HORTON TOWNSHIP.

The chapters below are from the 1914 book, Past and Present of O'Brien and Osceola Counties of Iowa and contain histories of the towns and townships of the county.

Horton township is much the same as the rest of the county, except that the Ocheyedan river crosses it from north to south near the west border. Along this stream there are a few low hills in places. However, the homesteaders found good selections and occupied them from 1871 to 1873, as follows:

Section 8. Lester C. Washburn, Sylas Cook, W. H. Gibbs, James Griffith and S. A. Colburn. None of these settlers remained very long on their claims. Mr. Griffin moved into Sibley and engaged in the implement business, later sold out and moved to. Nebraska, where he died many years ago. S. A. Colburn moved to Sibley and got a precarious living as best he could.

Section 10. A. M. Kimball, T. D. Romans, Edward Bauerand and F. McDonald were transients, of whom little was ever known.

Section 12. F. McConnel, P. E. Randall, Eliza Tilton, W. R. Bowling and W. H. Yates. The first three of these were transients, but Mr. Bowling remained in the county until the time of his death a few years ago. He was a good neighbor and a public spirited citizen.

Section 14. William H. Bisbee, J. McDonald, C M. Richards and T. T. Bowling were all transients, except Mr. Richards, who moved to Sibley and established a dray line. He is now dead.

Section 18. Martin Day, Amanda M. Haslip, George Machenson and William Filke. Mrs. Haslip was the widow of a captain in the Civil War. She was the mother of Mrs. J. H. Douglass of Viola township. Later she built a home in Sibley, where the Sibley hospital now stands. She died many years ago. William Filke still lives on his claim and is rich.

Section 20. T. O. Wilbern, Daniel Stevens, H. B. Clemens, Mathias Stevens and Horace J. Dawley. Mr. Wilbern was one of the early merchants of Sibley, where he still lives a retired life looking after his property interests. He served as mayor of Sibley several terms and is now justice of the peace. H. B. Clemens lived on his claim a good many years and finally moved to Sibley and was engaged in the dairy business for several years. Later he moved to the state of Washington, where he still follows the same business.

Section 22. William J. Quinn, W. W. Herron and Joseph H. Kerns. Mr. Herron remained a few years and was a stirring citizen. The others were transients.

Section 24. Luther Phillips and James Dibbin were both transients; Samuel Collett was a well-known character; Seymore Coyer still holds his land, but is living in Ocheyedan, and is wealthy. John Robertson still holds his land, but of late years has been residing in Ocheyedan. He moved to New Mexico in 1913.

Section 26. A. C. Burnham, F. M. Barnes, W. J. Gibson and W. H. Gibson were all transients.

Section 28. Ira Stevens, J. H. Fenton, and J. S. Reynolds. Mr. Fenton was one of the first supervisors, but did not receive any of the benefits of the early grafting. Mr. Reynolds' homestead was in East Holman, where more will be recorded concerning him.

Section 30. J. C. Willey, William Reid and Adam Kundret. These men moved away directly after proving up.

Section 32. Samuel Brown was an old soldier and lived on his claim several years after proving up and then moved to Sibley, later selling his land. His wife died a few years ago and he is now living with his son, Dr. Fred J. Brown, of Sheldon, Iowa. D. Redington and J. B. Haslett, both transients, secured the rest of this section.

Section 34. Captain L. G. Ireland, who settled on this section, will be remembered as an enthusiastic man on the subject of tree planting. He preached that it was every man's duty to plant trees and he practiced what he preached. Not only did he plant the trees but he undertook to have in his grove every variety of tree that would grow in this vicinity. The big grove on his claim is a living monument to Ireland's enthusiasm. N. W. Emery was of a more practical mind, and while he planted a large grove, he devoted more time to general farming. Jacob Brooks planted a large grove also. Mr. Ireland died in the south, Mr. Emery died on his farm, and Mr. Brooks died in Sibley.

Section 36. A. V. Randall, who now resides in Ocheyedan, settled on this section near the west shore of Rush lake, T. S. Wallace on the north shore of the same lake, and J. H. Attall on the south shore.

Of these early settlers few remain. Many are dead and others drifted away seeking greener pastures where grasshoppers were unknown. Very few held onto their land long enough to gain by the material advance in the price of land. William Filke is the only one in this township to hang on and he still lives on his original claim. He stuck through all the hard times and raised stock and gradually .bought more land until now he owns eight hundred acres of good Osceola county soil with plenty of good buildings. He is one of the wealthiest fanners in the county, a good record for a man with only one hand.

The history of this township would not be complete if the influx of immigrants from 1883 to 1885 were not mentioned. They were generally supposed to have come from Indiana. In fact, they came from a neighborhood on the border between Indiana and Illinois. Among these can be mentioned W. H. Noehren, who bought and settled on section 22 and for many years made that his home. He was for some time an efficient member of the board of supervisors. He now resides in Ocheyedan and is recorded among the business men of that town. Fred Glade settled on section 23 and always wielded a strong influence in township affairs. He reared a large family and he and many of his children still reside in this county. Dick Wassmann bought the L. G. Ireland farm, which is one of the best and most attractive places in the county. Mr. Wassmann added to the already great variety of trees planted by Captain Ireland until it is claimed there are over one hundred varieties of forest trees in the beautiful grove that delights the eye as one drives past it. Mr. Wassmann served three terms as county treasurer and at one time wielded a powerful political influence in the east end of the county. After retiring from the treasurer's office he was connected with the bank of Ocheyedan until his death a few years ago. There is hardly space to mention at length all these strong men to whom Horton township owes much of her present prosperity. Among them is found such well known names as August Palenski, Chris Bremmer, August Bremmer, Charles Greip, Edward Hoffman, Conrad Hattendorf, Henry Bremmer, Herman Bremmer, August Claus and August Consoer. Other names appearing are Engle, Hromatka, Ling, Osterman, Piscator, Sixta, Weston, Zick and Wickland. These, with others, have changed this township from a sparsely settled, and in places poorly farmed, district to one of the garden spots of northwestern Iowa.

A German church is found in Horton township on section 27 which is more fully mentioned in the chapter on churches. Horton supports six public schools. The present trustees are August Clais, Conrad Bremmer and Adam Engle, with George T. Ling as clerk.

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