Robert George Caskey, who carries on general farming on section 20, Harlan township, in a most practical and progressive manner, was born in Sumter county, Alabama, November 16, 1844. His parents were James and Katharine (Mawhinney) Caskey, who were natives of the north of Ireland, born in County Down and Armagh respectively. The mother came to the [page 310] United States with her parents when sixteen years of age, and the father crossed the Atlantic on attaining his majority in company with a sister, while his parents afterward followed. The young couple were married in 1829. Mr Caskey had worked in a flaxmill in his native country, but turned his attention to farming in the new world. About 1852 he removed with his family to Cook county, Illinois, settling thirty miles south of Chicago, and four years later, in the fall of 1856, came to Page county, Iowa, arriving on the 16th of October. Both he and his wife continued to reside in this county throughout their remaining days and both reached a ripe old age. The father, who was born in 1800, passed away in 1894, while the mother, whose birth occurred in 1806, died in 1892. He was the owner of one hundred and sixty acres of land in the homestead place in Harlan township and in the careful cultivation and development of the farm he made a good living for his family, which numbered ten children, namely: John, who enlisted from Page county as a member of Company C, Fifth Iowa Cavalry, in 1861 and died at the front; Alexander S., deceased; Jane, the deceased wife of William C. Brown; William, who died in Illinois at the age of sixteen years; James, who is living in College Springs, Iowa; Mary Ann, the widow of John Pollock, a farmer of Harlan township; Sampson, who was also a member of Company C, Fifth Iowa Cavalry and died in a Confederate prison at Florence, South Carolina, while serving in the Civil war; Robert George, of this review; Joseph, who is living in College Springs; and Isaac V., who is located at Billings, Oklahoma.
Robert G. Caskey was but eight years of age when his parents removed from Alabama to Cook county, Illinois, and was a youth of twelve years when they came to Page county, where he has since made his home. He has been a life-long farmer, early becoming familiar with all the duties and labors that fall to the lot of the agriculturist as he cultivates his crops and raises his stock. He is now the owner of eighty acres of arable and productive land on section 20, Harlan township, and he also owns twenty acres of timber land on section 22. He works earnestly and persistently in tilling his fields and his farm present a well cultivated and well improved appearance.
In 1898 Mr Caskey was married to Miss Elizabeth Blair, a native of Ireland, born February 14, 1868. She came to America with her parents, James and Jane Blair, when two years of age and died in this county, June 13, 1909. The children of that marriage are: James Arthur, who was born January 1, 1900; William Howard D., born October 5, 1901; Jane Isabella, born July 28, 1903; Robert Wiley, December 20, 1905; and Lisle Stewart, April 18, 1909.
Mr Caskey is a member of the Reformed Presbyterian church and his life is in consistent harmny with its principles. He attempts to live peaceably with all, to overreach no one in a business transaction, but give just returns at all times. He enjoys the respect and good will of those who know him and is a worth citizen of the county in which he has now resided for more than a half century. Few men are more familiar with its history for through fifty-three years he has witnessed its growth and development as the [page 311] wild lands have been reclaimed for purposes of civilization and converted into fine farms, while attractive homes have been built and thriving towns and cities have sprung up. He has at all times been an interested witness of its progress and has also borne his full share in the work of general improvement. |
[page 350] G. William Richardson. Twenty-three years have come and gone since G. William Richardson took up his abode in Clarinda and became a factor in the busines life of the city. He has since made steady progress for he has learned to correctly value life's contacts and its experiences and to so utilize his opportunites that the utmost possibility of accomplishment at that point in his career has been attained. He is today numbered among the leading lumber merchants of this part of the state and he figures prominently in financial circles and in connection with other business enterprises. He was born in Itasca, Illinois, and is a son of William and Susan (Martin) Richardson, who were farming people, the father having devoted his entire life to the tilling of the soil.
G. William Richardosn spent the first eighteen years of his life in school and after teaching a country school one year he entered business life as a traveling salesman, spending ten years on the road. Believing that Clarinda offered a favorable field for success in business, he arrived in this [page 351] city in 1886 and has since made his home here, covering a period of twenty-three years, during which time his forceful individuality has been felt as a moving factor in the business development of the city. He first purchased an interest in a lumber business, which was conducted under the firm style of Howell & Richardson for two years. On the expiration of that period he purchased the interest of his partner, William M. Howell, and has since conducted the business alone under his own name. He has large and well appointed lumberyards, dealing in lumber and builders' supplies in Clarinda and Shambaugh, Iowa. This does not indicate the limit of his ability and resources, however, for he has extended his efforts into other field and is now the president of the Shambaugh Savings Bank at Shambaugh. He is likewise the vice president of the Lee Electric Light Company at Clarinda and is a director of the Page County State Bank. His judgment is regarded as sound and reliable, his discrimination keen and his enterprise unfaltering, and thus he carried foward to successful completion whatever he undertakes. He was likewise one of the organizers of the Page County Building & Loan Association and from its inception has served on its board of directors, his sound business judgent consituting a factor in the success of that undertaking. In addition to his commercial and financial interest he is the owner of several pieces of Clarinda real estate.
Mr Richardson was married in 1880 to Miss Mary Sayer, of Bartlett, Iowa, a daughter of Henry V. and Phoebe Sayer, the former a farmer by occupation. Unto Mr and Mrs Richardson have been born four children: Susanne E.; Warren S., who pursued his education at Lake Forest, Illinois, and is now connected with his father in the lumber business; Zua Christel, who is attending the high school; and Doris Ruth, in the public school.
Mr Richardson is a member of the Presbyterian church, generous in it support and active in its work. For the past eighteen years he has its growth and the extension of its influence. He is preeminently a man of affairs and one who has wielded a wide influence. Modestly inclined, he does not seek praise for what he has accomplished but the consensus of public opinion places him in the front rank among the prominent residents of Clarinda. |