Mr. & Mrs. Robert Henderson
Mr. And Mrs. Robert Henderson of Ida Grove,
before the end of present month, will celebrate their 85th and 84th birthdays
respectively. When they observed their golden
wedding anniversary on October 20,1923, the Pioneer printed the following facts concerning their lives;
Robert
Henderson was born January 23,1840 and his wife, Mary Stout, was born January 29,1841. They were both born in Dunrossness parish,
Scotland and married there October 20,1863. They came to America in 1871, locating in
Chicago. They moved into Ida County in 1880
and for nine years lived on a farm in Battle
township, then moving to Ida Grove. They have
been honored and respected citizens, as well as staunch supporters of the Presbyterian
Church, as long as their years permitted. They have five children; Henry and Andrew in
Battle twp, Mrs. Agnes Bell of Des Moines, Mrs. Maggie Fair of Battle twp. and Robert
Henderson Jr. of Texas. They also have 19
grandchildren and 14 great-grandchildren. (Pioneer , January 21,1925, page 1)
Tempest Myers
Tempest
Myers, one of the most picturesque personages in Ida Grove, will be 82 years old on March
26 of this year. He enlisted in the heavy
artillery when he had barely reached his 19th birthday and from Pennsylvania, he was
transferred to Fortress Monroe and was stationed there the greater part of his service and
made frequent trips up and down the Atlantic coast. He
has lived in Ida Grove for forty years and it is his proud boast that in his garden
produces the earliest corn and cabbage, the largest tomatoes and the best and most mealy
spuds. As a gardener he has few rivals and
none to excel him.
(Pioneer, January 21,1925, page 1)
Charles P. Myers
Charles P. Myers of Ida Grove will soon be
88 years of age, having been born March 9,1837 in Laurens, Otsego County, New York. In
1878 he located three miles south of Ida Grove and came to the county on Thanksgiving Day,
1879 and this has been his home ever since. He moved into Ida Grove 36 years ago and lived
in his pleasant home at the corner of Sixth and Barnes streets. He has three living children, sixteen
grandchildren, 33 great-grandchildren. He is
the father-in-law of Ex-sheriff Thomas McLeod of Ida Grove. HE joined the Masonic fraternity at the age of 22 years and has been a member nearly 66 years. His friends think that he has the record of longer
membership that anyone else in the county and The Pioneer would like to hear from anyone who has belonged longer to the Masons or any other secret
order for an equal or greater period.
(Pioneer, January 21,1925, page 1)
Mr. & Mrs. David Reid
Mr.
& Mrs. David Reid of Ida Grove are a splendid old couple, whose combined ages are
nearly 177 years. The Pioneer man called upon them Saturday and found
that they are highly interesting and very pleasant people. Mrs. Reid was Mary Anne Lockhart and was born in Rockvile, near North
Berwick, East Lohian, Scotland on March 12,1832 and will be 93 years old in a short time. She and her husband were married June 18,1872 in
Scotland and came to America in 1880, visiting for three months with her brother at Cedar
Rapids. They then came to Ida County in the summer of 1880 and bought a farm in northeast
of Ida Grove near the former Epworth church. They
sold off 120 acres to E.P. Smith and continued to live on the forty acres, until a fire
visited them in 1917 and destroyed their home. They
then moved in to Ida Grove. They have had two
children, Thomas Lockhart Reid who died March 1895 at the age of 22 years and Miss Ada
Reid, who makes her home with them. Mr. Reid
will be 84 years old the eight of next July, having been born near Cold Stream in
Berwickshire, Scotland. Both Mr. & Mrs.
Reid have vigorous good health for their years, although the latter’s hearing is now
a little impaired. She loves a joke and a
friendly visitor and says she has never been sick much. Her father lived to be 85 years old. She says with a chuckle that the
reasons she has lived so long is because she has always done as she pleased. Just to show the Pioneer man how spry she was, she skipped through
several measures of a Highland fling, the accompaniment of the accordion played by her
daughter. Mr. Reid says he is some musician
himself, his specialty being the violin and his favorite selection those old, old words of
Burns, “ A Mon’s A Mon foa A’That.” In his early years he was a member of the Established church of Scotland and
his wife of the Episcopal church. Both now
attend the Presbyterian worship when circumstances permit. (Pioneer, January 21,1925, page 1)
Peter Kinney Taylor
Peter
Kinney Taylor of Ida Grove states that his birthdate was May 26,1836 and the place of his
birth was Yellow Springs in Greene County, Ohio. He will be 89 years old next May. He came to Ida County 48 years ago last October,
coming from Indiana. He helped
in the construction of the first railway line cross Ida County in 1877, serving with the
pile driving outfit. He was made a Mason in
1877 at Danbury, Iowa where he helped form the lodge. He is the only living Charter Member of the Perseverance Lodge A.F. &
A.M. of Battle Creek. He says he has made his
own living since he was nine years of age. His
memory s excellent, his health good and he comes downtown nearly everyday. Mr. and Mrs.
Taylor had 11 children, two being deceased, and 30 grandchildren and 26
great-grandchildren.
Nancy
Elizabeth Sipes, the wife of P.K. Taylor was born in Enon, Clark County, Ohio on February
7,1844 and will 81 years old next month. She was married in 1860 to Mr. Taylor at Yellow
Springs, Ohio and they have gone together down life’s pathway for nearly two thirds
of a century. (Pioneer, January 28,1925, Page
1)
Dr. J. H. Besore
Dr. J.H. Besore of Ida Grove has been a
resident of this city since 1885 and is at his office every day, in spite of the fact that
he will be 82 years old. the 29th of the coming August. He was born in Fulton County, PA
and became of age while serving in the Twelfth Maryland Infantry. He was in the Civil war
service for five months and one of his most vivid impressions was the breakfast that he
and his comrades ate near Harper’s Ferry, VA., one morning that had been cooked by
Mosby’s raiders. The Confederates had
sifted through the Union lines and wrecked an express train bearing supplies to the Union
army. The federal troops quickly arrived on
the scene and found the prepared eatables that the raiders had not been able to take in
the hasty retreat. Dr. Besore became a member
of the Masonic fraternity at Bangor, Mich., on March 30,1871 and for the past twenty years
he has been high priest of Syria Chaper, Royal Arch Masons, Ida Grove.
(Pioneer, January 21,1925, page 1)
August Rahn
August
Rahn, the father-in-law of Rev. H.H. Schwenk of Grant township, observed h is 89th
birthday yesterday, January 27, having been born in 1836 in Prussia. He and his wife came
to America in 1866, soon after their marriage. his wife died 15 years ago and Mr. Rahn is
making his home with his daughter, Mrs. Schwenk. Three
of the five children born to them are surviving, also 11 grandchildren and 17
great-grandchildren. Although his eyesight
and hearing show the effects of age, his general health is good and during the summer, he delights to work out of
doors, chopping wood is his favorite form of occupation and in a years time, he cuts up a
large amount. He was confirmed in the
Lutheran faith at the age of 14 year and is still a consistent worshipper, being found in
his place every Sunday. (Pioneer, January
28,1925, page 1)
Elizabeth Neubauer Kemming
Elizabeth
Neubauer Kemming, the mother of Chris Kemming of Grant twp., will celebrate her 80th birth
on March 28. She was born at Cross Brunau,
West Prussia and came to America in 1868 being unmarried at the time. She was married to Chris Kemming Sr. in Illinois. She has two children living and one who has gone
on before. There are 16 grandchildren. (Pioneer,
January 28,1925, page 1)
James Deal
James Deal of Ida Grove is 82 years old,
although a stranger would take him for not more than 65 or 70., so straight does he walk,
so springy is his step and so bright his eye. And
yet he has passed through a strong life, filled with many adventures and hardships that
would have daunted many men of less stamina.
He was born
October 5,1842 near Terre Haute, Indiana, and will be 83 years old this coming fall. IN March 1862 he enlisted at Boone, Iowa in
Company K, 16th Iowa Infantry and his first battle was the bloody conflict of Shiloh. He was in engagements around Vicksburg and
belonged to Sherman’s army. On September
19,1862 he took part in the hard fought
battle of Iuka and had his leg broken below the knee by a minis ball. Twenty-two pieces of bone were taken from the
wound and for seven months, he was unable to walk and then got up, with the aid of cane
and crutch. But as soon as he was able to get around again late in 1863 he went to
Jefferson Barricks in Missouri and attempted to re-enlist, but they gave him his discharge
and sent him home.
After the
war ended, he became interested in the building of the transcontinental railroad west from
Omaha in 1866, and went to Cheyenne, the terminus of the Union Pacific at the time and
hired out as a teamster under Gen. Casement, the railway contractor. He hauled freight and supplies from the end of the
railroad to the construction camp, following the business for 18 months, until the line
reached Ogden, Utah. He then received a pass
to San Francisco. He prospected over parts of California and Nevada, working in the
smelters at White Pine, Nevada. After making
a little stake, he and his partner, sunk a shaft near White Pine and thought they would
soon be rich, instead the used up all their money and found no good ore. Mr. Deal slept out in a wagon, under a wagon, or
in a dugout, such as he had at the mine, for the a
period of over four years. He returned to Iowa in 1870. The following year he married at Boone to Mary Parks, who died 10 years ago.
They came to
Ida County in 1879 and he and George Porter at first ran a farm for the latters father. Six years later he bought his farm in Hayes twp. He
has six children, all living, 18 grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.
He loves to
fish and spends many days each summer in pursuit of his favorite sport. To this he
attributes some of the credit for his long life, and also to the fact that he has always
taken good care of himself and has refused to worry.
(Pioneer,
January 28,1925, Page 1)
Henry Keagy Ferguson
Henry Keagy Ferguson is one of the very
few persons who have resided in Ida County for more than fifty years and he can talk very
interestingly of the visitation of the grasshoppers in Ida County, of the coming of the
railroad and of various pioneering conditions.
Mr. Ferguson
was born April 21,1838 in Blair County, PA one mile from the town of Clayburg. His
grandparents came from Scotland. He will be
87 years old this coming Spring. Late on, he resided in Somerset County, PA, three miles
from Johnstown. From there he moved to Cedar County, Iowa in 1852 and has lived in Iowa
nearly three quarters of a century. He came
with his parents and they settled on a farm. In 1873 Mrs. Ferguson purchased some land in
Silver Creek twp, paying $6 an acre for it, the tract being railway lands. IN those days if a person had case, he could get
this land for $5 an acre, of $6 an acre, taking 6 years to pay for it, showing an interest
rate of 16 2\3%. The agents for the railway company received 10 cents an acre commission.
Mr. Ferguson commenced taking the Pioneer in the fall of 1873 and has since been a reader
of the paper ever since, the publication being still taken in his family. He arrived in Ida County in the Spring of 1874 and
at that time there was no doctor in Ida Grove and no bank. Those were hard times, too, and a
little later when the bank came, Mr. Ferguson says that his request for a loan of $7.50
was turned down, although he was an owner of farm
land.
Before the
advent of the railway, Mr. Ferguson did his trading at Denison and Storm Lake and haled
the lumber from Storm Lake to build his four room house on the prairie. There were no
roads, each man making his own track across the unfenced expanse. Travel was by lumber wagon. The only bridges across the Maple in this region
were at the Moorehead bridge just west of town site of Ida and one at Durst’s Mill,
near where Battle Creek now stands. Mr. Ferguson and his neighbor took their grain to
Durst’s Mill to be ground.
“There
were no trees anywhere, excepting along the “ says Mr. Ferguson. “All the timber groves on the farms and the
shade trees in the towns has all been planted since then, even the great big trees in what
is now the old town.”
Mr. Ferguson
says that it was about 1876 that the grasshoppers visited Ida County and gave the country
a black eye for several years.
They hid the
sun like a cloud and where the swarms struck a building in their flight, you could scrape
them up from the ground with a shovel. They ate the corn silk, causing the ears to shrivel
up. The small grains had been harvested in
Ida County and were not so badly damaged, but further north and west, the growing grains
fields had been swept clean. A field that had been visited by grasshoppers had nothing
left afterwards but a few sticks and stalks. All
the remainder of that year, hundreds of settlers from Nebraska who had lost everything
from grasshoppers, came streaming through Ida County in their wagons on their way back
home where they had come from. The next
spring, there were lots of young grasshoppers hatched in Ida County and the farmers looked
for another scourge, but the hoppers left and went elsewhere.
Mr.Ferguson
was married in 1866 to Eliza Jane Anspach, who died in 1900. They had twelve children, of
whom eight survive. He married Mamie Tubbs in
1903 and ten years later they retired from the farm and moved into Ida Grove. Mrs.
Ferguson died in 1919. Mr. Ferguson has 26
grandchildren and 11 great grandchildren. He was baptized into the Methodist Church at an
early age and since then has consistently attended the worship of that church, being found
in his pew of that church every Sunday, weather permitting.
Mr. Ferguson
enjoys good health and comes down town nearly every day, making his home with Mr. &
Mrs. Wm. Devine. Work and absence of worry seem to be the secret of his long life.
(Pioneer, January 28,1925, page 1)
William Bennett Jarrett
William
Bennett Jarrett, a resident of Ida Grove at the corner of Fifth & Taylor streets was
born in Hartford County, Maryland, May 10,1840 and will be 85 years old this coming
spring. For over 72 years he resided on the
same farm on which he was born, located 20 miles from Baltimore and about the same
distance from Chesapeake Bay. This farm was
in the possession of his family nearly 190 years and at one time comprised nearly 500
acres, divided into three parcels which bore the illuminating names of Steward’s
Desire, Isham’s Garden and The Bill. The
last piece of this property passed out the hands of the family 13 years ago, when Mr.
Jarrett sold it and moved west.
Mr. Jarrett,
among his records has a wonderful old parchment, dated 1831 in which the properties are
confirmed by a patent granted by the land office of eastern Maryland to Sarah H. England,
the mother of Mr. Jarrett. This document also
mentions that the tract known as Isham’s Garden had passed into the family on July 10,1724, through one James Isham.
The Jarrett
family own a number of other very valuable family heirlooms, which are sometimes shown to
favored friends in Ida Grove. One of the most highly prized is a beautiful bedspread made
in 1819 by Sarah H. England, at age 19. This
has a six inch tied fringe and the center design is a large basket of flowers, very finely
worked out and the ends secured in wonderful fashion. The family has a Windsor chair in
cherry, which came from the Jarrett side of the family and a rocker that came from the
England family. Both are over 200 years old. Other relics are a small stand in mahogany, a pair
of solid brass candlesticks, a mahogany table with inlaid top and bookcase. All of these are very old and descended from
Colonial times, and are still in most excellent state of preservation. Mr. Jarrett also
has a huge old wooden and brass flintlock pistol, dating from Revolutionary times and a
big silver handled saber. These were carried
by Mr. Jarrett’s grandfather, Bennett Jarrett in the war of Independence and also in
the war of 1812, when he dashed home one day in 1813 and seized them and carried them to
Havre de Grace, where it was thought the invading British would land of their march to
Washington, instead they traveled by water, took, Washington and burned it. Mr. Jarrett also owns a quaint powder horn, hand
carved and carried a century ago by an uncle of Mr. Jarrett’s. The latter, as a boy, sometimes proudly carried it
when he was permitted to go squirrel hunting on the ten acre hickory nut grove on the
farm. The old horn is now yellow with age but the quaint scene carved on its surfaces are
very interesting.
Mr.
Jarrett’s mother, Sarah England, was a Quaker, his father, Devereaux Jarrett, a
Baptist. They are buried separately in Maryland in graveyards that adjoin the meeting
houses of their different faiths. Mr. Jarrett was twice married, his union to Martha Price
Conard taking place in Baltimore on February 2,1888. He has one daughter, Mrs. Honor
Conard, and one step-daughter, Mrs. Frank Day, three grandchildren and all three
step-grandchildren. He accompanied the late
Will Conard to Ida Grove from St. Joe, Mo, eight years ago.
Mr. Jarrett
is a man of rather delicate appearance and had a very serious illness last year from which
he apparently recovered. He mows his lawn and makes garden in season and keeps busy and
happy. (Pioneer,
February 4,1925, page 1)
Robert Morrice
Robert
Morrice of Battle Creek will be 84 years old in February, having been born in Aberdeen
Shire, Scotland. He came to Ida County in 1874 and purchased the farm in Maple twp. where
he still lives. He was married in 1885 to Eliza Brown, who died in 1917. He makes his home with two of his children,
Stevenson Morrice and Isabel Morrice, who keep house for her father and her brother. Mrs. Morrice enjoys good health and works at
various things about the farm and in this way keeps himself busy and contented. Mr.
Morrice has four children living, another daughter, Mrs. Louis H. Smith residing only a
short distance up the road from his home. A
fifth child was Douglas Morrice, who died at Camp Devens, Mass. on September 24,1918 and
was the first Ida County soldier to perish from the flu. Mr. Morrice has four grandchildren. He has been a member of the Presbyterian
Church most of his life and occasionally attends worship in Battle Creek in his old age,
although he does not often go beyond the confines of his own acres. ( Pioneer,
February 4,1925, page 1)
Mrs. Harriett Gearhart
Mrs.
Harriett Gearhart the mother of Mrs. J.P. Krick of Ida Grove observed her 85th birthday
January 10, having been born in 1840 in Clinton County, Iowa, where she was married and
lived all of her life until she broke up housekeeping four years ago. Her parents came to Iowa in 1835. Mrs. Gearhart is one of a family of 16 children.
Four of her brothers served through the civil war. She has made her home with her
son-in-law, J.P. Krick the last three years. She is still very active and has made many
friends in Ida Grove.
(Pioneer,
February 4,1925, page 1)
Mrs. Nancy Lawson
Mrs.
Nancy Lawson (Mrs. George Lawson), was born September 10,1843 at Connersville, Indiana.
She was married in 1865 and in the early seventies came
to Iowa and twenty years ago to Ida County. For the last eighteen years, she has lived
with her daughter, Mrs. Jessie Eells in Ida Grove. She
united with the Presbyterian Church at the age of sixteen and so long as she was strong
enough she took an active part in church work. Now
at the age of 81, she is deeply interested in all the affairs of church and state. She is
able to read the daily papers and enjoys visiting with friends, although not able to get
out during the winter months. (Pioneer, February 4,1925, page 1)
Annie Boock Petersen
Annie Boock
Petersen of Ida Grove passed her 81st birthday on November 11,1924. She was born in
Schleswig-Holstein providence and married in 1865 to John F. Petersen, In 1866, they moved
to Jackson County, Iowa and came out to Ida County in 1883. They settled in Hayes twp,
where they farmed until they retired and moved into Ida Grove 27 years ago last June. Mr. Petersen died three years ago in June. He was a month older than his wife. Mrs. Petersn has two living children, nine
grandchildren and five great-grandchildren. Her health is good and she spends quite a bit
of her time in reading and likes to look after some of the details of her household. She
was early confirmed in the Lutheran faith and since locating in Iowa has adhered to the
Iowa Synod of that church.
(Pioneer, February 4,1925, page 5)
Barbara Schmidt Brechwald
Barbara
Schmidt Brechwald was 86 years old on January 2nd of this years, having been born in 1839.
She was born in Hessen, near Mayence Germany and 55 years ago was married in that country
to Andrew Brechwald, who lived to the age of 85 years and died in the summer of 1917. They came to America in December 1880 and reached
Ida County the first week in January 1881. They possibly were not much attracted by the
country of their adoption about that time, as Iowa was passing through one of the very
coldest and stormiest winters in her history, and probably none since that time have
entailed so much hardship upon the people. Ferd Brechwald of Ida Grove, one of the sons,
who was then a lad of ten, distinctly remembers the scenes amid the vineclad hills along
the Rhine and the strangeness of the new environment on the raw prairies of Iowa. Two
brothers of Mr. Brechwald Sr. had already preceded them to America. One of these brothers, Jacob Brechwald, lived a
number of years at Holstein and is now living at Steamboat Rock, Iowa. Mrs. Brechwald makes here home with her daughter,
Mrs. Will Murphy in Ida Grove. She had nine children, two of whom are dead. The surviving
ones are; Ferd Brechwald, Mrs. Wm. Murphy, Mrs. Robert Mein of Ida Grove, Agnes Schmidt of
Clinton County, Jacob in Alberta, Mrs. Theodore Rohwer, Schleswig, Mrs. F.G. Hart of
Powell, WY. There are 29 grandchildren and 7 great-grandchildren. Mrs. Brechwald’s
mind is quite clear and she enjoys good health, her hearing is excellent. She reads quit a
bit and derives much pleasure from knitting. She has been a member of the Catholic Church
since childhood. (Pioneer, February 4,1925, page 5)
Mary Rider Teghtmeyer
Mary Rider
Teghtmeyer claims Pennsylvania as her birthplace and she was born September 23,1840. She
grew to young womanhood in that state and was married to David Teghtmeyer. About 40 year ago they came to Ida County and for
a while farmed near Arthur. For twenty years past, she resided in the old town of Ida
Grove. Since a year ago last fall, she has
lived north of Correctionville with a daughter, Mrs. J.B. Guthridge. Mrs. Teghtmeyer has four children living and
three death, 30 grandchildren and 24 great-grandchildren. Mrs. Teghtmeyer is now in her
85th year.
(Pioneer, February 4,1925, page 5)
William Thieltges
William
Thieltges who lives with his children midway between Ida Grove and Arthur, was born August
8,1835 in Baden, Germany and will 90 years old the coming summer. He came to America when
he was about 25 years of age and settled in the vicinity of Chicago. The family came to
Iowa in the seventies and in 1880 he was married to Katherine Bauer at Carroll, Iowa. Not
long after that, the family went to South Dakota where they remained until after the death
of Mrs. Thieltges in 1890. The past
thirty-five years the family has lived in Sac & Ida Counties. Mr. Thieltges has four
children, none of whom are married. They are
William, Nicholas, and Mary at home, and Lena who is a sister of charity at Cedar Rapids.
Mr.
Thieltges enjoys good health, can eat three square meals a day and takes pleasure in wood
cutting and odd jobs around the place. Whenever the weather permits, he is a faithful
attendant at the Catholic Worship. (Pioneer, February 11,1925, page 3)
John Glade
John Glade,
a resident of Arthur, was 89 years old the eighth day of January . He was born in Ohouses,
Germany in 1836, coming to America in 1866. On July 25,1869 he was married to Eliza Patton
at Springfield, Illinois.
In the years
1876 he moved to Sac County and in 1881 he moved to a farm in Ida County that he
purchased. In 1882 he moved to his farm residing there until 1901 when he moved to Arthur.
He has three living children, namely; Mrs. Frank Burgert of Ida Grove, Mrs. Morse Lorenzen
of Bronson, Iowa and Joe Glade of Arthur, Iowa , and with whom he resides at this time. He is a good
citizen to the town, having donated the flag pole and the flag that stands in the town
square. He is the first to donate to anything for the good of the town. (Pioneer,
February 11,1925, page 3)
Rev. Alexander Ewing Smith
Rev. Alexander Ewing Smith of Ida Grove could make a very interesting
contribution to the history of northwester Iowa, if he would write a narrative of his
early experience in Woodbury and Ida County in the days before the railroads came and when
the Indian was as common as flivers nowadays. This grand old man of Iowa Presbyterian was born October 19,1836 on a
farm near Bloomfield, Jefferson County, Ohio, and was named after his maternal grandfather
Alexander Ewing, a scotchman. Rev. Mr. Smith
is therefore in his 89th year. When he was a year old, his father moved upon a farm two
miles west of Warsaw in Coshocton County, Ohio. When
the boy was ten, his mother died and three years later the father followed her, his death
being due to typhoid fever. Commencing at 14 years of age, young Smith worked on a farm,
hiring out for two summers of seven months each, for which work he received $8.00 a month. In the winter he went to a log school and thus he worked himself through
the elementary branches. Two or three years later he started into the little academy at
West Bedford, the same county, where he received a terms instruction, then went out and
taught some more. In 1856 he entered Oberlin college for a years work then went to the
academy at West Carlisle, not far from his home. Next
he attended Vermillion Institute an old institution at Hayesville in Ashland County. In
1861, he entered Washington College (now Washington & Jefferson University) at
Washington PA. He graduated in 1863 and then
entered Western Theological Seminary at Allegheny, PA where he completed the course in
1866.
About this time, the claims of the West were brought to his attention
and he was urged to go to Sioux City, Iowa, to preach, the town being a place of 500-600
people, straggling over the hills. He
accepted the invitation and came west the same year. The new minister made the
acquaintance of a certain elder in his church and learned the charms of his niece, a
certain Miss Jennie C. Dougall, who lived back in New York State. The young people began
corresponding and before long the minister decided that he needed the help of a wife in
his work on the frontier. Late in the fall of 1867 he went back East to be married.At that time, the nearest railroad was at Missouri Valley, although
work of extending the Sioux City & Pacific northward from that point had to take the
stage. The equipage, drawn by four horses, was picking its way through the hills
in the present outskirts of Sioux City when the steeds took fright and suddenly bolted
down the steep road. The driver jumped for the brake, but missed it and it pitched from
the reeling coach. The horses ran until the
stage came to a stop lying on its side against the bank. Mr. Smith says the passengers
were rough characters and in the scramble for safety, from the upturned door of the stage,
the other fellows used him as a stepping stone and jumped to safety, leaving him to get
out last. The injured driver was carried in a blanket to the nearest cabin.
Rev. & Mrs. Smith and Miss Dougall were married at her home in
Ft. Edward, NY on January 2,1868 and soon returned to Sioux City. By this time the railway had been extended as far
North as Salix, 24 miles from Sioux City and the rest of the way still had to be made by
stage. A few months later, Mrs. Smith stood at her back door and saw
the first train near Sioux City. Indians were plentiful in those days, most Winnebagoes who visited
the settlements in great numbers. They were afraid of the warlike Sioux, however, and
whenever a party of the Sioux came to town the Winnebagoes vanished from the streets like
magic and remained in hiding until the Sioux had departed. Mrs. Smith says that the
Indians used to walk boldly into the houses and would steal anything they could lay their
hands upon. Wearing their noiseless moccasins, they would slip into a house and the owner
would be unaware of their presence until he turned around and confronted them. To prevent these
intruder from coming in unannounced, Mrs. Smith soon got to locking her door, while
engaged in household chores. Rev. Mr. Smith had many experiences of an exciting nature. He
preached over a radius of five of six miles from Sioux City and frequently held services
at Dakota City, NE. On one occasion he
started across the frozen Missouri River. The trail led across the ice at one point above
the town, but Mr. Smith in his ignorance did not know this and drove his pony straight
over the ice to the westward. In the middle, he encountered a freshly frozen place, where
the ice was clear and glass-like and the pony lost its footing and began to slide down
river, being driven by the heavy wind. Here and there were thinly frozen riffles and Mrs.
Smith expected every moment to get a ducking, but finally he and his steed drifted to
shore. Then they found that the banks were very steep and couldn’t be climbed, but
the minister would not go back over the ice and kept on searching until finally he found a
place to get up. Then , in a little while, in the timber, he met a large band of Indians
and they eyed him and his pony and he concluded that there was nothing after all to
prevent them from taking the animal, especially as it bore an Indian brand. Finally, one of the stuck out his hand and said,
“How, How” and Smith knew that he was not to be molested. While living at Sioux City, the Smiths saw the total eclipse of the
sun in 1869.
They left Sioux City February 14,1870 and went back to Warrensburg,
NY, in the Adirondacks, five miles from Lake George. They lived there 6 years, then moved to Oneida County for a period of 2
years. Finally the urge of the west began to grow upon Rev. & Mrs. Smith and he
prepared a return. He landed in Ida Grove in January 1878, a few months after the first
train had been run into the town. His wife
followed him in March. there were no houses to be had in the now thriving little town, and
so Mr. Smith made preparations to build a new home of his own, on the site where he still
resides. He built a large share of this
dwelling himself and was four years completing it. As
soon as the first part of the house was done and two rooms had been enclosed he sent for
his wife.
Rev. Mr. Smith assisted in building the Presbyterian Church in Ida
Grove and was its pastor for ten years. Subsequently he served three year as synodical
missionary in northwest Iowa. He preached about a ear in Lanney’s Hall in Ida Grove
and frequently served the Battle Creek congregation which at that time was worship in a
school house, a short distance west of that town. It was his custom to walk to Battle
Creek in the afternoon and walk back at nigh along the railway tracks. Many times, he was
followed at a distance by timber wolves and he remembers one occasion when they seemed
particularly hungry and bold and fairly snapped at his heels. he took off his big fur cap
and flourishing it in their direction causing them to stop momentarily, but when ever he
turned around they moved up closer and closer again, “I began to fear that I would
never get back to Ida Grove that night and it was a great relief when I finally saw the
houses of the town,” he says. Rev. Mr. Smith has married over 250 couples in Ida Grove and in many
families he has officiated at two generations of weddings. For many years he kept a record
book containing the names of all the blushing couples whom he had spliced and a glance at
its pages would reveal the names of many a staid citizen and matron of today.
He was principal of the Ida Grove public schools in 18777 and 1878.
Rev. & Mrs. Smith have one son, W.A. Smith of Omaha, and one grandson, who is now a
student at Shattuck Military School at Fairbault, MN. In 1917 Mr. Smith met with an accident and it was feared for several
weeks that he would never walk again. He was standing at the Ida Grove railway station and
at this time, a bunch of volunteer soldiers were encamped here. Two of them were racing
the platform and were coming so fast that they were unable to stop, when Mr. Smith
appeared in their path. One young man stepped upon his ankle and dragged him eight or ten
feet, before coming to a stop. The ankle bone was broken and for nearly town months Mr.
Smith was confined to his bed. However, He made a good recovery and is now able to mow his
lawn and make his garden, although his limb will always be stiff. Rev. & Mrs. Smith takes great pride in his large lawn and garden,
where he has spent a great deal of time every season and he fully expects to conduct it
again this year. “I can’t get along without work” or “I wouldn’t
feel good” is his simple explanation how he has been able to carry on for almost
twenty years beyond the Scriptural allotment. (Pioneer, February 11,1925,
page 1 & 3)
Shoop George
George Shoop
will be 81 years old the second of April. He was born in Harrisburg, PA. He came here
about 41 years ago, about two years before the town of Arthur started. He has four living children and seven dead. He has
always been in the best of health.
Mrs. Shoop
was 83 years old November 15th. She was born in New Foundland, England. She is also
enjoying the best of health. Remarkable old people to be living alone and in so good
health at their age. (Pioneer, February 11,1925, page 3)
Mrs. Johanna Stang
Mrs. Johanna
Stang makes her home with her daughter Mrs. Henry Wellendorf. She was born in Germany
January 9,1838 and is now 87 years old. She came to America in 1868 and settled in Scott
County. In 1881 she moved to Crawford County and in 1884 in Douglas twp. Ida County. In 1909 the family moved into Holstein. Mr. Stang
died 25 years ago.
The past two
years she has made her home with her daughter, Mrs. Wellendorf. She formerly had six
children, three are dead. She has 15
grandchildren and 12 great-grandchildren. She is quite spry, enjoys good health and has
trained her physical powers and that she is quite content. (Pioneer, February 18,1925, page 4)
John Stoneberg
John
Stoneberg of Hayes twp. was born 80 years ago in Sweden and came to Ida County 48 years
ago and has lived on the same farm all this time. He is a brother in law of Alfred
Linquist, formerly of this county, now living in Long Beach, California and has five
children and six grandchildren. (Pioneer,
February 18,1925, page 4)
Mrs. Anna Gustus
Anna Stina Gustus was born in Sweden in 1830 and came
to America 77 years ago last October, or in the year 1847. At that time, Chicago was only
a few years old and about the present size of
Ida Grove. The railway westward from Chicago was laid on wooden rails and she traveled
upon it, until she reached Dekalb, then a metropolis of three houses. The railroad ended
at Malta, the first town beyond Dekalb. When the line was completed to Clinton, using ox
teams and spades by men dressed in homespun clothing, she settled in that city where she
was married at that age of 23 years to Eric Gustus. Seven children were born to them of
whom five are still living; Oscar C. and Mrs. C.O. Larson of DeKalb, V.E. and Wm. H. at
home, Mrs. John Wibe of Sioux City. She has
fourteen grandchildren and two great-grandchildren. The husband died in 1879.
In December
1880, they came to Ida County and located on a farm in Hayes twp. where they still reside.
Mrs. Gustus says the winter of 1880-1881 was a terror and the snow was so deep that on one
occasion when they were driving across fields to Odebolt, in a place they encountered a
hard bump and on investigating, found that they had driven over a haystack in the field.
Mrs. Gustus
is in years past, achieved quite a fame as a home doctor when the M.D.’s were few and
far between. She helped dozens of women in childbirth and doctoring the little ones. When
the great diphtheria scourges struck this part of Iowa in the early eighties, she nursed
many a child and brought it back to health. For herself she had never been under a
doctor’s care and attributes her excellent physical condition to her use of Home
Remedies. he is said to have a firm strong grip equal to that of the average person at
middle age. She gives the credit for her long life to careful dieting and exercise. Her
eyesight is good and she can read, sew and thread a needle without the use of glasses.
When the cherry season arrives she climbs the trees and picks her own fruit.
Mrs. Gustus
says that when she first came to this country everybody wore homespun clothes of their own
manufacture. When she lived in Illinois she cut what with a cradle and bound the sheaves
by hand.
Mrs. Gustus
keeps house for her two sons, Victor and William. She baked the bread and does most of the
work in the dwelling.
She has in
her possession a violin that is highly prized by the family and was manufactured in 1730
and is now 195 years old. The other day, when visitors called and one of the boys played
airs on this violin, Mrs. Gustus danced a Swedish Polka. She has also a family Bible that
she has owned for over three quarters of a century and was printed in 1810, being 115
years old. (Pioneer, February 18,1925, pages 1 & 4)
Saloma Holder
Saloma
Holder of Ida Grove was born June 7, 1833 in Canton, Ohio and will be 92 years old this
coming spring. Her father was French and her mother was of German descent. When she was
six years old the family moved to Benton, Scott County, MO. she says that in spite of her
great age, she can remember as far back as her fifth year and can recollect several things
that happened while she a little girl in Ohio. he grew up in Missouri and was married
august 18,1851 to Louis Holder In 1856 they came to Iowa and settled at Winnesheiek,
Fayette County. Thirty-three years ago, the family came to Ida County to live. Not long afterwards Mr. Holder returned
to Fayette county to run his saw mill and his family remaining here. He died March
26,1909. For many years she has made her home with her son Frank Holder in Ida Grove. Mrs.
Holder has six sons and two daughters living and one daughter has died. There are 30
grandchildren, 40 great-grandchildren and 2 great-great-grandchildren, a total of 80
descendants.
Mrs. Holder
says her health has always been o f the best, but she has occasionally suffered from
accidents. One of the worst happened when she
was 12 year old. Her father had a threshing floor at their farm in Missouri, where the
horses were driven to trimp out the grain. On this occasion, she and her little brother
raced around on this floor as the horse accidentally fell upon her foot, breaking the
right ankle. Late in life, this ankle was again broken, also an arm. On one occasion she fell from a haymow and split
open her head. In 1923 she fell down stairs at the family home, bruising her up badly, but
breaking no bones. She was seven weeks in bed due to the accident.
Mrs. Holder
rarely wears glasses, reads little excepting her prayer book and is able to do her own
housework and cooking. She lives with her sons Frank and Anthony and is able to do most of
her work. If the weather permits, she attends the services at Sacred Heart Catholic
Church, having been confirmed a Catholic when she was 12 years old. “If I was young
again I would get an education” she says. “Our teacher was ignorant and a
nuisance”
Mrs. Holder
picked up what education she could by her own powers of observation and study. (Pioneer,
February 25,1925, page 1)
Catherine Etler
Catherine
Etler was born in Denmark, December 28,l841 and married Frank P. Etler in 1866. She came
to America in 1872 and located at Lowmoore, Clinton County, Iowa. he came to Battle Creek
in October 1886 where she still resides at the ripe old age of 83 years. She has been
living alone most of the time since the death of her husband in 1902. She is the mother of
10 children of whom seven are still living. She has always taken an active part in the
work of the Presbyterian Church and is also a faithful worker for the Christian Home in
Council Bluffs.
She has
lived in the present home for 36 years, but will move March 1 to her new home where she
will be nearer to the church and town. The
door of her home is never locked to anyone who wants to be a friend. If hungry he shall
not be turned away. In sickness she is there to comfort and help. one of her keenest
pleasures this winter has been listening to her radio. (Pioneer, February 25,1925, page
4)
Jane Harper
Jane Harper
reached the age of 85 years on September 14,1924. She was married to Adam Harper at
Boswell, Iowa. She came to Ida County February 28,1884 and resided on a farm on the Maple
River, until 1909 when they moved into Battle Creek. Mr. Harper died in 1912 at the age of
75 years. She is now at home with her daughter, Mrs. A. Leonard and while she is not able
to be around much, she gets a good bit of comfort from a fine radio set. Her cheery smile
and good advice has always made many friends.
(Pioneer, February 25,1925, page 4)
Mrs. August Briese
Mrs. August
Briese of Holstein who celebrated her 81st births February 22. According to the Advance,
she spent the day surrounded by her children and numerous friends and acquaintances.
Although she has reached the age of four score she is as spry as can be and was indeed
glad to be hostess to her many friends. The hours were spent in social conversation and
she served a dainty supper. (Pioneer, March
11,1925, Page 1)
Christ Trinkleback
Christ
Trinkleback, the aged father of Mrs. Herman Mildenstein, is 84. There are three
octogenarians in Grant twp. and another person is 79 years old.
A.J. Johnston
A.J. Johnston familiarly known to his Ida County friends as
“Jeff” is one of the mere handful of Civil War veterans still living in Ida
Grove. He is also a pioneer citizen of the town, having come into the community more than
40 years ago. Mr. Johnston was born January 11,1842 at Athens, Ohio and passed his
eighty-third birthday slightly over two months ago. His parents were William and Louisa
Johnston and when the lad was thirteen years old, he accompanied them to a new home in
Cedar County, Iowa. At that time,there were no railroads beyond the Mississippi. The
family settled at Wilton Junction. When the war of the Rebellion broke out, young Johnston enlisted
under Captain Edward Hatch in the Fist Iowa Cavalry and was mustered into service at
Muscatine, Iowa in July 1861. The command was soon transferred to Company A of the Second
Iowa Calvary and Capt. Hatch was gradually promoted until he reached the rank of Brigadier
general before the war closed. The cavalry boys were camped a while at Camp McClellan at
Davenport, Iowa and late that yea were sent to St. Louis and the to Cairo, Illinois. Mr. Johnston served during
the three year term of his enlistment and took part in many cavalry fights up and down the
Mississippi and in Arkansas, Tennessee and Alabama.
On December 5,1866 he married Catherine McDonald in Cedar County. His
faithful wife was his companion and helpmate long after they removed to Ida County and has
been death for thirty years. In 1882 the family moved to Ida County, bringing the children,
William, Jessie, Catherine and Albert C. They settled on a farm in Silver Creek twp. where
they lived for a year or two and then came to Ida Grove. The two younger children, Mabel
and Donald were born in this county. When Mr. Johnston lived in Cedar County, he remembers having seen
deer and wild turkeys before the days of the civil war. When he came to northwest Iowa, he
exchanged a timbered country for a prairie one, where there were no trees, excepting those
growing along the streams. There were no
roads worthy of the name and no fences. The town of Holstein had not yet been started.
When they drove into Ida Grove from the east they followed the north bank of the Odebolt
into the original town of Ida, or “Old Town” Going toward Denison, the trail led up the valley of the Badger Creek to the
top of the ridge and then followed the ridges principally until it got to Denison. Mr. Johnston has spent many of the later years of his life in travel. He and his daughter Jessie were in Berlin when the
world war broke out. They had considered taking a ride over the city in one of the great
Zeppelins, but the very afternoon that the trip as to be made, the Kaiser declared war on
Russia. Mr. Johnston says he will never forget the excitement. He often saw the Kaiser in
the city as he drove back and forth to Potsdam. For days after the war broke out, Mr.
Johnston was able to buy a little white war bulletin, printed in English, which the German
authorities issued for the benefit of the English speaking peoples. There was a long delay
before the travelers could leave Berlin, and then they went through Holland to Flushing and took a boat for the English
navy. In England there was another long delay, due to the inability to get a steamer
passage home and the travelers visited England, Wale, Scotland & Ireland. The English at that time seemed indifferent about
the war and not many were volunteering.
During the years of the war, Mr. Johnston and his daughters also made
trips to Japan & China in 1917 and one to Alaska and up the Yukon valley the year
previously. After the war closed, Mr. Johnston and Miss Jessie made a trip around
the world, visiting the Hawaiian Islands, Japan, the Philippines, Australia, India, Egypt,
Palestine, Italy, France and Belgium. They made extended tours over the battlefields and
had their first airplane ride between Paris & Brussels. The distance of about 250
miles was negotiated in about two hours and a half. Mr. Johnston celebrated his birthday
while on his world tour, being in Egypt at the time. Mr. Johnston is a great reader an devours the daily papers, many
magazines and an occasional book. In recent months, he has partially lost the use of his
limbs, but he still able to get around his home with the aid of a cane. On pleasant days,
he makes auto trips to the home of his son A.C. Johnston or down town. He feels good and
looks good and he greatly enjoys the occasional visit of old friends who drop in to see
him from time to time. (Pioneer, March 18,1925,
page 1 & 4)
Mrs. Fredericka Suiter
Mrs.
Frederika Suiter of Holstein may be Ida County’s oldest citizen. According to the
census report just being completed, she is 99 years old. She is a native of Germany and
grandmother of Mrs. H.E. Keith, Mrs. Anna Sargent, and W.E. Suiter of Ida Grove. The Pioneer hopes to be able to present a sketch of her
soon.
(Pioneer,
March 18,1925, Page 4)
Mrs. Jane Rose
Mrs. Jane
Rose of Battle Creek is the latest to enter the competition for the honor of being the
oldest person in Ida County and she is a year older than Mrs. Gustus of Hayes twp., but
three years younger than Fredericka Suiter of Holstein who lacks only a year from being
100.
Mrs. Jane
Rose is 96 years of age, born December 8th, and has been a resident of Ida County for 43
years.
Mrs. Rose if
of French nationality and was married in France in the years 1852. She and her husband,
Francis Rose, sailed from France on march 15,1857, their voyage to America consuming 63
days. They landed in New Orleans on May 17,1857. Mr. and Mrs. Rose moved to Wisconsin in
the year 1864, returning to Dubuque two years later. In the year 1874 they located at Ida
Grove and ten years later moved to Woodbury County. Twenty seen years ago Mr. Rose passed
away and since that time this venerable old lady has lived with her children, two of whom
were born in France, one in Wisconsin and three in Ida County.
In our
interview with her we found her to be of a pleasant, kindly disposition, with a memory
bright and active, and also possessing a fine sensitive humor. She cares for herself
wholly and when the weather is favorable she gets out and about a good death. We were
sorry when our interview came to a close and consider it a privilege to have met this fine
old lady, who despite her advanced years can remain such a sweet personage. Seeing her
makes one feel heartily ashamed of the customary fretting which so many of us indulge in
daily, and also brought to mind the thought the Mrs. Rose could relate much that would be
of interest on past Ida County history. (Pioneer, March
25,1925, page 4)
Mrs. Pauline Nielsen
Mrs. Pauline
Nielsen, who lives with her daughter, Mrs. Anna Matlack, of Ida Grove will be 90 years
old, if she lives until July 15 of this
years. She is a native of Denmark and her father was Raphael Kaufman. On October 14,1857
she married Soren Nielsen in Denmark and ten children were born to this union, of whom
four are living. Mr. Nielsen lived to the age of 45 years and died in the old country.
Mrs. Nielsen continued to reside in Denmark until 1896 when she came to America. After
eight and a half years in this country, she returned to Denmark where she stayed three
years. When she was 72 years old, she came back across the ocean and for the past fifteen
years has made her home with her oldest daughter, Mrs. Matlack. The surviving children in
addition to Mrs. Matlack are Mrs. Inger Mortensen, who is in Denmark, Carl Nielsen of
Newell, Iowa, Mrs. Louise Jeppeson of Waterloo. There are 22 grandchildren and 15 great
grandchildren.
Mrs. Nielsen
was confirmed in the Lutheran Church when she was fourteen years old and has ever since
been a conscientious and faithful member of that denomination. For the past three years,
she has been an invalid and for two and a half years has been bedfast. She reads with or
without glasses, does some sewing and her chief source of pleasure are her daily readings
of the Bible. She is of cheerful disposition and patient in spite of her sufferings. Her
father lived to be 94 1/2 years old and she must have inherited her longevity from him. (April 8,1925, Pioneer, Page 1)
Among
the Octogenarians living in Galva are;
Mrs. Amelia Venzke, aged 80 a native of Germany,
who makes her home with Fred Meggers and
family, having been the mother of Mrs. Meggers.
William Heacock of Galva is 86, a native of
Indiana.
George Forsland, age 81, is a native of Sweden and
his wife Anna is eight years his junior.
The
city of Holstein has a lot of octogenarians;
Detlef Munz, aged 80, a native of Germany who now
lives with his son in law, John Libke Doris
Stoltenberg, age 87 a native of Germany
Claus Rochau, 83, a native of Germany and a member
of the Lutheran Church.
Claus Blunk who is now blind and resides with his
wife Eliza D. Blunk, native of Germnay and belongs to the Lutheran Church.
Lena Hansen, aged 87 years, a native of Germany,
who makes her home with her son in law and daughter, Mr. & Mrs. Henry Kuchel
Elizabeth Sorensen, a native of Germany, aged 87,
and lives with daughter Mary Phalsgraf.
Mary Wheatly, age 80, native of Indiana, lives
with son R. P. Wheatly, the Holstein banker. She is a member of the Methodist Church.
Annette Schroeder, age 84 lives with her sister,
Mrs. Dora Thileman, she is from Germany.
Johannes Frahm, age 82, a native of Germany, lives
with is wife Mary Frahm, who is 76.
Cecelia Mundt, age 84, who was born in Germany and
lives with her brother, Henrich Ruhser, who is 79.
Abraham Fulton, 81, a native of Indiana and wife
Martha J. Fulton, also 81, and a native of Connecticut. They belong to the Presbyterian
Church.
Henry Schlunz, age 82, a native of Germany who
makes his home with his wife Martha Schlunz, who is 83. They are Lutherans.
Wilhelm Werner, aged 83, a native of Germany who
makes his home with his some George Wienert.
Mr. and Mrs. August Briese, each age 80, and who
were born in Germany. Her maiden name was Stegeman.
Battle Creek reports the following
Octogenarians;
Alvina Burow, 80, a native of Germany and a
Lutheran who lives with her son, Frank E. Burow.
Adam Harper, 85 a native of Crawford County, Ohio,
and a member of the United Brethren Church.
William Smith, 86, native of Canada, and a
Baptist, who lives with his son in law and daughter Mr. & Ms. J.F. Lloyd
Henry Dickman, 81, born in Germany and a Lutheran
and living with his wife Wilhelmina Dickman, aged 68 years.
Marie C. Carlson, 82, and her husband, C.F.
Carlson, 78, natives of Sweden who reside with their daughter, Ada Watson. They are
Methodists.
Henry Carsten, 81, a native of Germany and a
Lutheran lives with his wife, Eliza Carsten, aged 68.
(Pioneer, April 22,1925, Page 3)
This
is the final and complete list of Octogenarians in the county;
Peter Johnson, age 84, native of Sweden, who makes
his home with his daughter, Mrs. Julia Burger.
He is a Civil War Veteran.
Mrs. Maggie Gilbelstein, age 87, a native of
Germany, who makes her home with her son Henry Gibelstein.
Dian Noll, 84, native of Pennsylvania.
Matilda Dreesen, 83, a native of Germany, who
lives with daughter, Mrs. W.H. Moore. She belongs to the Methodist Church.
Mary Edmundson, 86, and her sister, Jane Dyhr, 80,
make their home with Miss Sophia Edmundsen, They are natives of England and belong to the
Friends Church.
Sarah A. Terry, 83, a native of Ohio, who lives
with her son, S.B. Terry
Margaret A. Guess, 81, a native of Ohio, who lives
with her daughter, Mrs. Lettie Wallace and member of the Universalist faith.
Elizabeth M. Charles, aged 82, makes her home with
her niece, Mrs. Addie Garrigan of Corwin twp. She is a native of Illinois.
Ely Summers, age 80, of Corwin twp. resides with
his wife, Annetta Summer, age 74. he is a native of Illinois and a Presbyterian.
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