1915 Past and Present of Shelby County, Iowa
Page Index:
Peiffer |
Wunder |
Hansen |
Simpson |
McNaughton |
Smith |
Swift |
Franklin |
Noon |
Plagman
Click photo to enlarge
One of the first white children born in Shelby county, Iowa, was Benjamin F. Peiffer, whose parents were among the earliest settlers in the county.
He has followed paper hanging and painting for a livelihood, all his life and has made a pronounced success in his chosen field of endeavor. He combines rare artistic ability with excellent mechanical execution and has done some of the finest decorative work in the city. He has made many paintings of early pioneers of the county and his work in this particular line has received many high commendations from people competent to judge of such work. He has been successful in a business way and owns property worth several thousand dollars, most of his wealth being invested in real estate in Harlan.
Benjamin F. Peiffer, the son of Benjamin and Elemina (Kauble) Peiffer, was born at Guppy's Grove, Shelby county, Iowa, September 26, 1855. His parents were both born in Northumberland county, Pennsylvania, and were married in their native state before coming west. His father had no opportunity to attend school and was taught at home, learning to read out of the family Bible. In 1854 his father decided to take his family and go west, where there were opportunities to get good land for a small outlay. One child had been born before they started, and with this child and his wife,
Benjamin Peiffer, Sr., set out in the spring of 1854 for the far west. They went by rail to Pittsburg and thence by boat to St. Louis, Missouri. Here they changed to another steamboat and went up the river to Council Bluffs, Iowa, where they secured a team and drove overland to Shelby county. They bought eighty acres of land near Cuppy's Grove and at once erected a rude shanty in which, they lived for some time. At the time the family landed in
this county there were no villages and very few settlers within the county, so that they were practically alone on the broad prairie. One year after they
settled here, Benjamin, Jr., with whom this narrative deals, was born and consequently he has lived in the county from the earliest dawn of its history.
His father prospered as the years went by and at the time of his death, in 1899, owned three hundred acres of well-improved land in the county. He
was a Republican in politics, an active member of the Methodist church and a man who was a leader in the various activities of his community. His wife
died in 1892, at the advanced age of eighty-seven. Five children were born to Benjamin Peiffer. Sr. and wife: Hattie, Benjamin F., William, Joseph
and Fannie. Hattie is the wife of Caleb Smith, of Avoca, Iowa. William is a retired grain dealer at Des Moines. Joseph is a farmer in Saskatchewan, Canada. Fannie is the wife of John Swenning, and lives in New
Mexico.
Benjamin F. Peiffer received a very limited education, due to the fact
that the schools of his day were very poor and confined to the three "R's."
He remained at home until he was twenty-one years of age, and then learned
the paper hanging trade and has followed this profession all of his life. In
addition to hanging paper he has done a large amount of interior decorative
painting as well as house and sign painting. Possessing an artistic eye, Mr.
Peiffer has developed his ability to such an extent that he has become a
portrait painter of no mean ability. He has painted a number of portraits
and rural scenes and has had the satisfaction of having had his work along.
this particular line highly commended. He located in Harlan after his marriage and has since continued to make this city his residence. He bought
two well-located lots in the county seat when he first came to the city and is
now erecting a beautiful bungalow on one of them and remodeling his old
house for rental purposes. His lots only cost him sixty dollars apiece and
are now worth several thousand dollars.
Mr. Peiffer was married on January 3, 1880, to Maggie E. Johns, born
in 1859, the daughter of Shedrick and Minerva Johns, natives of Ohio and
Kentucky, respectively. Her parents first located in Missouri and settled in
Cass county, near Atlantic, Iowa, in the early seventies. They are now living
in Atlantic. They were the parents of three children: Frank, Brown and
Maggie E. Shedrick Johns died in Cass county in 1872 and the mother later
married Frank Nutter. One son has been born to Mr. Peiffer and wife,
Gaverni, who is still making his home with his parents.
Politically, Mr. Peiffer is a Democrat, while fraternally, he is a member of the Woodmen of the World and the Patrons of Husbandry. His
wife is a consistent member of the Christian church. He is a man of genial
personality and is well known throughout the county where he has spent his
whole career.
Source: 1915 Past and Present of Shelby County, Iowa, pp. 944 - 946.
Contributed by: Marthann Kohl-Fuhs
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While banking has a fascination for the average young man of ability,
as a vocation it requires a special aptitude, not possessed by many of the
younger generation. He whose name forms the caption of this review has
already proved that he possesses the inclination and the ability to succeed in
his chosen calling. Frederick F. Wunder, the efficient. and genial cashier
of the Shelby County State Bank, is one of the rising young financiers of
Shelby county and a trusted and very capable official of this oldest and
strongest financial concern in Shelby county. While still comparatively
young, he is possessed of unusual ability.
F. F. Wunder was born in Scott county, on a farm, November 26, 1872.
He was the son of Henry Wunder, who was born in North Germany, February 9, 1840, and who died in Shelby county February 20, 1891. In the year
1867, he emigrated to America for the purpose of founding a home and making a fortune. How well he succeeded in the following years is attested by
the fact that he became the owner of one hundred and sixty acres of fine
farming land in Shelby county and reared a useful family of children. While
his wealth was not so great, he bequeathed to posterity a priceless heritage.
in the example of a life well spent. He gave his children every advantage
possible to fit them for successful careers in the land of his adoption. The
year in which he left Germany, he settled in Scott county, Iowa, and was
there married to Wilhelmina Krabbenhoft, a native of Schleswig-Holstein,
Germany, who left her native land and immigrated to America in 1867. She
was born February 5, 1844, and died April 28, 1905. She was the daughter
of Wolf Krabbenhoft, an early settler in Scott county and also in Shelby
county, Iowa. Wolf Krahbenhoft was born in Schleswig-Holstein, February 10, 1806, and died at the Wunder home, June 19, 1902. He was ninety-
six years old at the time of his death, and was one of the grand old patriarchs
of Shelby county. For a number of years he resided in the Wunder home
and was affectionately known as "Grandfather Wunder." In the spring of
1874, Henry Wunder removed with his family to a farm of one hundred and
sixty acres in Shelby township, Shelby county. His land was at that time
a tract of unbroken prairie and there he erected a small frame house. Later,
as he grew more prosperous and his family increased in number, he built a
more pretentious home. Both he and his good wife lived on the homestead
until their deaths. Henry was active in local and county politics and took
a decided interest in good government. He was a member of the German
Evangelical Lutheran church and was fraternally connected with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows Lodge. The children of this highly esteemed
pioneer couple are as follows: Mrs. Dora Sass of Omaha, Nebraska; Frederick F.; Lulu Wunder of Omaha, Nebraska; Mrs. Rosa Bohlander, residing on a farm in Shelby township; Herman, a farmer in Shelby township;
Edward A., a practicing attorney in Fairbury, Nebraska; Otto H., a farmer
in Shelby township;. Henry F., county recorder of Shelby county.
It is with Frederick F. Wunder that this review is directly concerned.
He was educated in the district schools of the neighborhood in which he was
reared, and pursued a commercial course in the Commercial College of Lincoln, Nebraska. After completing the course, he returned home and assisted
in the farm work until January, I897, when he received the appointment of
deputy auditor under County Auditor S. G. Dunman and remained
in this position until September I, 1899. He then entered the Shelby County
State Bank as bookkeeper. Mr. Wunder was promoted to the position of
assistant cashier of this bank in 1904, and, two years later, to that of cashier.
Mr. Wunder was united in marriage with Eily O'Connor Hobbs, who
was born in Sac City, Iowa, and is the daughter of William Hobbs. One
child has blessed this union, Helen Winogene Wunder, born February 20,
1907.
The political affiliations of F. F. Wunder have always been with the
Democratic party. He is an Episcopalian and is fraternally associated with
the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, Ancient Free and Accepted Mason
lodges, the Modern Woodmen of America, the Woodmen of the World and
the Loyal Order of Moose. He is a modest, unassuming gentleman, and is
kind and affable to every one.
Source: 1915 Past and Present of Shelby County, Iowa, pp. 948 - 950.
Contributed by: Marthann Kohl-Fuhs
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A large percentage of the population of Shelby county are of Danish
birth or are descendants of natives of Denmark. The people from this
small and densely populated country are noted as being able to assimilate
American ideals of citizenship and to become adapted to American methods,
customs and language more quickly than the people of any other foreign
land. They come to this land of opportunity thoroughly imbued with the
idea of making a permanent home here and becoming American citizens.
The Danes who come to our shores immediately cast off old world customs
and quickly learn the language that they may succeed more readily and take
a more active part in this free democratic government of ours. In the brief
span of years which has elapsed since the great waves of emigration began to move forth from Denmark, her sons and the sons of the immigrants
have in many instances attained positions of prominence and received great
rewards in recognition of their inherent and pronounced aptitude, even in
governmental affairs.
A striking example of a successful son of Danish immigrants is found
in the person of Albert Hansen, state representative in the General Assembly from Shelby county, and a leader among the Danish Americans of his
adopted county.
Mr. Hansen was born December 13, 1871, on a farm in Dodge county,
Nebraska and is the son of Jens and Maren K. Hansen, natives of Denmark, who came to America in 1868. Jens Hansen and his family first
homesteaded in Dodge county, Nebraska, where they resided until the year
1892, when they came to Shelby county, Iowa, and settled in the village of
Elk Horn. Here they still reside.
Albert Hansen was educated in the rural schools of Dodge county,
Nebraska. He came to Shelby county when eighteen years of age and attended the Danish Lutheran College located in Elk Horn. He taught school
for one year in Clay township, and in 1894 he entered the University of
Nebraska at Lincoln for the purpose of completing his education, graduating from the College of Liberal Arts in 1899. He received the degree of
A. B. While a student in this institution, he devoted a part of his time to
military training and was granted a commission by the governor of Nebraska as a lieutenant in the National Guard of Nebraska. He also spent
considerable time in athletics and, being blessed with a robust physique, he
became a famous. football player. He played on the Nebraska teams of
1896, 1897 and 1898. During the year following his graduation, he served
as football coach at the Kansas Agricultural College.
In January, 1900, he came to Harlan and purchased the American.
He published this newspaper for a period of six years. In the meantime
he devoted his attention to political affairs and became prominent in the
councils of the Democratic party. He was elected county auditor in the
fall of 1906 and served four years, until January 1, 1911. After his retirement from the auditor's office he became secretary and treasurer of the
Nelson Gas Engine and Auto Company, a prosperous manufacturing concern located in Harlan. In the fall of 1912, Mr. Hansen again turned, his
attention to politics and was elected as state representative from Shelby
county. While a member of the Legislature he served as a member of the
following committees: Ways and means, enrolled bills, elections, senatorial
districts, normal schools, domestic manufactures and state industrial schools.
Mr. Hansen was married June 23, 1900, to Anna Nelson, of Lincoln, Nebraska.
Mrs. Nelson is a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. H. G. Nelson, of Lincoln,
Nebraska. Since coming to Harlan, she has become prominently identified
with the social life of the community, taking an active interest in the Women's Union, Harlan Literary Club and the aid societies of the several
churches. She is a woman of fine intellectual culture and has been of great
service to her husband in his various ambitions.
Mr. Hansen is a Democrat in his political affiliations and is a recognized leader of his party in both county and state. He is an unassuming
man, and while having been honored by the people of his county, he remains just a plain everyday man, who adopts a broad and tolerant attitude
toward the affairs of the moment. Responsibility has been assumed in Mr.
Hansen's case, very seriously, and he attacks every problem with an earnestness of purpose that indicates his determination and desire to do what is
best and right. He is affiliated with the Danish Lutheran church, which is
the religion of his forbears and the Danish Brotherhood. He is fraternally
connected with the Ancient Free and Accepted Masons and the Knights
of the Maccabees. Mr. Hansen is usually found on the right side of public questions and matters intended to benefit the whole people, not only in
his capacity as a lawmaker and representative of the people, but as a private citizen. His standing in his city and county is assured.
Source: 1915 Past and Present of Shelby County, Iowa, pp. 950 - 952.
Contributed by: Marthann Kohl-Fuhs
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To attain a worthy citizenship deserves more than passing mention. It
is no easy task to resist the many temptations of youth and to form a character that will remain unstained, figure for all time. One of the citizens
of Harlan who has lived a life of usefulness and honor is William W. Simpson, a resident of this city for nearly a quarter of a century. By leading an
upright life and by zealous attention to his own business, he has discharged
his public and private duties, as they appeared to him, in a spirit of candor
and fairness. In his business relations he has always tried to live up to his
promises, and, that he has succeeded to a marked degree is shown by the
high esteem in which he is held by those with whom he has had financial dealings. He is always ready to assist when he sees that aid is needed and is
well deserving the high esteem in which he is universally held.
William W. Simpson, a general contractor and builder of Harlan, Iowa,
was born in 1866, in Mahaska county, Iowa. His father, John Y. Simpson,
was born in 1830 in Virginia and his mother, Sarah McFadden, was born in
Ohio in 1832. John Y. Simpson was married in 1850 after coming to Iowa
in company with his intended bride, who was only eighteen years of age at
the time. After he had made the long trip westward by boat to Burlington,
Iowa, and by wagon to Ottumwa, he started in life under truly pioneer conditions. They lived in Wapello county on a farm northwest of Ottumwa.
Four years later they moved to Mahaska county. They lived in Mahaska
county for an even quarter of a century, both passing away in 1875. They
reared a family of eight children to lives of usefulness, all of whom are still
living.
William W. Simpson was educated in the schools of Mahaska county,
Iowa, and at the age of twenty-one years, began working as a farm hand.
He worked on a farm for two years and then began to learn the carpenter
trade at Carson, Iowa. He came to Harlan on July 20, 1890, and has since
made his home in this city. His first work was the building of a barn in the
country. Feeling that he was able to take charge of a section of large buildings, he branched out as a contractor in 1893, his first shop being located
where the Masonic temple is now standing. He was successful from the
first, and built many buildings of all kinds throughout the city and the county.
From 1903 to 1909 he traveled for the Austin & Western Grader Company,
and in 1910, formed a partnership with C. A. Cockerell. This firm did an
extensive business for the three years that it was in operation, but was dissolved in 1913. Mr. Simpson has a beautiful home on the outskirts of
Harlan, near the golf links, surrounded by four acres of well kept grounds.
Mr. Simpson was married in 1892 to Ada Stokes, who was born in
England in 1871. She came to Illinois with her parents when three years
of age, and later lived in Carroll, Iowa, until her marriage Both of her
parents are deceased, her father passing away in 1893, and her mother in
1914. Mr. Simpson and wife are the parents of two sons: Harold W., who
is attending the Harlan Vocational College, and Rexford A., who is a student
in the public schools of Harlan.
Politically, Mr. Simpson is identified with the Republican party, and in
its success he has always been very much interested. At the present time he
is a member of the city council of Harlan, and is giving his hearty support
to all measures which he feels will benefit the city. He and his family are
loyal members of the Church of Christ, and are generous contributors to its
support. Fraternally, he is a member of the Ancient Free and Accepted
Masons and also of the Modern Woodmen of America. Mr. Simpson is a
man of keen business ability and is well deserving of the high esteem in
which he is held by everyone who knows him.
Source: 1915 Past and Present of Shelby County, Iowa, pp. 954 - 956.
Contributed by: Marthann Kohl-Fuhs
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Among the rising men of Shelby County, who have had the distinct
advantage of having been born within the borders of the county, and who
are the sons of pioneer parents, is Carl McNaughton, deputy sheriff of
Shelby county. His career is well worth recounting and recording in the
pages of this volume. He is the son of sturdy Scotch forbears, who left
their native land in 1852, and, in 1872, settled in Shelby county. They are
now numbered among the Pioneers of the Groves, a distinction which falls
to but few people at this late day.
The father of Mr. McNaughton was Finley J. McNaughton, born in
Canada in 1846, and the son of Finley McNaughton, a native of Scotland.
The father emigrated to Canada and thence to Wisconsin about 1852, and
settled on a pioneer farm in Waukesha county. Here it was that Finley
J. McNaughton was reared to manhood. He married Melissa A. Washburn,
the daughter of pioneer settlers of Waukesha county, Wisconsin. Her father
was Ephraim Washburn, a native of Maine and a scion of an old New England family. Melissa McNaughton was born in 1849 and now makes her
home in Dunlap, Iowa, spending the greater part of the year with her children. Finley J. McNaughton made his first trip to Iowa by rail as far as
Boone, which was then the terminus of the railroad. From Boone he took
the stage to Carroll and hired a horse in that city to journey to Dunlap,
Shelby county. Here he and his brother traded for a farm near Dunlap,
and sold it again in 1869, without attempting to make a permanent home in
the county. He came again in 1870 and settled on a part of section 26 in
Grove township. Here he built his home on wild prairie land, at a time
when there was only one house between the McNaughton home and Harlan.
It is well to record here that the first house built in Grove township was the
Bishop home on section 36. Finley McNaughton built a comfortable residence of one and one-half stories, twenty by twenty-four feet in dimension,
which is still standing with its various additions and is in a fair state of preservation. His first farm holding consisted of a tract of one hundred and
twenty acres which he increased to three hundred acres. Six months prior
to his death, in 1909, he retired from the farm to the town of Dunlap.
Finley McNaughton was the father of eight children, two of whom died
in infancy. The names and residence of these children are as follows: Carl
W., with whom this review is directly concerned; Mrs. Louie Josephine Johnston, of Valley Park, Missouri; William F., of Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, who
married Mamie Johnston of Harlan, and is a practicing attorney with the law
firm of McNaughton & Burg; Mrs. Clara Mary Harding, whose husband is
postmaster at White Sulphur Springs, Montana; Susie, wife of Herman Merkle, a real estate operator of Moore, Montana, and Gertrude, wife of Dr.
Gallagher, of Valley Park, Missouri.
In politics, Finley McNaughton was a stanch Democrat of the old school.
He was a prominent figure in the political affairs of Shelby county during
his active days. He filled various township offices and served as justice of the
peace for fifteen years. He was secretary of the Grove township school board
for twenty years prior to his death. He was affiliated with the Presbyterian
church and was an Odd Fellow during the greater part of his life.
Carl W. McNaughton received his early education in the district schools
of his native township and the Woodbine Normal School. He remained at
Woodbine after completing his course in the Normal College and was employed
in a Woodbine shoe store from 1898 to 1904. For four years afterwards he
was engaged in buying and shipping live stock at Woodbine. In 1908 he took
charge of his father's estate and managed the family farm until December 15,
1913, when he was appointed deputy sheriff under sheriff J. J. McMahon. At
present Mr. McNaughton is the candidate of the Democratic party for sheriff
of Shelby county.
Mr. McNaughton was united in marriage with Hattie A. Blackman, of
Woodbine, Iowa, December 31, 1898. His wife is the daughter of S. M.
Blackman of Woodbine. They have one child, Malcolm Finley, born December 17, 1902. Mr. McNaughton is the owner of half of a fine farm of two
hundred and eighty acres in Harrison county, Iowa, and takes a considerable
interest in agricultural affairs. Previous to locating in Harlan he served four
years as Clerk of Grove township and is prominently identified with Democratic political activity in the county. He is well and favorably known throughout Shelby county. While a resident of Grove township he was affiliated with
the Presbyterian church, but attends the. Congregational church in Harlan.
Source: 1915 Past and Present of Shelby County, Iowa, pp. 956 - 957.
Contributed by: Marthann Kohl-Fuhs
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The life of the learned physician affords the biographer no inconsiderable wealth of material from which to draw a beneficial and moral lesson.
If he be of mature age and has successfully carried to fruition a long and
honorable career in behalf of his fellow men, no greater example can be set
before the present and future generations than a concise record such as herein
presented. The physician is our family friend and adviser. On him we often
rely in time of trouble and stress. We are prone to regard him as broadened
by his years of study in preparation for his life work. The average physician
is a high type of manhood, mentally and ethically. He is usually a man of
high standing in his home community. It is well, therefore, that a space be
devoted to the life history of Dr. Eugene Jackson Smith, the second oldest
practicing physician in Shelby county. This practice covers a period of thirty-
four years.
Dr. E. J. Smith was born on a farm near the city of Goshen, Indiana,
July 10, 1849, and is the son of Philip and Nancy Smith, natives of Chillicothe, Ohio, and Brockport, New York, respectively. Philip Smith was the
son of Isaac Smith, an early settler of Indiana, near Goshen. When Philip
attained manhood he became a pioneer of Linn county, Iowa, settling on a
farm about four and one-half miles south of Cedar Rapids. He was born
in 1824 and died in 1881, in the home which he founded in the newer state
of the Middle West. He was the father of a family of six children as follows: Dr. Eugene Jackson, the eldest of the family; Jerome B., of Great
Falls, Texas; Eliza and Olive, deceased; Herbert W., on the home farm in
Linn county; Mrs. Ella Parshall, a widow residing in Chicago.
Dr. E. J. Smith received his education in the public schools of Cedar
Rapids, attended the Western College at Toledo and Cornell College at Mt.
Vernon, Iowa. He taught one term of school. In 1869 he began the study
Of medicine in a physician's office in Cedar Rapids. He soon entered Rush
Medical College and graduated from this time-honored and justly-famous
institution in 1872, being a member of the "Fire Class," so named from the
fact that the great Chicago fire destroyed the city in that year.
Doctor Smith practiced medicine at Dexter, Iowa, for eight years following his graduation. In 1880 he came to Harlan. On May 11, 1914, he
completed thirty-four years of continuous and successful practice in Harlan. His wedded life began December 23, 1875, when he married Miss
Mary Clarke, who was born in Barnesville, Ohio, in 1851. To this happy
marriage the following children have been born: Eugene H., a practicing
physician in Ogden, Utah; Harry C., who died in 1911 at the age of thirty
years; Mrs. Alta S. Hetzel, the wife of Dr. C. C. Hetzel, of Ogden, Utah;
Stella M. and Edna L., at home with their parents. Edith, the oldest of the
girls, died at the age of one year.
Realizing that land is the most valuable acquisition obtainable, Dr.
Smith has had the foresight to interest in a considerable acreage of farming
lands. He is the owner of three hundred and twenty acres in Gordon, Nebraska, and owns six hundred and forty acres of good land in Golden Valley county, North Dakota. He is a member of the Shelby County Medical
Society, the Iowa State Medical Society, and the American Medical Association. In politics he has always been allied with the Republican party and
has served two years as county coroner, from 1892 to 1894. His religious
affiliations are with the Episcopalian denomination and he is fraternally
connected with the A. F. and A. M. Lodge of Harlan.
Doctor Smith is a cultured, capable professional gentleman, whose years
of service in behalf of suffering humanity have broadened and deepened
his character. He is, at present, in the height of his powers of usefulness.
Source: 1915 Past and Present of Shelby County, Iowa, pp. 958 - 959.
Contributed by: Marthann Kohl-Fuhs
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The present seems to be the day for the young men in Shelby county as well as in many other sections where they have been entrusted with responsible public positions, in which they are making excellent records. Practically every elective office in the county is filled with a capable young man who is making a record that reflects credit upon his constituents. In Gaillard K. Swift, clerk of the district court, we find a fine type of the rising young man whose career has been marked with signal success in his endeavors to advance himself. He enjoys the distinction of having been elected to office with the largest majority ever given a candidate in any election in the county, and it is recorded that he received a greater majority in numbers than his opponent did in votes.
G. K. Swift was born in Harlan, August 10, 1887, and is the son of
Hon. C. F. Swift, one of Shelby county's most prominent citizens and of
whom extended mention is made, in the biographical department of this
volume. Mr. Swift was educated in the school of his native city and graduated from the Harlan high school in the spring of 1904. He followed this
primary education with a college course in the Iowa State College at Ames,
and received the degree of Bachelor of Science in 1908. He also pursued
the scientific course in agriculture offered by this excellent institution.
Following his graduation from Ames he served for a period of four
years in the office of deputy clerk of the district court. His experience in
this position and his ability to make firm and fast friends were demonstrated
to the satisfaction of the people of the county, and he was elected clerk in
the fall of 1912. He received the unprecedented majority of one thousand
three hundred and sixty-three votes at the regular election on the Democratic
ticket. This great majority exceeded all other pluralities ever given a candidate for county. office and was even in excess of the entire vote given his
opponent.
Mr. Swift was united in marriage November 7, 1912, with Miss Bess
Husband, a daughter of H. P. Husband, of North Platte, Nebraska. Mr.
Swift is one of the leading Democrats of the county. He has served as secretary of the county central committee and precinct committeeman in
Harlan. He is a member of the Episcopal church and is fraternally affiliated
with the Harlan Masonic lodge, Woodmen of the World and Loyal Order
of Moose. He has filled all the chairs of the local Masonic lodge, Parian No.
321. He served as worshipful master in 1913. He is also an active worker in the Harlan Commercial Club. His career is just beginning, and it is
safe to predict continued success for this capable and energetic young citizen
endowed with ambition and the desire to succeed along useful lines.
Source: 1915 Past and Present of Shelby County, Iowa, pp. 958 - 960.
Contributed by: Marthann Kohl-Fuhs
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The gentleman to whom attention is directed. in this review has attained
prestige by reason of native and acquired ability because of the prominence
of his position in banking circles and by reason of his high standing in the
domain of citizenship. He takes a deep and abiding interest in everything
pertaining to the material advancement of his city and county and lends his
hearty support to every enterprise intended to promote the advancement of
Shelby county. His family was one of those who have the distinction of
being numbered among the pioneers of the Groves. Mr. Franklin has lived
the greater part of his life within the borders of his home county. As
vice-president of the oldest financial institution in Shelby county he holds a
position of honor, trust and responsibility in the community.
Thomas N. Franklin, vice-president of the Shelby County State Bank,
was born June 10, 1864, in Summit county, Utah, and was the son of
Thomas J. Franklin, a native of England. The father was an officer in the
British Army before coming to America and came of an excellent English.
family. He emigrated to this country about 1850, and after spending some
time in the Middle West he journeyed to Utah a few years after the great
migration of Mormon settlers or Latter Day Saints. He became affiliated
with this denomination and took some part in establishing the settlements
in the state founded by the Latter Day Saint leaders. He was one of the
officers of the church organization in Utah, but in 1870 he renounced his
belief in the faith of this church and united with the Reorganized Church
of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, after which he moved to Missouri
where he died some years afterwards. The wife of Thomas J. Franklin
and the mother of Thomas N. was Mary Elizabeth Lundstrom, a native of
Sweden who came to America when sixteen years of age. She died in
Harlan in 1907 and was the mother of five children, four of whom are yet
living: Henry died at the age of seventeen years; J. M. resides near Cameron,
Missouri;. Mrs. Selina Clark lives at Ukiah, California; Thomas N., with
whom this narrative deals; Mrs. Julia V. Mockler, of Bismarck, North Dakota.
In 1871 the Franklin family left Utah and came to Shelby county where
they settled in Galland's Grove, Grove township. Here they made their home
on a pioneer farm where Thomas N. lived until 1889 when he removed to
Harlan. He received his education in the district school and in Simpson
College at Indianola, Iowa. After completing his education he taught school
for one year. In 1889 he was appointed deputy auditor and served for one
year. He then entered the Shelby County Bank as bookkeeper and later
became cashier of this institution. He remained with the Shelby County
Bank until 1899. It was at this time that Mr. L. F. Potter came to Harlan
and organized the first National Bank. He appointed Mr. Franklin cashier
of this bank and he became vice-president of the Shelby County State Bank
when Mr. L. F. Potter purchased the controlling interest in this institution
and it and the First National Bank were consolidated in January, 1906.
His career as a banker has been marked by close application to business details and courteous treatment of those with whom he is thrown in daily
contact. Mr. Franklin is one of the successful banking men of Shelby county
from the standpoint of making good his chosen vocation which calls for
peculiar qualifications to enable one to succeed. He is the owner of irrigated
lands in the state of Idaho in addition to having a comfortable home in
Harlan.
Mr. Franklin has been twice married. His first marriage occurred in
September, 1893. He married Gertrude Tallman, who died March 27, 1895,
leaving one daughter, Mabel Gertrude, a student in the Music Conservatory
at Fargo, North Dakota. His second marriage took place May 12, 1897, to
Pearl S. McCord, a daughter of Bradley and Mary E. McCord, of Harlan.
To this marriage have been born the following children: Mary Elizabeth,
born October 6, 1899; Maxine, born November 10, 1901; Thomas Bradley,
born February 14, 1906, and Mignon Velate, born December 31, 1913.
Mr. Franklin is allied with the Democratic party and takes an interest
in political affairs to the extent of assisting in the election of good and capable men to office. He is a member of the Reorganized Church of Latter
Day Saints. He is fraternally connected with the Knights of Pythias and
the Blue Lodge of the A. F. and A. M. of Harlan. His standing in the
community as one of its well respected and useful citizens is assured.
Source: 1915 Past and Present of Shelby County, Iowa, pp. 964 - 966.
Contributed by: Marthann Kohl-Fuhs
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As a pioneer settler of Shelby county, Iowa, a distinguished veteran of
the Civil War, and a public-spirited citizen of the county for forty years, Edward A. Noon eminently deserves to be included among the representative
men of his county. Born in England, he came to this country when a babe
and was taken by his parents to Brooklyn, New York, then to Trenton, New
Jersey, and through the New England states to Wisconsin, where his father
died. Mr. Noon enlisted in the Civil War when he was a lad of sixteen and
served from the beginning until the close of that struggle. As a citizen of
Shelby county he has taken a very active interest in its welfare and has held
various official positions with satisfaction to his fellow citizens. He has been
a very successful farmer and now has a fine farm in Clay township, where
he is spending his declining years.
Edward A. Noon, the son of Edward and Mary (Antil) Noon, was
born in Leicestershire, England, February 16, 1845. His parents both were
born in England in 1807. His father was a weaver by trade. Edward Noon,
Sr., came to America with his family in 1846, and first landed. in Brooklyn,
New York, where he found employment as a weaver for the first five years.
Thence he went to Trenton, New Jersey for two years, later to Bristol, Con-
necticut. The family moved from Bristol, Connecticut, to Buffalo, New
York, by rail, and went from the latter place to Watertown, Wisconsin, in
1854, by steamer, following the Great Lakes to the latter place. At Watertown, Wisconsin, Edward A. Noon, Sr., bought an ox-team and a two-wheel
cart and drove from Watertown to Madison, Wisconsin. Here he bought
some timber land, but after struggling with the stumps for four years, he
gave it up and returned to the state of Massachusetts, where he found employment as a weaver for the next five years. Again he returned to Wisconsin, where he farmed until his death in 1862. The wife of Edward Noon, Sr.,
died in 1848, leaving her husband with six children, all of whom are now
deceased with the exception of Edward A. Noon, Jr.
The education of Edward A. Noon, Jr., was received in the schools of
Trenton, New Jersey; Bristol, Connecticut, and Wisconsin, but was very
limited because of the meager school facilities of his boyhood days. At the
tender age of thirteen, he began working for himself and at the opening of
the war in 1861, although he was scarcely sixteen years of age, he became
a member of Company F., Eleventh Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry, and from
the spring of 1861 he was in the service continually until the close of the
war in the summer of 1865. He spent most of his time at the front under
General Grant, and during his entire service of more than four years he was
never wounded, captured or confined in the hospital.
Immediately after the close of the war Mr. Noon returned to the state
of Wisconsin and after his marriage in 1866, moved on to eighty acres of
and in that state, which he had bought when home on a furlough in 1863.
He had invested his soldier's pay and bounty money in this farm. Nine
years later he sold his farm, bought a wagon team and drove from the
state of Wisconsin to Nebraska, where he farmed until 1875. In the summer of 1875 Edward Noon and his family drove into Clay township,
Shelby county, Iowa, from Loop City, Nebraska, and bought eighty
acres of land for fourteen dollars an acre. The rude cabin in which
they lived for two years, was erected on a bright Sunday, and in this cabin
without windows the family lived for two years. They endured many hardships and discouragement's. They remained, however, to see prosperity come
to the county, and, as the years went by, were able to increase their acreage
and enjoy freedom from their earlier troubles. A few years after coming
into the county Mr. Noon traded his eighty-acre farm which he had first
purchased, for a farm adjoining him on the south known as the "Old
Porter Farm" This farm he kept for four years and then sold it and bought
his present farm of three hundred acres. He has made extensive improvements upon this place, and when he retired a few years ago, he had one
of the most, valuable pieces of land in the county. He still lives on the farm,
however. He has been a breeder of Hereford cattle, and has made a pro-
nounced success in handling this breed.
Mr. Noon was married November 3, 1866, to Hannah White, who was
born November 3, 1842, and to this union nine children have been both:
Mrs. Mary Haynes, of Clay township; George Franklin, of Sioux City, Iowa;
Charles, deceased; Sarah McMahon, wife of the present sheriff of Shelby
county; Mrs. Hattie Craney of Monroe township; William E., who is still
living at home; John T., a farmer in Clay township; Minnie A., who is a
graduate of Cedar Falls College, and is now teaching school, and Jennie L.,
who is still with her parents.
Politically, Mr. Moon has long been identified with the Democratic
party. He has been one of the active leaders of the party for many years
and his party has frequently honored him with elective offices. He has served
as justice of the peace, secretary of the school hoard, and was road supervisor
in the township where he lives for twenty-five years. He was one of the first
men to help build the roads of Clay township, and has always taken an active
interest in keeping them at a high standard. Fraternally, he is a member of
the Ancient Order of United Workmen. Mr. Noon has gained the respect
and admiration of every one with whom he has been connected in any way,
and is truly one of the representative pioneer farmers of Shelby county. The
history of his life in detail will sum up the history of all the pioneers of the
county, for all of the experiences suffered by the early pioneers of the county
have fallen to his lot. Notwithstanding all the discouragement's and the trials
through which he has passed, he has always retained an optimistic view of
life. His cheerful disposition has won for him a host of friends throughout
the county.
Source: 1915 Past and Present of Shelby County, Iowa, pp. 966 - 968.
Contributed by: Marthann Kohl-Fuhs
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For the past thirty years John Plagman has been a resident of Shelby
county, Iowa, and in that time has accumulated a fine farm of four hundred and ninety acres in Fairview and Shelby townships. He was born in
Germany and coming to this country when a young man, he has made his way
with that success which characterizes all of the German citizens of this
county. There can be no question but that the example set by the many
excellent German farmers in this county has been of great benefit to the other
farmers. Mr. Plagman has succeeded in his chosen vocation solely through
his own persistency and good management, since he has acquired everything
he has as a result of his own efforts. His is the record of a man who has
outstripped the less active travelers on the highway of life and achieved a
career which reflects great credit upon himself. His early youth was not
promising, but resolutely facing the future he severed all home ties, left his
native land and has gradually surmounted the difficulties which appeared in
his way.
John Plagman, the son of Christian and Dora Plagman, was born
September 11, 1857, in Germany, and received his education in his native
land and early in his boyhood began to assist his father upon the home farm.
When he reached the age of twenty-four he informed his parents that he in-
tended to come to America to seek his fortune. He made the trip to this
country in 1881, and located in Cedar county, Iowa, where many of his
countrymen had previously settled. He worked on a farm in this county for
three years and then married and came to Shelby county, where he rented
for three years. During the six years which he had been renting he saved
his money with the intention of securing a farm of his own, and in 1887
bought his first farm of one hundred and twenty acres in Fairview township
at twenty-five dollars an acre. That he has prospered is shown by the fact
that he is now the proud possessor of four hundred and ninety-three acres of
well improved land-two hundred and fifty-three acres in Fairview township and two hundred and forty acres in Shelby township. He has made
extensive improvements on his farm and is classed among the most substantial men of his township. He carried on the general system of farming
which is followed by the farmers of his county, and has been more than
ordinarily successful in the raising of crops and live stock. He has planted a
large grove of forest and fruit trees in which he takes a great deal of pride.
Mr. Plagman was married January 2, 1887 to Minnie Ploog, who was
born June 8, 1863, in Germany, a daughter of John and Mary (Claussen)
Ploog. Mrs. Plagman came to America in 1883. To Mr. and Mrs. Plagman have been born eight children: Christ, who married Mata Fahrenkroog;
Dora, the wife of Henry Holtz; Alvina, who became the wife of Charles
Schack; Anna, who married William Lippold ; Emma, the wife of Harry
Claussen; three children who are unmarried and living at home, John, Ernest
and Lillie.
Mr. Plagman and his family are consistent members of the German
Lutheran church. Personally, Mr. Plagman is a most pleasant and affable
man of honest convictions and sincere purposes. His upright career and
wholesome moral influence makes him popular throughout the community
where he has spent so many years. He gives his support to every movement
which promises to be of material or moral benefit to the people and is
eminently deserving of a place among the representative men of his county.
Source: 1915 Past and Present of Shelby County, Iowa, pp. 927 - 928.
Contributed by: Marthann Kohl-Fuhs
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