiting Europe to purchase horses. Charles A. assists his father in the sale of the horses, and, like his father, is a man of energy and splendid business judgement.

SAMUEL SINGMASTER

No history of Keokuk county would be complete without mention of Samuel Singmaster,who for many years contributed largely to the development of the county and to its progress and improvement along substantial lines. He was a man whom to know was to respect and honor. Without ostentation or display, he lived so as to win the high regard and esteem of all with whom he came in contact. There were no excitingchapters in his life history, yet there was much worthy of emulation, forhe was always true to his friends, faithful to his family and reliable and trustworthy in business. He passed away April i8, 1899, and it is safe to say that no death in the community has ever been more deeply regretted than that of Samuel Singmaster. He accomplished much in life that yet benefits those who knew him and he left to his family an untarnished name, which is above great riches.

Mr. Singmaster was born in McCungie, Lehigh county, Pennsylvania, September 17, 1807, and was therefore ninety-one years of age when called to his final rest. His parents were also natives of Pennsylvania and were of German lineage. In their family were eight sons and one daughter. During his early youth Samuel Singmaster labored industriously upon his father's farm, receiving but limited educational privileges. He served a three-years' apprenticeship in a tannery of Philadelphia and afterward worked for two years in the same establishment for the small salary of seventy-two dollars per year. When twenty-four years of age he accompanied his parents on their removal to Perry county, Pennsylvania.

An important event occurred in his life the following year, for he was married in Berks county, Pennsylvania, to Mary C. Seischolts, a young lady then twenty-two years of age. For many years they traveled life's journey together, sharing with each other the joys and sorrows, the adversity and prosperity which checker the careers of all. They reared, too, a family who have been a credit to their name. The year after his marriage Samuel Singmaster and his brother Jacob established a tannery in Millerstown, Perry county, which they conducted successfully for a few years, when they sold out and with the proceeds built a larger tannery in the same town. Their business increased until it enabled them to employ sixty men. However, they sold their second factory in order to build a still greater one and the third one was sold to Mr. Miller, their brother-in-law. He found it impossible to pay promptly and after a time the tannery was destroyed by fire, causing a total loss, as there was no insurance. Mr. Singmaster and his brother never tried to collect the consideration and therefore they suffered to a considerable extent from the fire.

About that time our subject removed to a more western district in Pennsylvania and turned his attention to farming, purchasing one hundred and twenty acres of land, upon which he made partial payments. In speaking of this period of his life he said he had "four work horses with one eye among the whole drove." He possessed a resolute spirit and determination and from early morning until dewey eve he was found in the fields, and in harvest time he reaped a good crop of wheat, about fifteen hundred bushels. This brought a good price, one dollar and a half per bushel, and enabled him not only to meet his indebtedness, but also to have one thousand dollars clear as his earnings. He then sold his farm and purchased a larger one of one hundred and forty acres, paying one-half of the amount down. A year later he sold this place at a good profit and at that time took up his abode in Millerstown, about thirty miles from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, where he purchased a home worth fifteen hundred dollars. With his remaining capital, and also a sum that he borrowed, he embarked in the cattle business, purchasing droves of from sixty to one hundred head of cattle in Ohio and driving them to the Philadelphia market. This enterprise also proved a profitable one. He also drove some sheep and horses to market, but he found that he could realize nothing off of these and accordingly confined his attention to dealing in cattle.

One of the marked characteristics of Mr. Singmaster's career was the readiness with which he recognized that business conditions would prove either profitable or disastrous, and choosing, of course, the former, he carried forward his labors until they brought to him a very desirable competence. Attracted by the opportunities of the growing west he made his way to Missouri in 1842, but finding that he could not obtain a clear title to land in that state he came to Iowa. He was pleased with the west and in Keokuk county he purchased in 1843 a claim on which were a few hogs and cattle, buying these of George Washington Maley, one of the honored pioneers of the county. He paid fifteen hundred dollars for a tract of land comprising three hundred and twenty acres. Returning home he sent out Frank North to take charge of the purchase. In 1844 he sold his real estate in Millerstown for fifteen hundred dollars. Of this amount five hundred dollars was paid in cash and for the remainder he took wooden clocks and leather, but while the family were en route from the Keystone state to Keokuk county, Iowa, the weights of the clocks were either lost or stolen between Pittsburg and Burlington, and in consequence the timepieces sold for a mere trifle. He retailed the clocks and leather among his neighbors in Iowa, but as he gave credit to many new acquaintances he afterward found that it was difficult to make collections. He, however, brought with him one thousand dollars, which in 1844 he invested in calves, and thus he became one of the first cattle dealers of Keokukcounty. He was assisted in his work by his son Charles and it was a noticeable fact concerning the family history that the father and sons always worked together in entire harmony, continuing business as a family affair through many years. For a long period Mr. Singmaster carried on his stockraising interests with success. His first large sale was a hundred head of cattle, which brought him twenty-five hundred dollars.

His first home was a primitive log cabin, such as was common in pioneer times, and after he had made his sale of the one hundred head of cattle he had his sons haul lumber from fowa City with which he erected a larger and more modern residence, which remained his home until his death. As time advanced his profits increased, he made judicious investments in real estate, becoming one of the most extensive land owners of this part of Iowa. The business was conducted by the father and sons until the time of the death of W'illiam Singmaster, his youngest son, in 1891. When Charles, another son, arrived at the age of fifty -two years, his father deeded to him eight hundred acres of land on which he yet resides, while the son Thomas remained in partnership with the father until the latter s demise. The Singmasters probably became more widely known through their importations of fine horses than in any other of their business transactions. In 1875 the firm began business in this way, William and Charles having charge of the enterprise while the father furnished the capital. In that year they imported four head of horses and gradually increased the number until their importations were very extensive, and between the years 1884 and 1888 each son imported from eighty to one hundred and forty head.

When Mr. Singmaster removed to Iowa, the family consisted of himself, wife, and five children, namely: Charles F., born February 29, 1834; Sarah, born June 15, 1836; Eliza, born March 9, 1838; Thomas, born February 16, 1840: and James, born July 4, 1842, died on June 16, 1866. The same year another child, Henry, was added to the family. He was born October 18, 1844, and died December 18, 1845. William was bom April 16, 1848, and died in Keokuk county, April 17, 1891. Mary Etta, born December 18, 1849, was married October 22, 1878, to Conrad Ramge, and died February 20, 1898. On the 13th of September, 1813, Eliza was also called to her final rest. Three of the children are still living. Charles F., whose personal sketch appears elsewhere; Sarah, the only surviving daughter, is the wife of David Keiser, of Keota; and Thomas, the other surviving member of the family, is represented on another page of this work. Mrs. Singmaster passed away a few years prior to the death of her husband. She was born in Pennsylvania, July 15, 1810, and died December 17, 1894, at the advanced age of eighty-four years. Mr. Singmaster departed this life April 18, 1899, when more than ninety-one years of age, dying after a three weeks' illness of la grippe. From the obituary notice which appeared in one of the local papers, we quote the following because of the estimate it gives of the life and character of him of whom we write:

"What can I say of Samuel Singmaster? You have all known him. You have all loved him. You have all respected and honored him. He was a man through and through - every inch a man. He was held in the greatest esteem by his neighbors, friends and acquaintances. Such an ideal estimation is truly coveted by all. The deceased was a man in whom all sought counsel in time of trouble. He never faltered in responding as a wise counselor to a troublesome or vexed problem of a neighbor."

In the family Mr. Singmaster was a most devoted husband and father, and to his friends he was ever loyal and true, while his business associates found him to be reliable, trustworthy and courteous. All who knew him had for him the highest respect, and his memory is yet enshrined in the hearts of many with whom he was associated.

THOMAS SINGMASTER

Thomas Singmaster is one of the prominent and representative men of Keokuk county, Iowa, living on section 36, Clear Creek township, on the old family homestead. He is widely known beyond the confines of this county because of his extensive dealing as an importer of fine horses, and in the locality where he has so long resided he is cherished as a faithful man, a worthy citizen and an upright business man. He was born in Perry county, Pennsylvania, February 16, 1840, and is the fourth child of Samuel and Mary Singmaster, who are represented [above]. He was nearly four years of age when brought by his parents to Keokuk county, Iowa, where he has lived continuously since. He was reared upon the old family homestead and during his boyhood he pursued his studies in a log schoolhouse during the winter months, mastering the branches of learning therein taught. During the summer season he assisted in the work of the home farm and as he grew in years he was entrusted with more and more of the responsibility of carrying on the farm and conducting the stock dealing operations. As the sons reached their majority they were taken into partnership by the father and the business was conducted jointly by the family until 1891. Thomas Singmaster, however, always remained with his father and after the latter's death took charge of the large estate. Many years ago he began breeding fine horses and dealing in the same. He has also made large investments in real estate and to-day he is one of the extensive land holders of Keokuk county, his possessions aggregating over three thousand acres, the most of which is in Keokuk and Washington counties. He also has two hundred and forty acres in Nebraska. He handles about four hundred head of cattle each year, having now about three hundred head, and about two hundred head of horses, also five hundred hogs. His stock dealing operations are extensive and profitable because of his excellent judgment concerning stock. Mr. Singmaster is interested in three banks: First National Bank of Richland, the State Bank of Keota, and State Bank of Harper.

After his father's death Mr. Singmaster was married to Miss Kate Kaufman, a daughter of John and Mary (Ludwig) Kaufman, and they now have an interesting little daughter, Mary Eva. Mr. Singmaster has been a life-long Republican, unswerving in his advocacy of the party, yet he has never sought or desired office, preferring to give his entire attention to his business affairs. He is one of the men who have gained for the state its place among the leading agricultural commonwealths of this great nation. For almost sixty years he has resided in Keokuk county, and from pioneer times down to the present he has been interested in everything pertaining to the general good and has contributed in a large measure to public improvement. The splendid reputation made by the father in business circles has been sustained by the son. Through his large operations in land and stock he has acquired excellent success, which classes him among the wealthy residents of Keokuk county.

EVAN SMITH

Evan Smith, whose home is in Coalcreek in Prairie township, needs no special introduction to the readers of this volume, but the work would be incomplete without the record of his life. A native of Ohio, he was born in Belmont county, May 31, 1819, and on the paternal side is of English origin, although the family was established in the new world several generations ago. His father, Thomas Smith, was a native of Virginia, born in either Harrison or Loudoun county in 1787, and there he spent the first years of his life. In the year 1800 he accompanied his father, Samuel Smith, on his removal to Ohio, the family becoming pioneers of Columbiana county. They settled on the Ohio river and during the winter of 1802 Samuel Smith entered a section of land, which is now a part of the town-site of Salem, and there in the midst of the dense forest he hewed out a farm. When he took up his residence upon this property his home was fifteen miles from any white habitation, and the family endured all the hardships and privations known to pioneer life. His last days were spent in Washington county, Ohio, where he died when in his ninetieth year.

Thomas .Smith, the father of our subject, was reared amid frontier scenes, and early became familiar with the arduous task of clearing and improving a new farm. Soon after going to Ohio he was cured of white swelling in the leg by an Indian doctor, the red men being still very numerous in the locality. On starting out in life for himself he engaged in the manufacture of brick for some time, but when our subject was two years old he removed to a farm and devoted the remainder of his life to agricultural pursuits. He died at Salem, Ohio, in 1850, at the age of sixty-four years, and his wife passed away in the spring of 1860. She bore the maiden name of Nancy James and was also a native of the Old Dominion, her birth having occurred in either Loudoun or Harrison county, Virginia, in 1792. Her father was Samuel James, who was born in Wales, while her mother was of English descent. Tliomas Smith and wife were married in Belmont county, Ohio, and became the parents of eleven children, eight of whom reached man and womanhood, four sons and four daughters.

Of this family Evan Smith is the fiftih in order of birth and the second son, though he is the oldest son that reached years of maturity. He made his home in the county of his nativity until fifteen years of age and then removed with; his parents to Columbiana county, Ohio, and later to Morgan county, that state. It was in the latter county that he was married on the 24th of November, 1841, to Miss Mary Burgess, who was born near Smithfield, Jefferson county, Ohio, November 21, 1819, but from the age of eighteen years had made her home in Morgan county. Her parents were John and Margaret (Wood) Burgess. To Mr. and Mrs. Smith were born eleven children, six sons and five daughters, namely: Margaret A. and Maria, both deceased; Louisa, who was superintendent of schools for a period of four years and a most successful teacher for a good many years, is now the wife of Thomas Blackburn; Caroline, wife of Milton Haldeman, of Washington county, Kansas; Joshua P., a resident of Emporia, Kansas; Thomas. E., who resides on the old home place in Prairie township, Keokuk county: Burgess, who died young; William D., alfeo a resident of Kansas; Sarah, wife of Clinton Hampton, of Kansas; Marion, who is- living in the same state; and Alva J., a surveyor of Lyon county, Kansas.

Mr: and Mrs. Smith began their married life in Athens county, Ohio, on a densely timbered tract of land, their nearest neighbor being nearly one mile distant. After residing there for about three years they returned to Morgan county, and later took up their residence in Washington county, Ohio, whence they came to Iowa in 1860. At that time they settled on the farm in Prairie township, Keokuk county, which was their home for twenty-seven years; to the cultivation and improvement of his farm Mr. Smith devoted his energies, but is now practically living a retired life. He still owns some property, but has sold much of his farming land.

For the long period of sixty-one years Mr. and Mrs. Smith have traveled life's journey together and are to-day the oldest couple in the county. By birthright both are members of the Society of Friends and have ever taken a very prominent and active part in church work. In the fall of 1861 they assisted in organizing a meeting of that denomination in their home, which was a branch of the Pennsville monthly meeting of Ohio until the spring of 1864, when they were granted a monthly meeting which was attended by a committee from the Pennsville monthly and quarterly meetings. In 1885 the membership numbered about two hundred, although they began here with only twenty-three members. Mr. Smith was one of four men who borrowed the money to erect the first meeting house, which still stands in Coalcreek. At that time many of the little congregation were just getting a start in life in their new homes and were unable to subscribe the required amount and were therefore forced to borrow the sum needed. To get the money four of the number had to sign a note, and Mr. Smith is the only one of the four living, the others having passed to their reward in the other world. Jeremiah Stanley, one of tha leaders in this work, only lived to attend one meeting in their new meeting house. Most of the lumber for this structure was hauled from Washington, Iowa, a distance of forty-three miles. When erected the meeting house was thought to be suiificiently large to accommodate the congregation for many years, but in the course of three years it was found to be too small, and so in that the present building is now fifty-eight by thirty feet in dimensions, in 1868 an addition twenty-eight feet in lengtih was built to the east end. Mr. Smith is still one of the leading members of this congregation and is a man highly respected and esteemed by all who know him.

Mr. Smith has kindly furnished some of his recollections of the thirty-eight years which he has spent in the county and township, and these will certainly be of interest to the many old residents. He is able to pick out pieces of land in various parts of the county which he, with the help of his sons, first turned with the plow and made fruitful; these tracts contain mostly from five to ten acres each. As supervisor of the public roads he placed the first bridge across South English creek north of Thornburg, which served its purpose well and although under water several times always reappeared unharmed. He was one of those who selected the site and procured the title to the land on which school-house No. 16 stands, and he also made the first wagon track on a part of the public road running east and west through Prairie township. At one time it seemed desirable that the boundaries of section 16 should be better known, and Mr. Smith devised the means of finding these. He knew of one corner that had been marked by the government surveyor in the customary way, a pit with the earth thrown up in a mound shape. After measuring the exact circumference of the wheel of his wagon and calculating the revolutions it would make in going a half-mile, he started from this mark and drove in as direct a line as possible for a half a mile; here another boundary mound was easily found, and this process was repeated until the whole section was practically re-surveyed.

WILLIAM E. SMITH

William E. Smith, a retired merchant of Richland, Keokuk county, lowa, is the son of Peter Smith. The latter was born in Yorkshire, England, and there was reared, following the miller's trade. In 1835 he came to America, and locating at Burlington, Iowa, he bought a claim of four hundred acres, paying the government for the same, but subsequently had to purchase it at land sales. His death occurred in his seventy-fifth year near Burlington. He had been a follower of the old Whig party and was an ardent admirer of Henry Clay. His wife was Martha Ellison, who was also a native of England and lived to be eighty-one years of age. The year before his death the fiftieth anniversary of their marriage was celebrated. She was the mother of ten children, three daughters and seven sons, of whom all reached maturity.

William E. Smith was the fifth child and fourth son of the above, and was born in Yorkshire, England, August 14, 1828. He was seven years old when his father emigrated to America, and on his father's farm near Burlington, Iowa, he was reared, attending school in a log cabin and later the schools in Burlington. He remained with his father until he was twenty-four years old, then in 1852, with five yoke of oxen, he started toward the gold fields of California, making his journey by way of the South Platte river. He engaged in mining for four years and had considerable success, then returned to New York city by way of Panama. He remained in Burlington for five years, when he again set out across the plains with a mule team. He was commissioned by the provost marshal of the Southern Iowa district to act as scout. This time he went by way of Salt Lake City to Idaho and served as a scout from Fort Douglas for about two and a half years. He then returned through Salt Lake City and Omaha to Burlington, where for six years he followed farming and stock raising. In 1872 he embarked in the lumber and grain business at Morning Sun, Louisa county, Iowa, in which he continued for nineteen years. In 1892 Mr. Smith opened a lumber and hardware establishment in Richland, which he sold to his son in 1901, and retired from his long and successful business career.

Mr. Smith became the husband of Illie Hunt on October 28, 1866. She was born in Des Moines county, Iowa, near Burlington, October 19, 1937. Her father was Jesse Hunt, a native of Tennessee, who came to Des Moines county in 1833 and brought his family in 1834. He took up land from the government, and this farm is now owned by his son, John B. He lived to the age of eighty-six years and died on this farm. His wife was Delinda Kirkpatrick, a native of Illinois.

Mr. and Mrs. Smith are the parents of four children; Jessie, the wife of Rev. C. E. Todd, of Baker City, Oregon, a minister of the Methodist church; Harriet, wife of Samuel Reaney, of Estherville, Iowa, a land agent ; Bessie, wife of Dr. C. E. Birney, a physician of Estherville; and Fred W., unmarried, and owning the former business of his father in Richland. Mr. and Mrs. Smith are members of the Methodist Episcopal church.

WILLIAM H. SMITH

There are few men in the county more widely known than Mr. Smith, a retired farmer of Richland. As a farmer, a business man, and a Civil war veteran, he has always maintained that integrity of character and unwavering fidelity to purpose in life that command the respect of all who know him. He was born in Hancock county, Illinois, November 2, 1837, and is the son of Hasadiah and Lydia (Ward) Smith.

Hasadiah Smith, a man of sterling worth, was born in New Hampshire and at the early age of eight moved with his parents to Ashtabula county, Ohio, where he grew to manhood. With a bent toward mechanics, a trait which he may have inherited from his practical English ancestry, he early obtained a knowledge of carpentry, which became very useful to him in later years. During the latter part of his residence in Ohio he married Lydia Ward, who was born in Connecticut, and when rather young moved with her parents to Ohio. She died in Sigourney, Iowa, in 1851. By this marriage there were nine children, six of whom grew to maturity. William H. was the fourth child and the third son. Soon after his marriage, in the spring of 1837, Mr. Smith moved to a farm in Warren county, Illinois, where he engaged in agriculture, but soon afterward sold out. Later he moved to Washington county, Iowa, and after a short residence went in 1844 to Sigourney, where he made his home for many years. Finding here a good opening for a carpenter he soon engaged in that work, and giving excellent satisfaction, he established for himself a good business. He also undertook the making and repairing of wagons, and in this line worked up one of the most profitable industries in the city. He achieved fair success in both lines of business. He spent his last days in Indiana, and died there in 1861.

William H. Smith was six years old when his parents left their Illinois home and came to Washington county, Iowa, and seven when they moved to Sigourney. It was in this city, where he remained until he was twenty years of age, that he mainly received his education and the training for his life work. He attended the common schools of the place and there developed habits of industry and exactness that so markedly characterized his later work. When twenty years, of age he started out for himself in life, and in Clear Creek township took up farming. Deeply interested with the conviction that his services were required in the war, in August he enlisted in Company I, Fortieth Iowa Volunteer Infantry, for three years service, and went to the front as a private. He did some hard fighting in the long siege of Vicksburg, after which he was sent west of the Mississippi. He stood the hardships well and was never sick or wounded. When his term of enlistment expired he received an honorable dismissal at Davenport, Iowa.

Shortly before the war, October 11, i860, he married Eunice A. Anderson, who was born in Miami county, Ohio, December 21, 1838, the third child of J. D. and Hannah (Larue) Anderson, and who at the age of eighteen moved with her parents to Iowa. Her father was a native of Berks county, Pennsylvania, and her mother of Virginia. To Mr. and Mrs. Smith have been born four children: Edward, a farmer in the township of Richland; Jesse W.; Ella, who married John Brolliar, and resides in Richland; and Bert, who was the 3rd of the family, is now deceased.

After the war Mr. Smith resumed farming in Clear Creek township, but in 1867 removed to Richland township, and there farmed and resided up to January, 1892, when he removed to Richland and retired from active work. He has done, however, exceptionally well with his farming and now owns a large amount of stock in the Union State Bank, and also a splendid one hundred and sixty acre farm in Jefferson county. Mr. Smith's remarkable executive ability and wise business management has commended him to the confidence of the people and he has served very efficiently for some time as justice of the peace and as trustee. In fraternal circles he is well known and highly esteemed. As a member of the Grand Army of the Republic, Charlton post. No. 143, he has served on important committees for many years, and he belongs to Richland Lodge, No. 38, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons. He is thoroughly well known throughout the county, where he has many warm friends. In politics he is an influential Republican.

WILLIAM HENRY SMITH

W. H. Smith, of South English, Iowa, is now living a retired life in the enjoyment of a rest which he has truly earned and richly deserves by reason of his industrious efforts of former years. Accomplishment and progress ever imply labor, energy and diligence, and it was those labors that enabled our subject to rise from the ranks of the many and stand among the successful few. He is now one of the highly respected citizens of South English, and his long residence in Keokuk county and the active part he has taken in its development well entitle him to representation in its history.

Mr. Smith was born on the 10th of March, 1840, in Preston county, West Virginia, of which state his parents, Christian and Charlotte (Cress) Smith, were also natives. There the family continued to make their home until 1856, when they came to Iowa and took up their residence in Washington county. At the end of three years, however, they removed to Keokuk county and settled in Liberty township, where the father died at the age of seventy-nine years. The mother is still living and is now eighty-one years of age. In their family were ten children, five sons and five daughters, of whom our subject was the second son and second child.

The first sixteen years of his life W. H. Smith spent in the county of his nativity and then accompanied his parents on their removal to Washington county, Iowa, and later to Keokuk county. When the country became involved in civil war he joined the boys in blue, enlisting August 9, 1862, in Company H, Thirty-third Iowa Volunteer Infantry, as a private, for three years' service. With his command he participated in the engagements at Helena and Little Rock, Arkansas, and others, and being slightly wounded by a spent ball at Helena, he was confined to the hospital for four days. He was in active service during his entire term with exception of two months and was a good soldier, always found at his post of duty, gallantly defending the old flag and the cause it represented. At the close of the war he received an honorable discharge at Davenport, Iowa, on the 8th of August, 1865, and he returned to his home in Keokuk county to resume the more quiet pursuits of farm life, carrying on operations in Liberty township.

On the 1st of June, 1867, Mr. Smith married Miss Jennette Lutton, a native of Pennsylvania, who was quite young when she came to Iowa. She was born in Mercer county, Pennsylvania, July 14, 1842, and is a daughter of John and Mary (Springer) Lutton, both natives of Lawrence county, Pennsylvania. Her paternal grandparents were born in Ireland, but maternally Mrs. Smith is of German descent. Her parents were married in Pennsylvania, whence they removed to Iowa in 1854 and settled in Keokuk county, where they both died. They had ten children, all of whom lived to be grown, but only three are now living. To Mr. and Mrs. Smith has been bom one son. Earl, now an attorney of Mason City, Iowa.

After following farming in Liberty township for many years, Mr. Smith removed to South English in 1889 and was engaged in the lumber business at that place until 1902, when he sold out and has since lived retired, enjoying the fruits of former toil. He is still the owner of a fine farm of two hundred and ninety-six and a half acres of land in Liberty township, which he rents, and is to-day one of the well-to-do, as well as one of the most highly esteemed citizens of his community. He is an honored member of the Grand Army of the Republic, and also belongs to Naphtali Lodge, No. 188, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons. In his political views he is a staunch Republican, and religiously is an earnest and consistent member of the Christian church, of which Mrs. Smith also is a member.

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FINLEY M. SMOCK

From the time of the establishment of the town of Keota, Mr. Smock has been deeply interested in its welfare and active in its advancement and promotion. Therefore no history of the place would be complete without mention of his life. He was born in Johnson county, Indiana, February 18, 1844. The ancestry can be traced back through four generations to Holland. His father. Rev. David V. Smock, was born near Madison, Indiana, and for many years was an active minister of the Presbyterian church. In 1853 he came to Iowa, settling in Birmingham, Van Buren county. He afterward located in Sigourney, and became the first pastor of the Presbyterian church of that place in 1858. During the war he removed to the vicinity of Keota, in which town he died. His life span covered three-score years and ten, and surely the world is better for his having lived. He was a man of marked influence and his efforts for the elevation of his fellow men were of no restricted order. He married Margaret A. Brown, a native of Virginia, in which state she was also reared. She was of French and Scotch lineage, and died when forty-four years of age. In their family were four children, of whom Mr. Smock of this review was the third in order of birth.

When nine years of age F. M. Smock accompanied his parents on their removal to Iowa, and at the age of fourteen he came to Keokuk county. He attended the public schools, acquiring a good education, and at the age of fourteen began learning the wagon-maker's trade. He was seventeen years of age when, in 1861, in response to his country's call for troops, he joined the army, enlisting as a member of Company F, Fifth Iowa Infantry. This was the first company raised in Keokuk county and he served for four years and one month, having in the meantime re-enlisted as a veteran of the same company and regiment. He was afterward transferred to Company G of the Fifth Iowa Cavalry and took part in many of the principal battles of the war. He was with Fremont's command in Missouri and participated in the engagement at Madrid. He was also in the siege of Corinth, the battle of luka, the second battle of Corinth, the siege of Vicksburg, and took part in the engagements at Champion Hills, Missionary Ridge, the Atlanta campaign, Franklin, the siege of Nashville, and was at the front all the way with Wilson's cavalry in the raid made in the spring of 1865. Other engagements of lesser importance were participated in by Mr. Smock. He was wounded at Champion Hills through both legs by a minie ball, and was in the hospital for most of the time for eight months. As soon as he had sufficiently recovered, however, he rejoined his command in active field service and was a brave and loyal soldier, his valor equaling that of many a man of twice his years. He received an honorable discharge in August, 1865, and with a most creditable military record he returned to his home in Keokuk county, Iowa.

From 1866 until 1871 Mr. Smock was engaged in business in Sigourney and then came to what is now Keota, locating upon a farm known as Sunnyside. It was on a part of this farm which was owned by his brother that the town of Keota was built. There was no idea of this at the time and the foundation of the present thriving village had not then been laid. However, it was established in 1872, and Mr. Smock engaged in the manufacture of wagons and buggies, carrying on business with a fair degree of success here for about twelve years. He then turned his attention to the farm implement business, which he conducted for three years, and he spent the years of 1880 and 1881 in western Kansas and Colorado. On returning to Keota he served as deputy postmaster under J. F. Wilson for about four years and through the succeeding four years he was engaged in the insurance business. He was then appointed postmaster, acting in that capacity for four years, and on the expiration of that period he resumed his operations in insurance and real estate. In 1894 he was elected a clerk of the district court for a term of four years, upon the Republican ticket, and at the close of that time he retired from office as he had entered i - with the confidence and good will of all concerned. He then returned to Keota and was again engaged in the real estate business for two years. In 1900 he formed a business connection as secretary with the firm of Singmaster & Sons, importers of fine horses, and this relation has since been maintained.

In 1867 Mr. Smock was united in marriage to Miss Mary E. Stranahan, and they have six children: Gertie A., the wife of John C. Richardson, one of the editors of the Keota Eagle; Winnie M., the wife of S. A. Dougherty, of Muscatine, Iowa; A. Cleave, who married Nellie Randolph, daughter of John Randolph, and is now living in O'Brien county, Iowa; Mattie B., at home; William S., who is clerking in a store at Keota; and Bessie L., who is also at home.

In his political affiliations Mr. Smock has always been a staunch Republican and has been honored with various official positions. He served as mayor of Keota for a number of terms, was also justice of the peace and has filled other local positions. He was one of the incorporators of the town and has been deeply interested in everything pertaining to its progress and improvement. He belongs to Ed Carris Post No. 333, Grand Army of the Republic, in which he has filled all of the offices. He has also served on the staff of Commander Bailey, of the Iowa department, and has represented his state at the national encampment of the order at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1899. He takes a very active and helpful interest in the work of the Grand Army of the Republic and is widely known among the honored veterans of the Civil war. He also has a wide acquaintance in Keokuk county, where he is known as an enterprising and progressive citizen, and in Keota the circle of his friends is very extensive.

CHARLES SNAKENBERG

This gentleman is one of the worthy sons of the family noted [below]. He himself is a prominent and enterprising representative of the agricultural class, residing in section 6 of German township. His birth occurred in German township, September 14, 1860. He early became familiar with the labors of the field and meadow and assisted manfully in the work of the home farm, acquiring such knowledge as was afforded in that early day in the public school of his district. He remained at home for six years after the legal age and then set up an establishment of his own, being joined in marriage, March 18, 1888, to Ella M. Fry. This lady is also a native of the township, the daughter of Ruben Fry, another old settle, and of a family that is held in the very highest repute. After Mr. Snakenberg's marriage he located at once on the farm which he now cultivates, and on this he has placed all of the improvements which go to make up one of the finest farms in the county. He built his present commodious and handsome residence in 1899, a residence which is a credit not only to him, but to the county in which he resides. Mr. Snakenberg has proved by honest toil and close attention to business that farming is not a lost art in these incipient years of the twentieth century.

To the marriage of Mr. Snakenberg there were born two sons, Byron and Jesse. As stated before, Mr. Snakenberg has taken great pride in beautifying his farm, having set out a large number of trees with his own hand. He takes a worthy interest in the public life of the county and has been honored with some of the minor offices of the township, since 1896 having been township trustee. He takes an active part in all that pertains to the upbuilding of society in educational and religious lines, and as his father before him is regarded with the highest respect.

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HENRY SNAKENBERG

Among the well known and highly respected pioneers of this county was Dietrich Snakenberg, a farmer, and for fifty years local preacher in the Methodist church. He and his wife, Mary Seaba, were both natives of Hanover, Germany. Both emigrated to this country before their marriage, which took place in West Virginia, where Dietrich engaged in coal mining. After continuing in West Virginia a short time they settled in Washington county, Iowa. This was in 1839. The New Purchase was opened for settlement on May 1, 1843, and in the fall of that year he entered this new tract, making his home in what is now German township, Keokuk county. He lived there until his death in 1898, having attained the age of ninety-three years, lacking eleven days. His wife died in 1880, aged sixty-seven. They had eight children: John, born in West Virginia, died at the age of twenty-five; Henry, the subject of this sketch; William, a farmer in this county occupying the old homestead; Mary, who is a widow: Anna, also a widow living at Keota; Minnie, unmarried, whose home is in this county; John Dietrich, also of this county; and Louisa, who like Minnie is unmarried and resides in Keokuk county. The family are Methodists. Dietrich associated himself with the Democratic party.

Henry, his son, was born in Washington county, this state, July 17, 1840. He attended the common school and lived with his parents on the farm until he was twenty-seven years of age. August 8, 1867, he married and moved to a farm of his own in German township and up to this day he has been engaged in agricultural pursuits. He has always been a Democrat in a Republican county, and his election to several township offices indicates his popularity with the voting element. In 1899 he was elected county treasurer and made such a splendid official that he still holds the office, having been re-elected in 1901. His wife was formerly Miss Margaret Hartman, a native of .Switzerland, who came to America with her parents when she was five years old; her family settled near Burlington, Iowa, and in 1856 moved to Keokuk county. Mr. and Mrs. Snakenberg are both members of the Methodist church. They had three children. One died at the age of seven; the daughter, Etta May, is the wife of David Beinhart, of Jefferson, Iowa; and the son, Frank D., is his father's deputy.

JOHN J. SNAKENBERG

John J. Snakenberg, a prominent agriculturist of Keokuk county, Iowa, residing on section 29, German township, was born in a log cabin located on section 20, on December 27, 1849, and is a son of Lonis and Mary (Scharnhorst) Snakenberg, both of whom were born in Germany. Louis Snakenberg, the father of our subject, was one of the earliest settlers in German township and still resides upon the farm which he entered from the government so many years ago. He came here in May, 1843, and has reached his eightieth birthday, one of the most highly respected residents of this locality, and a leading member of the Methodist church. His wife still survives also, at the age of seventy-two years, and they are one of the most venerable couples in the township. They had a family that consisted of nine sons and one daughter, all of whom were born in the log cabin which still stands on section 20, and which sheltered the family in comfort for so many years.

Our subject is the eldest child of the ten born to his parents and was reared on the old homestead in German township; and his interest in his own locality has been so great that he has never cared to leave his native state. His education was obtained in a little log schoolhouse in the woods, where he learned the elementary principles, and his whole life has been devoted to the operation and improvement of his farm. He remained at home until he was twenty-eight years of age and then, on November 3, 1877, he was married to Josephine Fixmer, who was born in German township on February 13, 1857, and is the daughter of Reinhart and Catherine (Blaise) Fixmer, who were old settlers in Keokuk county.

After marriage Mr. Snakenberg settled in section 1. Van Buren township, where he purchased eighty acres of land, remaining on that farm for five years, and then bought the farm where he now resides. He has made notable improvements on this place, one very substantial one being a deep well, which he had drilled in 1896. Mr. Snakenberg owns one hundred acres of fine land and has been very successful as a general farmer and stock raiser. He has been a very industrious man and when but sixteen years old began to run a threshing machine and has followed that line of activity ever since, doing work all through the county and being the oldest man in the business.

The family of Mr. and Mrs. Snakenberg consists of four children, namely: Hilda, who married Wesley Hoffman, a prominent farmer of German township; Miss Josie, who is a young lady at home; and Dora and Louis J., who attend school. The Snakenberg family is well known through this county, many of the brothers of our subject being, like himself, prominent and substantial farmers. Of these: Richard was killed March 25, 1875, in a saw-mill explosion; Christian is a prominent farmer of Van Buren township; Louis is also a prominent farmer of the same township ; Henry is one of the good farmers of Van Buren township; Charles is a farmer in German township; Frank is located on section 16, in German township; Joseph operates his farm in section 17, German township; William resides on the homestead in section 20, German township; and Annie, the only sister, married Edward Brannan, located on section 17, German township.

Until 1896 Mr. Snakenberg was identified with the Democratic party, but the issues raised at that time induced him to affiliate with the Republican party, of which he has since been a valued member and has acceptably filled many of the local offices. He is a member of the Masonic order, Webb Lodge, No. 182, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons at Siguorney, in which he has filled the position of junior warden. He has been actively interested in the development of Keokuk county in his locality and is regarded as one of the representative men of this neighborhood.

LOUIS SNAKENBERG

The population of Keokuk county is composed largely of a sturdy class of pioneers, together with their descendants, whose brain and brawn wrought out of the raw material of nature's laboratory the improvements demanded by civilization, being able to adapt themselves to the exigencies of the situation and skillfully overcome all obstacles by the further resources of their own capabilities and endurance. Among this honored class there is none whose experience has touched the whole range of pioneer endeavor and achievement to a greater extent than the gentleman whose name initiates this paragraph, and whose faithfulness, integrity, and masterful capabilities are well known to all.

The gentleman named above resides on section 20 in German township, and at the age of eighty years is enjoying a well earned rest from the rugged experiences through which he has passed in his pioneer days. He is held in the highest esteem by all, and the members of his family are regarded with the greatest respect throughout the county. Mr. Louis Snakenberg first saw the light across Old Ocean on the 3rd of July, 1822, his native country being Hanover, Germany. His father was named John, who spelled the family name Schnakenberg, and he, together with his family, came to America in 1837, first settling in Wheeling, West Virginia. After two years he moved further west, locating in Washington county, Iowa. The year 1844 marks his coming to Keokuk county, where he was a useful and honored citizen to the date of his death in 1849, having lived to the green old age of 84 years. He married Mary Enkelton in the fatherland, and she died in Keokuk county, in the seventy-fifth year of her age, being the mother of seven children, all of whom grew to maturity and had families of their own. Of this family Mr. Louis Snakenberg was the youngest. He was a lad of fifteen years when he left the fatherland and was possessed of a good ordinary education. He remained with his parents and participated in the different moves, arriving in Keokuk county in 1844. In 1848 he began life in earnest by taking to himself a wife, the exact date being May 24th. The lady's name was Mary Scharnhorst, and she also was a native of Germany, having been born in the kingdom of Hanover on the 3rd of December, 1830. Her parents removed with their family to this country in 1845, coming by the lower route and coming up the Mississippi river to St. Louis; they immediately located in Keokuk county, where they passed their lives. The family of which she was a member consisted of four children; the father's name was Christian, and the mother's Dorethe Kragel.

Mr. Louis Snakenberg and his wife began hfe in a log house on the farm where they now live, and that same log house stands as a reminder of the trials and difficulties of that early time. They had a family of ten children, namely: John J.; Detrich, deceased; Christian; Louis C.; Henry L.; Frank; Charles; Joseph; Annie; William. All of these children grew to maturity and all, save Detrich, married, and they are now living within the bounds of the county, where they are held in the greatest respect in their different communities. The whole life of Mr. Snakenberg has been spent in tilling the soil, an occupation which cannot help but bring out the best that there is in man, as it brings him daily in contact with Dame Nature in all her innocence. He began with absolutely nothing but health and a will to do, and now in the evening of his life he can look back with satisfaction over a career of usefulness and one which has been attended with material success, so that he can pass the remainder of his days in peace and contentment. He still retains many of the old articles of furniture and implements which were carved by his own hands in those early pioneer days, and they are living reminders of an age which has passed all too soon, filled as it was with the innocent pleasures of pioneer life. During the period of his existence here, he had always been actively interested in the Democratic party, but in 1896, feeling that the policies of that party were inimical to the best interests of the country, he voted the Republican ticket, since which time he has been an earnest supporter of the same. For fifty-eight long years Mr. Snakenberg has been a member of the Methodist church, all of which time he has been an earnest and active worker. The authors of this volume cannot confer a greater favor upon its readers than by giving space to the exploitation of the life of this worthy citizen, and commending it to the young people of the community as one worthy of the most careful emulation.

LOUIS D. SNAKENBERG

The world instinctively pays deference to the man whose success has been worthily achieved, who has acquired a high reputation in his chosen calling, and whose prominence is not less the result of an irreproachable life than of recognized natural gifts. It is a pleasing indulgence to write the biography of a man of this character, such as Louis D. Snakenberg is known to be. He is one of the leading farmers in German township, where his farm in all its appointments indicates the progressive spirit, enterprise and good business ability of the owner, who is justly numbered among the most skillful and thorough agriculturalists of his native township.

October 9, 1851, marks the ushering of this gentleman into the world, the place being his native township. His parents were natives of Germany, the father's name being John Snakenberg and his mother Dorethe Scharnhorst. John was born in Germany March 15, 1814, and when a young man came to America, in 1836; he settled in 1844 in Keokuk county, preempting a farm just south of where our subject now resides. This was in its primitive wild state, and the life of our subject's father was filled with the trials that come to all the pioneers of that day. He "stuck to his last," however, and had the satisfaction of having carved out of the wilderness one of the finest farm properties in Keokuk county, on which he died in 1892. He was one of nature's noblemen, a man whose word was as good as his bond, and whose simple and trustful life had a splendid influence for good upon his community. He gave allegiance to the principles of the Democratic party and was honored during that time by his fellow citizens with some of the offices of the township. He married in the county as above stated, his wife having been the daughter of Christian and Dorethe Scharnhorst, who were also among the early settlers of the county. They became the parents of ten children, of which the subject of this review is the eldest; their names are as follows: Louis D.; John W., deceased; Henry; Nicholas; Mary; Katherine; Richard and Minnie, twins; George, and Emma.

Mr. Louis D. Snakenberg remained with his parents until he was three years beyond his majority, assisting in the cultivation of the farm. Here he learned the habits of industry which have so distinguished him in later life, and which have seen their fruition in the success which has come to him. He received a fairly good education in the common schools in German township. At the age of twenty-four he settled on the site which he now owns, and which at that time was virgin soil. He looks with satisfaction on the fact that the beautiful farm of which he is now the owner is the work of his own hands, supplemented by the bountiful providence of Dame Nature. He is known the county over as being an excellent farmer, and deals extensivelyin fine stock.

His home life began in 1876, March 2nd, when he was happily married to Dorothy Seebe. This lady is the daughter of Christopher and Sarah Seebe and is a native of the township in which she now lives. Her father was a native born German, while her mother's nativity was in Ohio. They removed to the county in a very early day. Mr. and Mrs. Snakenberg are the parents of two children: Roy; Dora, now deceased. Politically Mr. Snakenberg follows in the footsteps of his lamented father, and has acted with credit to himself as trustee for the township for the past six years, and as road supervisor for a period of four years. He has also served a number of terms as school director of his district. Fraternally he has allied himself to the organization known as the Woodmen of the World. He commands and receives the respect which is his due in his section of the county.

WILLIAM SNAKENBERG

William Snakenberg, one of the prominent and highly respected farmers of German township, Keokuk county, Iowa, was born in Washington county, Iowa, November 5, 1843, and is the third child and third son of Detrich and Mary A. (Seaba) Snakenberg. He was about one year old when he was brought to Keokuk county, and he was reared and educated in German township. He occupied himself in farm work until the time of his enlistment for Civil war service in 1864, when he became a member of Company E, Thirteenth Iowa Volunteer Infantry, remaining until the close of the war, although sickness compelled him to remain the greater part of the time in the hospital. After his honorable discharge, he returned to his home and resumed farming. In 1892 he built the comfortable residence in which he resides on the farm of eighty-five acres, and has increased the value of his property by judicious and careful methods of cultivation.

In 1893 Mr. Snakenberg was married to Miss Emma Boss, who was born in Lafayette township, Keokuk county. One son, Iren Vernon Paul, has been born to this union. Both our subject and wife are valued members of the German Methodist church and are highly respected residents of German township.

JAMES R. SPEIRS

Among the well known and highly respected citizens of Keokuk county, who for half a century has played an important part in the development of this section of the state, is James R. Speirs of Martinsburg, at the present time the honored president of that staunch financiai institution, the Martinsburg Bank. There are few men whose lives are crowned with the honor and respect that is universally accorded Mr. Speirs, and through long connection with this portion of the state his has been an unblemished character. With him success in life was reached by sterling qualities of mind and heart, true to every manly principle. He has never deviated from what his judgment indicated to be right and honorable between his fellow-men and himself. He has never swerved from the path of duty, and along many substantial lines of progress he has labored for the welfare of the people among whom he has resided. No citizen of the county is more deserving of representation in a volume which purports, as does this one, to set forth the more honorable families which have been connected with the development and growth of Keokuk county.

James R. Speirs is a Buckeye by birth, born in Butler county, September 20, 1828. His father, Robert Speirs, was a Scotchman by birth, born in Glasgow about 1793. He remained in the old country until he was twenty-eight years of age and as a single man came to America and located in New Jersey, where he began his married life. He later removed his family to Butler county, Ohio, where he worked at his trade, for a few years, that of a weaver. He married in New Jersey, Miss Mary Burk, and in 1864 removed to Steady Run township, Keokuk county, where he passed the remainder of his life in the cultivation of the farm on which he died at the age of eighty-six years. The mother of our subject was a native of New Jersey, the Burks being of Irish extraction. They were also weavers by occupation. Their family consisted of twelve children, eleven of whom they reared to maturity.

The subject of this sketch is the fifth son and the fifth child of the family. He removed with the family to Indiana at the age of three years, in which state he was reared to manhood. His education was of a rather primitive and limited kind, he being able to go to school but three months in the year. He remained dutifully at home until his marriage, engaged in helping his parents in the battle of life. October 9, 1852, marks the date of his marriage with Katherine Stenger, who was a native of Preble county, Ohio, where she was reared to womanhood. To this marriage were born three children, Mary E., deceased; Sara A., also deceased; and Anna, wife of John McCreary, a prominent farmer of Jackson township, Keokuk county. Mr. Speirs married his present wife in the year i860, the exact date being January 26th. Mrs. Speirs' maiden name was Phyllis Flint, and she is a native of Franklin county, Indiana. In the year 1854 Mr. Speirs removed with his family to Keokuk county, where he settled in Jackson township, and where for thirty-six years he continued to reside engaged actively in the cultivation of his farm. In 1890 he located in Martinsburg and bought an interest in the Martinsburg Bank, of which he became vice president. On the 6th of February, 1899, this bank was reorganized and Mr. Speirs was chosen as its president. This is one of the most solid financial institutions of the county, its officers being men of the very highest standing and character. They are as follows: Our subject is the honored president; Mr. I. N. Ogden, vice president; Earl Young, cashier; John Speirs, nephew of subject, is assitant cashier; while W. R. Speirs, nephew, is a stockholder. The capital stock of the bank is $600,000. Besides his banking interests Mr. Speirs is very largely interested in real estate in the city, and also has interest in farming property in Keokuk county.

Ever since the organization of the party Mr. Speirs has been a staunch and earnest supporter of Republican principles. He has served in different positions of trust, having been a trustee of the township for a considerable period. Fraternally he is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and for fifty years has been prominently identified with the Presbyterian church, in which he is an honored elder. At the time of the Civil war Mr. Speirs was found a loyal citizen, who valiantly espoused the cause of the Union and went forth to do battle for the stars and stripes. In 1862 he enlisted as sergeant in company F, Thirty-third Iowa Volunteer Infantry, and his period of service covered three years. His command became part of the army of the West and saw service in many of the hard fought battles, and in many smaller skirmishes with Indians and guerillas. At the battle of Helena he was unfortunate enough to receive a wound in the arm by a minie ball, but was not incapacitated for service. He received an honorable discharge from the service at New Orleans in August of 1865.

Mr. Speirs takes active interest in the affairs of Keokuk county, being particularly interested in the pioneers who came to the county in the early day, and who are responsible for its marvelous growth and progress. He was instrumental in the formation of the Old Settlers' Organization and takes great delight in its yearly meetings at Sigourney.

In all life's relations James R. Speirs has followed a course at once honorable and upright, and his life demonstrates the worth of integrity and enterprise in the busy affairs of the world. His life has been honorably associated with the history of Keokuk county, and in business he sustains an unassailable reputation. He and his family receive and merit the encomiums of a very large circle of friends.

AARON STALKER

Aaron Stalker, a prominent farmer and old settler of Richland township residing on section 15, was born in Hendricks county, Indiana, on the 19th of November, 1843. His father, George Stalker, was a native of Guilford county, North Carolina, and was there reared and married. About 1837 he sought a home in the west taking up his abode in Indiana, where he remained until 1851, when he came to Keokuk county, Iowa, locating upon the farm upon which our subject now resides. Here he spent his remaining days until within a short period prior to his death, when he took up his abode in Richland and there he passed away at the advanced age of eighty-seven years, respected by all who knew him because his life was upright and honorable, and because he was consciencious always in his relations to his fellow men and straightforward in his business transactions. He held membership in the Friends church and his life was in harmony with its teachings. In his politics he was first a Whig and afterward a Republican. His father, Jonathan Stalker, was of Scotch lineage. The mother of our subject bore the maiden name of Hannah Miliken and was born in North Carolina, where her girlhood days were passed. She lived to be seventy-three years of age and became the mother of eight children, all of whom are living with one exception.

Aaron Stalker is the youngest son and the sixth child of the family. He was seven years of age when the family came to Keokuk county, Iowa, and on the home farm his childhood days were passed, the place being now endeared to him through the associations of his youth as well as those of later manhood. In the district school he obtained his education, and his training at farm labor was received under the direction of his father.

In 1874 Mr. Stalker was united in marriage to Miss Mary Charles, a native of Jefferson county, Iowa, and a daughter of Thomas and Charlotte (Johnson) Charles, the former a native of Indiana and the latter of Ohio. In 1851 they came to Iowa and cast in their lot with the early pioneer settlers of this state. Mrs. Stalker was the fourth of their five children and was reared in Jefferson county. After their marriage our subject and his wife located in Richland township. He purchased the old homestead, upon which he has since engaged in farming and stock raising. He has three hundred and sixty acres of land, the most of which is under cultivation with the exception of a tract of forty acres of timberland. He is extensively engaged in stock-raising and this branch of his business has proven to him a profitable source of income. Everything about his place is neat and attractive in appearance and a glance indicates to the passer by that the owner is a progressive and practical agriculturist.

The home of Mr. and Mrs. Stalker has been blessed with one daughter, Maude, who is the the wife of Dr. L. G. Lemley of Blooming Prairie, Minnesota. The parents hold membership in the Friends church, in which they were reared. Mr. Stalker is a strong temperance man and gives his political support to the Prohibition party which represents his views concerning the liquor question. For fifty years he has resided in Richland township and has therefore witnessed much of the growth and improvement of the county which was reclaimed from the red men for the uses of a higher civilization represented by the white man. Mr. Stalker has borne a prominent part in the work of reclaiming the wild land and has contributed in no small degree in his locality toward winning for the state its splendid reputation as one of the leading agricultural sections of the Union.

CHARLES J. STEEL

Charles J. Steel, who owns a blacksmith sho pand a machine shop in Richland, Keokuk County, Iowa, is a native of Sweden, from which country come so many hardworking and useful citizens of this country. He was born June 21, 1842, in Sweden and attended school until he was about fourteen years old. He left his parents when he was only nine and a half years old and was reared by the judge of the district court until eighteen years of age. He began as an apprentice to the blacksmith trade, serving thus for seven years and learning all the branches of the art, and then was blacksmith for five years on one of the large estates of the old country.

In 1869 Mr. Steel came to America and first located at Princeton, Illinois, where he worked at his trade for several months; he then removed to Burlington, Iowa, where he worked for a while. On July 5, 1870, he came to Richland. For six years he worked for another man, Oliver Lundin, but in 1877 he opened a shop of his own, which he has retained ever since, thus having been in Richland for thirty-two years. He has a large and flourishing trade, and he is known as one of the sound business men of the town.

His wife was Anna Turnbul, and they have one son, Herbert, who works for his father. In social life his active support is given to Cossuth Lodge, Independent Order of Odd Fellows; in politics he is a Republican, and for three years he served on the city council. Highly respected, with a reputation for honesty and industry, his life is one deserving ot the success he has won.

J. CAMPBELL STOCKMAN

J. Campbell Stockman is a well and favorably known citizen of Keokuk county and now in the evening is living a retired life in the town of Richland. Philip Stockman, his father, was born in 1799 in Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania, and learned the trade of miller, coming to Ohio when he was twenty-one years old. There he engaged in his trade and also was a merchant. In 1851, when living in Harrison county, Ohio, he made a prospecting trip to Illinois, and on his return home stopped in Auburn, Indiana, to visit a son living there, and there took sick and died. The family were all Pennsylvania Dutch in origin. The mother of our subject was Sarah Drummond, a native of Pennsylvania, born in 1802, of Irish descent, and she was married to Mr. Stockman in Ohio. She lived to be eighty-three years of age. She was the mother of eight children, of whom seven grew to maturity, only three now living, as follows: Elizabeth A. Briwster, of Ohio; Harrison, of Missouri; and the subject of this review.

J. C. Stockman, the third surviving child, was the fourth child and third son of the above family and was born in Belmont county, Ohio, March 1, 1830. In 1857 he came to Keokuk county, Iowa, where he conducted a farm until 1866, when he engaged in the hotel business in Richland for four years. Going back to the country he once more engaged in agricultural pursuits until 1883, when he sold out and was postmaster of Richland for four years. In 1859 he was an unsuccessful Republican candidate for county treasurer. He continued to vote the Republican ticket up to 1872, when he voted for Greeley. Thereafter he voted the Democratic ticket up to 1896, when he voted for Palmer and Buckner on the National Democratic ticket. Since then he has taken no active part in politics, not even voting. In 1876 he was the unsuccessful Democratic candidate for county clerk, and two years later made an unsuccessful race for member of county board of supervisors on the Democratic ticket.

Mr. Stockman's marriage occurred in October, 1854, to Mary A. Waggoner, a native of Coshocton county, Ohio. The following children were born to the marriage: John L., who died in boyhood; David T., now a prominent attorney of Sigourney; Jasper, who died when young; Emma, the wife of A. C. Brady; Jessie Frances, who married Marvin
Logan and died aged twenty-eight years ; Mary, the wife of J. D. Eicher; Ida, the wife of David Jones; Lizzie, died aged two years; James William, a physician; and twins, who died in infancy.

Mr. Stockman, although prominent in many affairs of his city and county, belongs to no order or church. He is well known and respected throughout his county and now in his seventy-second year looks back on a life of well directed efforts.

ANTHONY STOUGHT

From early pioneer times down to the present Anthony Stought has been a resident of Keokuk county. He has seen its wild land transformed into good farms dotted here and there with splendid homes. He has seen towns and villages spring up and all of the industrial and commercial interests known to the east introduced here. With the work of improvement and progress he has been identified as a promoter of agricultural interests and he is still carrying on his farming pursuits, making his home in Warren township.

Mr. Stought was born in Sangamon county, Illinois, on the 8th of July, 1837. His father, Thomas Stought, was a native of Ohio, born in Miami county, November 19, 1812. There he spent his childhood days and acquired his education. In Indiana he was married on the 24th of March, 1833, to Miss Elizabeth Williams, who was born in that state on the 11th day of June, 1816. They became the parents of eleven children, five sons and six daughters: Hannah, born February 23, 1834; William A., born August 1, 1835; Anthony, bom July 8, 1837; Ruth, born September 7, 1839; Josiah, born October 23, 1840; Amanda, born August 8, 1843; Thomas, born June 8, 1845; Mary M., born September 27, 1847; David W., born March 8, 1850; Barbara R., born December 19, 1852; and Frances E., born August 15, 1855. The father came to Iowa in 1839, settling in Des Moines county, where he remained for about seven years, after which he returned to Illinois, taking up his abode in Logan county. There he remained until the fall of 1853, when he once more came to Iowa and this time settled in Keokuk county. He entered a farm of forty acres of raw land, which he soon afterward sold, and then removed to Ringgold county, Iowa, where his wife died on the 28th of June, 1857. At that time he returned to Illinois, where he remained until his death, which occurred on the 6th of December, 1862.

Anthony Stought was only two years of age when he first came to Iowa. He remained with his parents, accompanying them on their various removals until he was about twenty years of age, when he started out in life to make his own living. He was employed in various capacities and at length, when his labors had brought him sufficient capital, he invested in land and began farming on his own account. He was married in Springfield, Keokuk county, on the 27th of October, 1859, to Miss Louisa Hasty, a native of Morgan county, Indiana, and a daughter of John Hasty, who was born in Morgan county, Indiana, and became one of the pioneer settlers of Keokuk county, Iowa. Mrs. Stought spent her girlhood days at her father's home in this county, remaining with her parents until she gave her hand in marriage to our subject. This union was blessed with two children, but one died in infancy. The other son, Alvin E., bom August 27, 1862, is living on his father's farm. His birth occurred near Delta, and he was married on the 15th of December, 1886, to Emma Lister, by whom he has three children, one son and two daughters, who add life and light to the old home place.

Mr. Stought and his son are to-day the owners of one hundred and sixty acres of valuable land, all under a high state of cultivation. He has resided upon this farm since 1872, covering a period of thirty years. His marked energy and enterprise soon wrought great changes here. He erected good buildings, planted his fields and in course of time had rich harvests as a result of the progressive methods employed. Everything about his place is kept in a neat and thrifty condition and a glance indicates to the passer-by that the owner is a progressive and practical agriculturist. Mr. Stought has always been a staunch advocate of the Republican party and interested in the welfare of his county, state and nation.

JOHN S. STOUTNER, M.D.

Dr. John S. Stoutner, of Keota, has passed the eightieth milestone on life's journey and is now living in honorable retirement from labor. His life record has been characterized by many of the sterling qualities of upright manhood, and wherever known he has won the respect and good will of those with whom he has been associated. Now in the evening of life he receives the veneration and esteem which should ever be accorded to those who have advanced far on life's journey. He is a native of Pennsylvania, his birth having occurred in Bedford county on the 5th of April, 1822. His father, Benjamin Stoutner, was born in Maryland and there spent his boyhood and youth. The grandfather, John Stoutner, was also supposed to be a native of Maryland and was of German descent. On leaving his native state Benjamin Stoutner took up his abode in Bedford county, Pennsylvania, where he carried on blacksmithing. He was married in Pennsylvania and several years later located in Richland county, Ohio, where he spent his remaining days, dying when eighty-four years of age. His Hfe was in consistent harmony with his profession as a member of the Lutheran church and in pohtics he was always a staunch Democrat. His wife bore the maiden name of Catherine Shertzer, a native of Pennsylvania, where she was reared. She also died in her eighty-fourth year. Her father, Jacob Shertzer, was born in the Keystone state and was of German lineage. To the parents of our subject were born ten children, four sons and six daughters, all of whom reached adult age with the exception of one son who died when ten years old.

Dr. Stoutner is the eldest of the family. He was reared in the place of his nativity until seventeen years of age, when he accompanied his parents on their removal to Richland county, Ohio, remaining with them until he had attained the age of twenty-two years. He then went to Massilon, Ohio, and took up the study of medicine under the direction of Dr. John Shertzer, who directed his reading for two years and ten months. He afterward pursued a course of study at Willoughby college, Ohio, twenty miles east of Cleveland. When he had become well qualified for the active practice of the profession he located in New Washington, Crawford county, Ohio, where he opened an office and was there in practice for five years, during which time he acquired a good patronage. He then went to Ganges, Richland county, where he remained for one year, after which he came to the west. It was in 1854 that he made his way to Iowa, locating in Washington county at a place called Paris. For nine years he practiced successfully there and at the end of that time abandoned his profession in order to give his attention to agricultural pursuits. He purchased two farms in Washington county and on selling that land bought property in township 76 of Washington county, becoming the owner of three hundred and twenty acres upon which he located, devoting his energies to its development and improvement. His labors wrouglit a transformation in the place so that it became a very valuable and attractive farm, and thereon he continued to make his home until 1890, when he retired from farm life and purchased a residence property in Keota. He had added to his land until he was the owner of seven hundred and ninety acres of as rich land as can be found in the country. He gave to his son, Oliver, a tract of eighty acres, a similar amount to his son William, and they are now prominent farmers of Washington county.

On the 28th of October, 1847, the Doctor was united in marriage to Mary Ann Keith, a native of Richland county, Ohio, born January 5, 1824, and a daughter of Michael and Margaret Keith, both of whom were natives of Pennsylvania. In their family were two sons and five daughters, and death did not sever the family tie until after they had reached mature years. Mrs. Stoutner is the youngest of the children and was reared and educated in her native place. By her marriage she has become the mother of six children: Margaret, now deceased; Oliver, a resident farmer of Washington county; Naomi, the wife of Warren Stewart, a stockman of Keota; William, also a farmer of Washington county; Edward, deceased; and Nettie, the wife of Squire H. S. Statler, of Keota.

The Doctor is a staunch Democrat, having firm faith in the principles of the party, which he also supports by his ballot and his influence. He is a member of the Christian church, in which he has taken an active part, doing all in his power to promote its growth and upbuilding. In his business affairs he has prospered and is to-day in comfortable financial circumstances, whereby he is enabled to enjoy many of the luxuries as well as of the necessities of life. He is a well preserved man of eighty years, for nature is kindly to those who abuse not her laws. His life has in many respects been highly commendable and his example is therefore well worthy of emulation.

DEIDRICH HENRY STROHMANN

D. H. Strohmann, one of the oldest settlers and prominent farmers of Keokuk county, Iowa, whose fine farm is located in section 31, German township, was born in Hanover, Germany, on February 18, 1851, and is the second child and the second son of Deidrich and Dorethe (Backhaus) Strohmann, both of whom were natives of the same part of Germany. The father died July 9, 1883, aged sixty-four years, and the mother resides with our subject and is eighty-three years old. These parents emigrated to America in 1856 and came to Keokuk county, Iowa, when the young Deidrich was not quite six years of age.

Our subject's education was obtained in the German schools of the Evangelical association and in the district schools, and he assisted his father on the farm until the date of his marriage. On February 24, 1880, he was united in marriage with Henrietta Kracht, who was bom at St. Louis, Missouri, January 14, 1857, and is a daughter of Emil and Lucetta (Klett) Kracht, both of whom were natives of Germany, and after coming to America located at St. Louis. Mrs. Strohmann was seven years of age when her parents moved to Keokuk county and she is the fourth member of her parents' family of five children. Her mother died July 19, 1881, aged sixty-four years, and her father died May 4, 1900, aged eighty. The family of Mr. Strohmann consists of himself, wife, and daughter Emma, born January 5, 1884, the latter being a very intelligent student in the public schools.

In 1877 Mr. Strohmann located on his present farm, where he erected a comfortable residence and a commodious and substantial barn. This farm comprises one hundred and twenty-five acres and it has been developed into one of the very finest estates in this neighborhood through the industry and excellent agricultural methods employed by its owner. In politics he is a Democrat, but a liberal one, and endeavors to secure the best man for the offices, irrespective of politics. Mr. Strohmann is regarded with feelings of respect and esteem in his locality, his position before his neighbors always demonstrating his integrity and reliability. He takes a great interest in public matters, especially those pertaining to his township, and is always ready to do his part in making improvements.

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FRED D. STROHMANN

One of the progressive and successful farmers and old settlers of Keokuk county, Iowa, is Fred D. Strohmann, who has been one of the important factors in the agricultural development of German township, where in section 7 he owns a fine farm of one hundred and seventyone acres. By birth and ancestry Mr. Strohmann is German, his parents HanoA'cr, Germany, where he also was born on September 26, 1848.

Diederich Strohmann was born in 1819 and served for six years in the German army, three years as a volunteer. He married and brought his wife and four children with him to America, in 1856, landing at New Orleans. Following the Mississippi they finally landed in Iowa and at once located in Keokuk county, on section 5, in German township. Here Mr. Strohmann died in 1884, but his widow still survives at the age of eighty-four years.

Our subject was the eldest of the family of children born to his parents and was eight years of age when they came to Keokuk county. His primary education in the German schools has been very thorough and he was not able to add much to his knowledge of books in the little log schoolhouse in German township, for in those times the hours of work were early and continued long. The land was unimproved and he was needed to assist in its clearing and cultivating. Until his marriage on October 21, 1870, to Christine Voltmer, he remained at home. Mrs. Strohmann was born August 13, 1851, in a little log cabin on the farm which is now the family home. She is the eldest of fourteen children and has lived her whole life in German township. Her father David Voltmer was a pioneer in this county of 1846.

Mr. and Mrs. Strohmann after marriage located on this farm, and for two years lived in a log cabin, erecting then the handsome, modern residence which is now the comfortable family home. This contains ten rooms and is fitted up with taste and regard to comfort. The thirteen children of our subject and wife were born here and all survive with thi-ee exceptions,- Fred, Edward and Ella. The others are: Deitrick, a prominent farmer of this county; Minnie, a popular teacher for eight years, educated at Highland College, Dixon, Illinois; Matilda, the wife of Albert Blaise, a prominent farmer of German township; Dora, the wife of Louis Goldner, a prominent farmer of Clear Creek township; Sophia, a graduate of the Sigourney high school, a successful teacher; and Lucy, David, Lewis, Walter and Mable, at home.

Mr. Strohmann has long been regarded as one of the most prosperous farmers of the county, and is also one of its most intelligent and progressive men. Formerly a Republican, he has in later years been identified with the Democratic party and was its candidate for supervisor, running far beyond his ticket on account of public confidence. He has always been a leader in all movements looking to the best interests of German township and is one of the most substantial as well as reliable and upright citizens of this section of the county. Alrnost all of his life has been devoted to the advancement of this locality and it is a matter of comment that some of the best educated and most influential citizens have been born and reared in this vicinity.

JAMES M. SWEARINGEN

James M. Swearingen, a wealthy agriculturist and extensive stock raiser, now residing at his splendid farm in section 34, Lancaster township, possesses those strong traits of character which would have brought him to the front in any occupation he might have chosen in life. Endowed with foresight, good judgment, self-assertive powers, he might have made a magnificent business man. Or his remarkable executive ability and his large capacity for leadership might have given him prestige in the political field. Content, however, to follow the occupation to which he was reared, he has here put his forces to good service, and has had some to spare for the discharge of public duties.

Mr. Swearingen comes of a family of agriculturists. His great-grandfather, Charles Swearingen, followed that occupation for the most part of his life, first in Ohio, and later in Montgomery county, Indiana; he was a German by descent. John Swearingen, grandfather of James M., was also a farmer. Born in Ohio, he was reared there, and upon reaching manhood followed agriculture for some years. Later he moved with his family to Indiana, where he spent his last days, dying there.

William A. Swearingen, father of James M., likewise took a hand in the development of the agricultural resources of the middle west. Born in Butler county, Ohio, he was but eight years old when his parents moved to the growing state of Indiana. Here in Montgomery county he received his rearing and his education, which was that of the ordinary farmer's boy of his time and place. As a young man he spent some years upon an Indiana farm, where, conducting a flourishing industry, he made in time considerable money. Impressed with the vast resources of the further west, in 1868 he moved to Keokuk county, Iowa, and there settled upon the farm where James M. now resides. The place entirely fulfilled his highest anticipations, and here he remained and worked for some time. He spent his last days with a son in Hedrick, dying there in his seventy-ninth year. Mr. Swearingen married Margaret E. Hall, who was born in Newberry, South Carolina, and when nine years old moved with her father, Thomas Hall, to Indiana. Mr. Hall, a man of Irish descent, was a farmer by occupation. He had two brothers who served seven years in the Revolutionary war under General George Washington. Mrs. Swearingen's mother was a native of Ireland and died in South Carolina before she and her father moved to Indiana. Mrs. Swearingen was a wise and faithful helpmate for many years. She died in her sixty-third year. To her and her husband were born nine children, seven of whom are now living. Of these James M. is the oldest. M. Swearingen was a man of pronounced political views; in the early days he was a Whig, but later affiliated with the Democrats.

James M. Swearingen was born in Montgomery county, Indiana, and there grew to manhood. In the common schools of his neighborhood, which he attended for a few months each year, he received a good fundamental education, which he has in later years supplemented by extensive reading and the practical work of life. In 1868 he moved to Keokuk county with his parents, and there taking up the manly duties of life, he assisted his father in purchasing the farm, which has since come into his possession; in fact, with the exception of nine hundred dollars contributed by his father, he paid for the property himself. For two years after coming to Iowa he clerked in a drug store in Ollie, acquiring a practical knowledge of business and an aptness for the work which would certainly have proved a stepping stone to something higher in that line had he chosen to continue the work. The large homestead, however, requiring his attention, he decided to give his undivided efforts to it, and returning home he has since remained there. Here he carries on general farming, and also engages in stock raising, being successful in both lines. He has made many improvements upon the place, clearing and breaking new lands. The property now embraces one hundred and thirty-two acres of some of the most productive land in the vicinity. Mr. Swearingen has made his land pay well, and as fast as he has earned money he has made investments in local industries. He now owns a large amount of stock in the Ollie Savings Bank.

November 29, 1900, Mr. Swearingen married Lillia Wilkins, of Chicago, who was born in Ohio, daughter of Samuel and Mary (Brant) Wilkins, who were both born in Ohio and are still living there at Lebanon; he follows farming and the trade of a carpenter. To Mr. and Vlrs. Wilkins have been born eight children, one son and seven daughters, Mrs. Swearingen being the oldest of the daughters. Coming to Iowa some years ago she remained in Fairfield for a while, but later went to Chicago, where she resided for thirteen years, until her marriage.

Mr. Swearingen is one of the most active men in public affairs in his township, and as a man of marked ability has served as constable for fifteen years, and as secretary of the school board, of which he is still a member, for ten years. He stands high with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, of loka Lodge No. 173, having filled all the chairs of the order. As a member of the Mission Baptist church he is also influential. He is well known all over the county, where he has many warm friends. When the rural delivery route was established some time ago his energy and popularity helped him to secure it and he has since had it in charge.

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DANIEL SWICKARD

Prominent among the representatives of Martinsburg, Keokuk county, who have by honest toil and industry succeeded in acquiring a handsome competence and are now able to spend the sunset of life in quiet and retirement, is the gentleman whose name appears above, a man who has for the past forty-six years been very eminently connected with the development and growth of Keokuk county. He is to-day one of the best and most favorably known men in the county, and has the confidence and the respect of a large body of associates. Briefly touching upon the family history of our friend, we note that his people came from the Keystone state to Steubenville, Ohio, where our subject was born February i, 1822. His father before him was Daniel Swickard, who prior to coming to Ohio had served gallantly as an officer in the army during the war of 181 2, being under the noted General Harrison. He was a farmer by occupation, and was also interested in the distilling business. He was a very large real estate owner. Later in life he removed from near Steubenville to Franklin county, Ohio, where he owned a body of land of twelve hundred acres and for a period of twelve years was a man of influence in that community. He served during that time as justice of the peace, and at his death, which occurred at the age of eighty-six years, was regarded as one of the best citizens of the county. In political belief he followed the teachings of the Whigs, and was later a supporter of the Republican party. His religious affiliations were with the Evangelical church, in which organization he was an earnest and active worker. Grandfather Daniel Swickard was born in the fatherland, he having come to Pennsylvania in early life, and later to Ohio, where he died at the age of eighty-four years. Concerning the maternal ancestry of Mr. Swickard, his mother was Mary Magdaline; she died in 1894 at a very advanced age and was the mother of twelve children,all of whom grew to maturity but one. After her death Mr. Swickard was again married, there being but one child born to the second marriage.

Of the first family Mr. Swickard, our subject, was the seventh child. His early youth and boyhood were passed in Franklin county, Ohio, wiiere he was given a fair education in the log schoolhouse of that early time. He remained at home until the date of his majority, when he apprenticed himself to the shoemaker's trade, at which business he worked for a period of some twelve years. He then engaged in farming. The primary cause of the change was his failing health. He arrived in Keokuk county in 1856 and purchased a farm in Steady Run township, which he conducted for a number of years, and which he brought to a very high state of cultivation. He continued the operation of this farm until 1890, when he removed to aMrtinsburg, since which time he has not been actively engaged in business.

He married in 1844 a lady by the name of Elizabeth Campbell, a sister of Mr. John Campbell, whose sketch appears elsewhere in this book. Her deatn occurred in about 1893 and Mr. Swickard again married, the lady being his present wife, whose maiden name was Miss [Emily] Carter, the date of the marriage being 1894. Mrs. Swickard was born in Plain township, Franklin county, Ohio, and was there reared and educated. Her father was D. Carter, a native of Virginia and a pioneer in Franklin county. Her mother's maiden name was Nancy Noe, who was a native of New Jersey. They were parents of four daughters and one son. Mr. and Mrs. Swickard are prominent and worthy members of the Methodist church, in which organization they have always taken a very active part, Mr. Swickard having been a member for sixty years, and during many years of that time has held the office of class leader and steward. In political affiliations he supports the Republican party, having come to that party from the old Whig organization. It is due to Mr. Swickard to say that he is beloved and respected by all who are acquainted with him, and his honorable association with the development of the county entitles him to representation in this volume.