Biographical History of Page County, Iowa, Lewis & Dunbar Publishers, 113 Adams Street, Chicago, Illinois, 1890

[transcribed by Pat O'Dell: genpat@netins.net ]

GEORGE W. BOHRER was born in Morgan County, West Virginia, January 18, 1840, and is a son of Adam and Hannah (Bailey) Bohrer, also natives of West Virginia. His grandfather, Abraham Bohrer, was a native of Germany, and his maternal grandparents were of English origin. Adam Bohrer and wife reared a family of eleven children, all of whom grew to maturity; there were seven sons and four daughters and George W. was the fifth child. The father was a farmer by occupation and followed that calling all his life; he was a member of the Evangelical Church and lived a Christian life; he and his wife lived until the end of their days in Morgan County, West Virginia, living until seventy-one and seventy-seven years respectively.
George W. was reared in the honorable calling which his father had followed so many years, and obtained his education in the common schools. He was united in marriage November 20, 1862, to Miss Susan Fearnow, at Warfordsburgh, Fulton County, Pennsylvania. She was born September 29, 1841 and is a daughter of John and Nancy (Dawson) Fearnow, natives of West Virginia, of German ancestry. They reared a family of thirteen children, ten of whom are living.

The father was a member of the Evangelical Church and the mother belonged to the United Presbyterian Church. In 1867 Mr. Bohrer removed to Whiteside County, Illinois, and remained there three years; he then came to Taylor County, Iowa, and in 1873 we find him in Douglas Township, Page County, Iowa.   He settled on eighty acres of wild land, which he has increased to 200 acres, all in an excellent state of cultivation. He has erected a good house and substantial barns for stock and grain; he has also planted an orchard and a grove which add not alone to the value of the farm but to the beauty of the landscape. The residence was built at a cost of $1,000 and is a credit to the owner. The farm is well watered by Tarkio creek, thus adapting it to raising live-stock.
Mr. and Mrs. Bohrer are the parents of nine children: Ida, wife of H. A. Sykes; Laura M., Emma J., Nettie V., Clara P., Bessie M. and three sons who died in infancy. Two of the daughters, Laura and Nettie, are engaged in teaching and are making a success of this profession. The family are prominently identified with the church work of the township, the father being a member of the Evangelical Church, and the mother and four daughters of the Methodist Episcopal Church, belonging to Summit class of Nodaway Township.
Mr. Bohrer is a Prohibitionist and is a strong supporter of the issues of that party. He is the present trustee of the township and has also served as Justice of the Peace.

C. J. LUNDGREN, an industrious and successful farmer of Nodaway Township, has been a resident of Page County since 1870. He was born in Sweden, September 10, 1837, and is a son of John Lundgren. He was reared on a farm and remained in his native country until 1864, when he decided to try his fortunes in America. Accordingly he bade farewell to his beloved land and sailed away to the New World. He landed in New York and continued his journey to Illinois, where he remained until 1869. He then came to Iowa and purchased eighty [page 807] acres of railroad land at $11 per acre; he at once set about erecting the necessary buildings and making a comfortable home, and one now beholds hedges, shade-trees and many other improvements, the result of industry, energy and thrift.
Coming to America when all was new to him, oar subject rapidly learned American manners and customs; he mastered our language, no small accomplishment, and finally became an adopted citizen. He has ever displayed that thrift and money-getting faculty for which his nation is noted. To-day he owns a good farm and is surrounded by all the comforts of life. It is to such men of temperate habits and moral life that this country owes very much of her present pros­perity and growth.
Mr. Lundgren was united in marriage April 25, 1877, to Miss Christine Mary Carlston, a native of Sweden, who came to America in 1876. Six children have been born of this union: Paulina, Sarah, William Martin, Huldah Christine, Luke Arthur and Albert Clyde. In his political belief our subject, like many of his countrymen, was formerly a Republican, but he now votes the Democratic ticket. He has been a member of the township school board, which position he has ably filled. He was reared in the Lutheran faith and now belongs to the Lutheran Church of Douglas Township.

HENRY STEEVE, a prosperous farmer of Douglas Township, is here given space in which to record for those who come after him some of the more important relations and performances of his active life. He is one of America's many thrifty, honorable, adopted citizens. He was born in Hanover, Germany, November 18, 1834, and is a son of John Henry and Eletch (Kors) Steeve. He was reared on a good, old German farm and attended school until he was fourteen years of age. When twenty-one he bade farewell to the scenes of his happy childhood and came to the New World, landing in New York after a voyage of fifty days on the stormy Atlantic. From New York he at once went to Ohio, and engaged in farming near Cleveland.
Mr. Steeve was married in 1855 to Mary Elizabeth Bente. She is a native of Germany and was twenty-one years of age when she came to America. In 1864 they came to Cook County, Illinois, and there Mr. Steeve rented a farm for five years; at the end of this time they removed to Page County and he purchased a farm of 320 acres, paying $5 per acre; it was wild, unimproved land, but he has brought it to an advanced state of cultivation and has made such excellent improvements that it is to-day one of the finest farms in Page County. Besides a fine grove there is a good orchar.d of five acres and small fruit in abundance; a wind-mill pumps a sufficient supply of water to the stock and also propels a feed-mill; there are also stock-scales on the place, which are frequently in demand, as Mr. Steeve deals largely in livestock. His farm now consists of 600 acres well fenced; he owns more land in Nodaway Township, on which his son John lives; he has 220 acres in sections 5 and 11, Nodaway Township, and eighty acres in section 15, all of which is well-improved. Other real estate which he owns is 127 acres in Yalley Town­ship and 180 acres in sections 17 and 18, Buchanan Township.
Mr. and Mrs. Steeve are the parents of nine children living: Elizabeth, wife of H. H. Sundermann; John, William, Frederick, Louis, Henry, George, Mary and Martin. They have lost two sons and two daughters [page 808] by death: Joseph and Edward, and Eleanor and Louisa.
Politically Mr. Steeve is a Republican and has been honored by local offices. He is a member of the school board and has served as road supervisor. He has contributed generously to religious and educational institutions and has given his children a good education in both the English and German languages. He is yet in the prime of life, frank, cordial in manner, and withal a first-class citizen.
                

HENRY WAGONER, a true representative of the best type of German farmers of Page County, resides in section 16, Nodaway Township, where he owns 480 acres of land, all well improved. He was born in Hanover, Germany, August 14, 1840, and is a son of Henry and Dorothea (Busing) Wagoner. He grew to manhood and received his education in the land of his nativity. At the age of fourteen years he went to work at the baker's trade, and when nineteen years old he came to America, believing that the New World would be a better field for a successful career. It was in 1859 that he bade farewell to home and friends and native land, and sailed away across the sea. On arriving in America he went to Cook County, Illinois, and afterward worked for a time on a farm near Madison. In the fall of I860 he went to Mason County, Illinois.
When the dark cloud of the Rebellion swept over this land, our true and loyal subject went out in defense of his adopted country's flag, entering Company H, Third Illinois Cavalry, August 3, 1861. He served four years and two months, participating in the battles of Pea Ridge and Nashville, and the siege of Vicksburg, and many engagements of lesser note. He displayed a patriotism worthy a native-born citizen. Before he was mustered out he was promoted to the rank of Sergeant of his company. When peace was declared he went back to Mason County, Illinois, and remained there two years; he also spent some time in Cook County, engaged in farming.
Mr. Wagoner was married March 15,1868, to Rebecca Grime, a native of Germany. They removed to Page County, Iowa, in 1871, and Mr. Wagoner bought 200 acres of land, a portion of his present farm. His residence is among the best in the county, and was erected in 1884, at a cost of $2,000; it is surrounded by beautiful shade trees and is very attractively situated. Mr. Wagoner carries on a general farming business, paying special attention to stock-raising and feeding. Politically he affiliates with the Republican party. He is an active member of the church of his choice, the German Lutheran; he has served as treasurer of the Nodaway Township church for six years, and for three years has been president of the society. No man has contributed more to the church or to educational enterprises than he. He is industrious and uses his money as it was intended that man should, for the comfort of his family and the advancement of the community. He is a thorougly nationalized citizen and a loyal believer in American ideas.
Mr. and Mrs. Wagoner are the parents of nine children: John, Henry, Anna, Gusta, Harmon, Martin, Lovina, Lena and Charley.

E. L. HARRINGTON, who has been a resident of the " goodly county of Page" since 1864, has been assigned the following place in the biographical history of the county with which he has been [page 809] closely identified over a quarter of a century, long enough to note a complete and pleasing transformation in almost every portion of the county. He was born in the city of Boston, Massachusetts: hence may be termed a Yankee subject; he was born in 1836, and is the son of Josiah and Silva (Smith) Harrington. His father was a carpenter by trade and he was trained to the same avocation. He was reared and educated in Lawrence County, Massachusetts, and after mastering his trade he spent several years in northern New Hampshire. At the age of twenty years he came to Chicago, and from that city went to Berlin, Wisconsin; after a year's residence there he came to Iowa, stopping in Linn County and other portions of the State for two years. He then went to Missouri and resided in Jackson and Johnson counties until 1864, when he came to Page County as before stated. Until 1868 he made his home with B. F. Runnels. He began farming on wild land, and for many years he was a long distance from markets; he was among the pioneers of that part of the county and worked against all the odds of pioneer life; but he persevered and was rewarded with success. He now owns 240 acres of land, all in one body and under excellent cultivation. He has a good residence, a barn, an orchard, and a beautiful grove, with all else that goes to make up a pleasant country home. Mr. Harrington has made a specialty of breeding swine, and is probably the most successful as well as the largest grower in the county. He has built an extensive building especially planned for the care and protection of live-stock. At one end of this structure flows a living spring of water, while at the other end is a good well of pure water; there are steam vats for cooking feed, the superiority of which plan is well demonstrated in the appearance of Mr. Harrington's stock. He frequently markets 400 head in a season, and in 1883 and 1884 it ran over that number.
Every man in this country must have some political creed, and our intelligent subject has chosen the principles of the Republican party, believing they will serve the country's best interests.
Mr. Harrington is a man gifted with a sound body, and is of a keen observation, profiting by his experience. In manner he is frank and cordial, and ranks among the leading farmers of Page County.

Everything about the place shows thrift and wise management; all the modern methods of farming are brought into use and are found very profitable. In politics Mr. Knost is an independent thinker, voting for the man rather than the party. He has held several local offices, serving with credit to himself and the satisfaction of the public. For ten years and more he has been school treasurer. He is an acceptable member of the German Lutheran Church, of which he has been trustee as well as president of the board. Mrs. Knost is also a member of the same church. In all business affairs Mr. Knost is counted correct at all times, and possesses the happy faculty of making many warm friends. His farm is an index of what a man, who is industrious and temperate in his habits, can do in Iowa soil.

SETH TERRY, a resident of section 7, Nodaway Township, has lived in Page County since 1869. To acquaint the reader with something of his earlier career it may be stated that he is a native of Ulster County, New York, born December 8, 1834. He is a son of Henry and Hannah (Mapes) Terry, natives of New York. The paternal grandfather was a soldier in the war of the Revolution. The parents both lived in New York all their days, surviving until the age of seventy-eight years. Seth is the third of a family of six children, five sons and one daughter. He grew to manhood on his father's farm in Orange County, New York, and received a fair education. As he grew up he was impressed that there were better chances for young men of limited means in the West, so in 1854 he emigrated to Iowa and settled in Floyd County, where he was counted a pioneer.   He partly improved a farm in that county, and also spent some time in working at the plasterers' trade; after several months he went to Buchanan County, Iowa, and in 1859, during the gold fever, he went to California. He made the trip over­land, consuming six months in the journey. On reaching the coast he engaged in work at his trade, and when he returned he came via the ocean route.. In the fall of 1862 he removed to Taylor County, Iowa, where he lived until 1869, when he came to Page County as before stated. In 1870 he moved to his farm, which he has brought to an advanced state of cultivation; it was then wild land without improvements of any kind; he has planted a fine orchard and a beautiful grove, and has erected good and substantial buildings. The farm covers a quarter section, and is one of the most desirable homesteads in the county. By nature it is well adapted to the raising of live-stock, to which industry Mr. Terry gives considerable attention.
Mr. Terry was married at Charles City, Floyd County, Iowa, in August, 1857, to Miss Laura Coan, a native of Vermont and a daughter of Buel and Miranda (Morgan) Coan, natives of Connecticut and New York respectively. Mrs. Terry's parents removed from Vermont to New York, and in 1849 to Lake County, Illinois; in 1854 they came to Iowa and settled in Floyd County, and in 1866 they came to Page County, where they lived several years. The father died in Marshall County, Kansas, in 1882, and the mother died in Nebraska in 1889. Mrs. Almira L. of Tarkio Township, Page County, is a sister to Mrs. Terry. Mr. Terry and wife have three children: Menzo Watt is married and lives in Marshall County, Kansas; he finished his education at the State University at Iowa City, Iowa, and was graduated in the law department, and is now engaged in the pactice of his profession; the [page 811] other children are Edgar M., and Nancy M., wife of Alfred Johnson.
Politically Mr. Terry is a stanch Democrat. He is a man who has the esteem of his neighbors, and is counted one of Page County's most successful farmers.
  

CHARLES PFANDER is another one of Page County's pioneers who is justly entitled to more than a passing notice in this connection. It was on the 15th day of May, 1854, that he first beheld the wild and picturesque landscape of Page County. He had come a long way to find a home in the land of the free, for he was born in Wurtemberg, Germany, January 25, 1829. His parents were also natives of Germany, the father being Charles and the mother Eve Catherine (Hothborger) Pfander. When our worthy subject was but three years old his parents and two children, Charles and Mary, set sail for America, settling near Lancaster, Pennsylvania; thence they removed to Miami County, Ohio. Charles was then seven years of age. The family, thinking to better their condition, made another move, this time to Montgomery County, Ohio; they located near the thriving city of Dayton, but they were not satisfied with their location, and so re­moved to Pierpont, Ohio, where they resided eleven years. The father was a wagon maker by trade, which calling he followed a number [page 812] of years, until his family were older and able to work. He died in July, 1853, in Darke County, Ohio, and the mother died in 1844, in Montgomery County, Ohio. When eighteen years old Charles, Jr., began farming, March 19, 1853, he was married to Miss Sarah Baker, a native of Preble County, Ohio. She was a daughter of Jonathan and Susan (Tillman) Baker, natives of Virginia. In the spring of 1854 Mr. and Mrs. Pfander came west by the Ohio and Mississippi rivers to St. Joe, Missouri, and thence by teams to Page County. They settled on a portion of their present farm, Mr. Pfander building a log cabin, which was called very good at that time. He built his present residence in 1863, and in 1887 made some additions, so that he has one of the most comfortable dwellings in this part of the county; it is nestled in among a beautiful growth of ever­green and shade trees, and presents a very attractive appearance. There are many bearing fruit trees on the place, and the buildings for stock and grain are of a most substantial character. The farm consists of 184 acres well watered by running streams, and under excellent cultivation.
Mr. and Mrs. Pfander are the parents of eight children: Perry, deceased; Nancy Ann, wife of Mr. Knox; John W., Mary Ellen, wife of C. A. Thompson; Harry, George, Alice and Horace Clyde are at home.
Politically Mr. Pfander is a stanch supporter of Republican doctrines, but he has never aspired to public office; he has been elected to numerous local positions of trust, having served as township trustee for twenty years; he has assessed the township seven different years, giving entire satisfaction to the taxpayers. He belongs to the Univers alist Church, of which he was one of the charter members. He is thoroughly alive to all religious and educational causes, and believes more united effort to elevate the morals of the community should be made. He is frank and candid in his manner, aiming to do right by all with whom he deals; his word is his bond, and is so accepted by all. During his thirty-five years residence in Page County he has borne the good will of all.

F. H. MULLER, the subject of this biographical notice, is a resident of section 16, Nodaway Township. He is well known throughout Page County as one of the band of pioneers who emigrated to Iowa in 1856, when all was yet new and wild. In connection with his early career it may be stated that he is a native of Wayne County, Ohio, born August 17,1835. He is a son of Peter David and Maria (Goode) Muller; the father was a native of that picturesque portion of Europe known as Switzerland, and the mother was born in Washington County, Pennsylvania. The parents were united in marriage in Stark County, Ohio, and thence removed to Wayne County, Ohio.
F. H., the son, of whom we write, grew to manhood in Wayne County, assisting his father on the farm, and attending the common schools. In 1856, having become of age, he came to Iowa, and settled in Page County, pre-empting land near Page Center; later on he traded that land for wild land in section 12; this tract contained 170 acres, which he at once began to improve for a permanent home. But finally he sold the land and returned to Ohio. However, the "Buck­eye" State had lost all its charm for him since he had seen the fertile and cheap lands of Iowa. After a two-weeks sojourn he returned to Page County and settled in Harlan Township on 230 acres of land, a portion of which had already been improved.   There he

resided twelve years, and then sold the place and purchased his present farm; it was then wild land, but he at once began improvements, and has brought the place to an advanced degree of cultivation. In 1875 he built a roomy and comfortable residence, which stands on a natural building site, and is now surrounded by shade and ornamental trees; there is a good barn, and all the necessary buildings for stock and grain have been erected; an excellent orchard affords a hand­some income, there being 125 bearing trees. The farm consists of 150 acres and extends to the town plot of Clarinda; it is subdivided into fields suitable for stock purposes, which branch of farming he makes quite a specialty.
Regarding his family, it may be said Mr. Muller was married, September 25, 1859, in Page County, to Elizabeth Chestnut, a native of Kentucky, and a daughter oi Edmond and Sarah (Parker) Chestnut. Mrs. Muller passed her girlhood in Missouri and Iowa. Seven children have been born of this union. Lewis
M., Lottie, wife of-----------   Pfander, deceased; Laura Ellen, wife of Kinsman Rowling; Dora M., Charles Clay, Armour Leander, and Ross Everett.
Mr. Miller is a stanch believer in Democratic principles, but has never aspired to public office. Though a man fifty-four years of age, he is leading an active life, and has the prospect of many useful years in the future, having always been a man temperate in his habits. In his manner he is candid and frank, and has the confidence of all who know him.

A. M. COOPER was born at Chittenden, Yermont, March 19, 1816, and is the son of Abel and Ada (Buffman) Cooper, natives of New York and Rhode Island respectively. When he was two years of age his father died, but his mother cared for him until he was seven years of age; he then went to live at Williston, Vermont, with a family by the name of Winslow; for seven years he attended the common schools and assisted in doing chores about the house. When he was fourteen years old he returned to his mother who had in the meantime been married to Amos Hickok. He lived at home for two years and then entered a carriage and wagon shop as apprentice; at the expiration of his term of three years he opened a shop for himself at Hinesburgh, Vermont, which he conducted successfully for two year. He then went to Lewistown, Fulton County, Illinois, and opened a shop, where he worked at his trade for seventeen years. He disposed of his business and removed to Ringgold County, Iowa, where he purchased 400 acres of land; sixty acres of the land had been broken out, and there were a few buildings. For one year he lived on this place and then moved to Clarinda, Page County, Iowa, and opened a general store; this he operated four years and a half, after which he disposed of the business and bought his present farm of 100 acres; this place has all the necessary improvements found on a well managed farm; there are three acres of orchard, bearing fifty varieties of apples, a good frame house and barns for stock and grain.
Mr. Cooper was married May 4, 1843, to Mary Lemaster, who was born in Scott County, Indiana, December 25, 1822. Seven children have been born of this union: Eva M. and Eddie M. are deceased; Frank L. resides in St. Joe, Missouri; Hugh L. lives in Nebraska; Milton lives in Page County, and Charles and MinnieM. resideathome. November 1,1889, the family were much saddened and stricken by the death of Mrs. Cooper, after an illness of three weeks. She was sixty-seven years of age.
In politics Mr. Cooper is identified with the Democratic party. He has served as township assessor for two years and has been secretary of the school board for a number of terms. He has at all times manifested a great interest in the welfare of the community and has aided in every enterprise of a public character.

MOSES CHANDLER, Essex, Iowa.— The name of Chandler has been associated with the State of Maine from its earliest settlement, and has been found among the most prominent citizens of that commonwealth. Tradition says the family are descendants of one of two brothers who came from England. The authentic history of the subject of this sketch begins with his grandfather, Josephus Chandler, who lived at Fryebnrgh, Maine, and who owned 1,300 acres of land. He was a very intelligent, capable man.   He settled in that section before the war of the Revolution, and was married to Miss Farrington; to them were born thirteen children: David, Nathan, Moses, John, Josephus, Peter, Jerry, George, Hazen, Isaac, Polly, Susan, and Hannah. Mr. Chandler lived all his days in Fryeburgh, dying at the age of sixty-two years. His son, John, was born at Fryeburg, Maine, and learned the carpenter's trade, being an excellent mechanic. He afterward became a lumberman, and made a great deal of money but never became wealthy. He married Hannah W. Barker, daughter of Richard and Margaret (Gordon) Barker. Mr. Chandler's father was a native of Andover, Massachusetts, and a farmer, by which occupation he became a wealthy man for those times; the Gordons were descended from the celebrated Scotch family of that name. Mr. and Mrs. John Chandler were the parents of seven children: Richard B., Eliza, James, Drusilla, Henry, who died in the civil war, and Isaac. The father was a soldier in the war of 1812, and did service at Portland, Maine. He was a man of exceedingly strong constitution and endured the hardships attending the life of a lumberman on the rivers in Maine as though they were lightly to be borne. He was a man of unquestioned integrity, and is still kindly remembered by the older citizens of Fryeburg. He died at Lowell, Maine, in 1868, at the age of seventy-five years. His brother, Isaac Chandler, lived to the age of ninety-one years. Hannah Barker Chandler was a devoted member of the Congregational Church, greatly revered by her family and highly respected by her neighbors; she lived to the age of eighty-seven years. She implanted in the hearts of her children a love of truth and justice which has given them a decided, firm character.
Moses Chandler, the subject of this bio- [page 816] graphical record, is a son of John and Hannah (Barker) Chandler, and was born at Fryeburgh, Maine, April 13, 1823. He was early inured to the hard labor attending farm life, and remained under the parental roof until he had attained his twenty-second year. Then with $13 in his pocket, the capital on which he was to build his fortunes, he went to Lowell, Massachusetts, securing employment with the Canal and Locks Company of that place. He worked there for six years, and a part of the time was foreman and over­seer of the Irish laborers. In 1849, when the gold fever was at its height he went to California, making the trip by water via Cape Horn; seven months and twenty days were consumed on the voyage. He went to the mines of the Yuba and Feather rivers, remaining one jear; he then returned to Lowell, and in 1851 he was united in mar­riage to Miss Mary A. Grimes, daughter of John M. and Alice D. Grimes, who were English by descent. Mr. Chandler remained in Lowell one year and then returned to Cal ifornia, going by way of the Isthmus; at the end of three years he came back with $4,000 in gold, which he invested in land in Dane County, Wisconsin. He built a house and a barn and established a comfortable home wmere he was among the early settlers. He resided here for eleven years, and in 1866 he came to Page County, Iowa, and bought land, to which he added as his means would per-mit until he has 490 acres of rich, productive land. The place is well improved with good, substantial buildings surrounded by a beautiful grove. Mr. Chandler is extensively engaged in feeding cattle and hogs for the market, and has been very successful in this branch of husbandry. During the civil war he was enrolling clerk in Wisconsin. He has been school treasurer of this township for nine years and has always interested himself in educational matters. He belongs to the Masonic order and is a member of the Commandery. Although sixty-seven years of age he has not abandoned one of the pleasures of his youth; he is a member of a gun club at Red Oak, and is an expert shot; the last time he visited the club he broke twenty-four out of twenty-five " blue rocks." He is well preserved both in mind and body, his eye being undimmed and his hand as steady as in his prime, evidence of the excellent habits of his life.
Mr. and Mrs. Chandler are the parents of six children: Fred H., Homer A., Alice C, Eliza F., John, deceased, and Addie, deceased. Fred H. married Alice Corwin, and to them have been born three children; they reside in Madison County, Nebraska. Alice is the wife of William Gilmore of Franklin Grove, and they are the parents of two children. Homer A. married Mary Croft, and two children have been born of this union; he is a successful, well-to-do farmer. Eliza is the wife of Frank Allen, and they reside on the home farm with Mr. and Mrs. Chandler.
John Grimes, the father of Mrs. Chandler, was born in England, August 30, 1799; his wife, Alice D. Grimes, was born two days earlier. Mr. Grimes was a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church and a devoted Christian. He brought up his family to high moral and religious principles, and with a keen sense of honor and justice. Two of his sous, Jesse and Samuel, served in the Sixth Massachusetts, the former for three months and the latter for three years. Samuel is now a dentist in Boston, Massachusetts. Mrs. Chandler was born in Taunton, Massachusetts, December 10, 1829, and was married at the age of twenty-two years. She was a graduate of the Grammar School of Lowell, Massachusetts, and was an excellent pupil.   She has been a woman of an active [page 817] mind and of great physical endurance, and her sterling worth does honor to the old English stock from which she is sprung. She has indeed been an assistant to her husband, and a faithful guide and counsellor to her children.

It is truly a pleasure to the biographer to record the history of people who have lived and prospered in the belief and practice of correct principles, and who by their untiring exertions and the observance of the great laws of natural life, honesty, industry, and perseverance, have achieved comfort and happiness.

Alexander Shum is one of the representative farmers of Nodaway Township, Page County, where he has resided since 1873. He was born in Rutland County, Vermont, June 26, 1852, and is a son of Peter Shurn, who lives on section 5, Nodaway Township. Peter Shum was born in Canada in 1831, and lived there until he was seven years old, when his parents, Frank and Margaret Shum, removed to the United States and settled in Vermont. He was married to Elizabeth Pfenall at the age of twenty-one years, and in 1857 he removed with his family to Lee County, Iowa; they made this their home until 1873, when they came to Page County. Mr. Shum has a finely improved farm of 640 acres, a good residence and barns for stock and grain. He and his wife have had eleven children: Alexander, Peter, George, Lizzie, Joseph, John, William, James, Abe, Moses and Anna. Five of them are living at home. Alexander was five years old when the family removed to Lee County. He was brought up after the usual fashion of farmers' sons, receiving his education in the public schools.    He was married June 8, 1878, to Mary McCowen, a daughter of James McCowen, one of the prominent old settlers of the county. Mrs. Shum was born in Page County, January 27, 1859. Two children have been born to this union: Carrie Maud and Bessie Laverne. Mr. Shum settled on his present farm in 1883; the land is in an advanced state of cultivation, and he has made many excellent improvements in the way of buildings; he has also planted a fine orchard. Politically he affiliates with the Democratic party, and has served his township on the school board. He is a member of Clarinda Lodge, No. 109, I. O. O. F., and holds an enviable position in the community.

JOHN M. REEVES, one of Page County's industrious agriculturists, is justly entitled to a space in the biographical history of the county in which he has lived since 1867. He was born in Greene County, Pennsylvania, April 3,1849. Morgan Reeves, father of our subject, was born in 1808, and was married in Greene County, Pennsylvania, to Hannah Barclay; she was a daughter of Hugh and Ann (Darrah) Barclay, of Scotch ancestry, and was born in Pennsylvania in 1812. Morgan Reeves was a tanner by trade, which occupation he followed through all his life; he died in 1865, leaving a widow and six children: William, a resident of Seattle, Washington Territory; Samuel, of Villisca, Iowa; James B., of Red Oak, Iowa; John M. and Mary, wife of W. M. Marley.
In 1867 the father removed his family to Iowa, purchasing eighty acres of prairie, and eight acres of timber land in Nodaway Township, Page County; the land was bought of Solomon Rounds, but most of the improvements have been made since it came into the [page 818] possession of the Reeves family. The farmhouse is a good story-and-a-half structure, costing twelve hundred dollars; the farm lies three miles north of Clarinda, and is well watered by the Nailey branch, especially adapting it to the raising of live-stock.
John M. Reeves manages the home farm, and is doing it very successfully. Politically he is an ardent Democrat and an ardent advocate of prohibition, rightly believing that the rum traffic is the curse of this fair land of ours. He is still a single man, and although he is greatly absorbed in business interests, being a farmer of more than usual enterprise, he finds time for his many friends, and is highly respected by all who know him.

GUENTHER BROTHERS are the proprietors of one of the leading livery barns in Clarinda, Iowa. W. H. Guenther was born November 12,1866, in Alsace, Germany. Peter J. Guenther was born August 15, 1869, in McHenry County, Illinois. The father of these two young men emigrated to America in 1867 and settled in McHenry County, Illinois, where he engaged in agricultural pursuits. In coming to the United States he hoped to place before his children [page 819] better opportunities than they could possibly have in the " beloved Fatherland." He remained in McHenry County, Illinois, four years, and then removed to Taylor County, Iowa, where he resided one year. At the end of this time he came to Page County and purchased a farm of ninety acres in Harlan Township where he still makes his home.
The family consists of nine children, eight of whom are living, three daughters and five sons. They have received a liberal education in the common schools of Harlan Township, and have assisted their father in making a home for his declining years. W. H. and Peter J. Guenther have not been behind the others in performing their filial duty. When their services were no longer needed at home, they engaged in coal-mining for a time, and in 1887 they purchased a machine for the boring of wells and followed this occupation for three years. They have done quite an extensive business in this line and it is quite a profitable one. They are energetic and enterprising, and have accumulated considerable property by their efforts. In February, 1890, they purchased the livery stock of F. M. Norton, of Clarinda, and will doubtless make a success of this enterprise as they have in all past undertakings.

T. K. BLOOM, an honored and representative citizen of Morton Township, a removed to his present farm from Washington Township in the spring of 1890. He came overland by team from Green County, Wisconsin, in 1874, and has assisted in the growth and development of one of the leading counties of the State of Iowa. He is a native of Pennsylvania, born in Center County, April 9,1839. His parents, George and Elizabeth (Kooken) Bloom, were also natives of the Keystone State. When T. K. was a lad of twelve years they removed to Wisconsin and settled in Green County, where they were among the pioneer settlers. There our worthy subject was reared to farm life. He was united in marriage November 3, 1860, in Green County, Wisconsin, to Catherine Chryst, who was born in Green County, Wisconsin, and a daughter of John Chryst. Mr. Chryst was born in Virginia, but spent many years in Tennessee and Kentucky; he married Jane Douglass, who was born in Scotland and roared in England.
In 1874 Mr. Bloom brought his family and settled in Washington Township, on section 19; there he set about the task of improving 160 acres of wild land, and seven years later he had the satisfaction of placing it upon the market as an improved farm and realizing a fair price on it. He then bought a farm of J. B. Van Sandt, one of the first settlers in the county, and lived on this place until 1890, when he sold out to George Cato, Jr., and purchased his farm m Morton Township; this tract consists of 120 acres, and is in a high state of cultivation. There is a comfortable dwelling pleasantly situated on a natural building site overlooking the surrounding country, and an orchard and grove near by add to the beauty of the landscape. The barns and sheds are in admirable order, and well suited to the purposes of general farming.
Mr. and Mrs. Bloom are the parents of twelve children: Elizabeth Jane, wife of Luther Martin; George D., Anna Belle, Sarah Verina, Edith A., Ellen O., Mark M. P., Frank J., Amy L., Grover C, who died at the age of two years, James Montgomery, who died at the age of nine months, and Floyd T. Politically our subject is with the Democratic party. He and his wife are both consistent members of the Baptist Church, and assisted in the organization of the first Baptist society [page 820] in Washington Township; later they were active workers in the society at Lone Willow. They have ever given ready support to all efforts to advance the interests of religion and education, and are numbered among the leading families of the county.

JOHN LELJEDAHL is another one of the prominent Swedish farmers of Page County who have assisted in its development and growth, and who is therefore worthy of mention in this connection. He emigrated to the United States in 1869, and first settled in Rock Island County, Illinois, where he remained three years, engaged in coal mining. He had been united in marriage in Sweden to Johana Mary Peterson, a daughter of Peter Johnson: it is according to a Swedish custom that the daughter took the name of Peterson instead of Johnson.
In 1872 Mr. Leljedahl came to Page County and settled on the farm now occupied by his brother Frank, whose sketch appears on another page of this volume. He afterward bought seventy-five acres, to which he has made additions as his means would permit, until to-day he has in his home farm, 355 acres, besides 160 acres in Pierce Township, and 160 acres in Montgomery County, Iowa, [page 821] making an accumulation of 675 acres; it is line rich land, and is well improved. When Mr. Leljedahl landed in Chicago he had less than nothing, as he was in debt to the rail­road company for his fare; he left his trunk as security until he could earn the money to pay the amonnt, $2.50. He had left his wife and three children in Sweden, and in less than a year he had saved sufficient means to pay their passage to America.
Mr. and Mrs. Leljedahl are the parents of seven children: Ida M., who died at the age of seventeen years; Charles Y., Frank E., Gust, Salmi, Emily and Joseph. The father and mother are both members of the Swedish Lutheran Church, and Mr. Leljedahl is a trustee. In his political opinion he is affiliated with the Republican party. Beginning with nothing he has made a fortune against great odds; a stranger in a strange land, amidst a people speaking a strange tongue, his achievements seem much greater. It has required energy, perseverance and economy, together with a solid financial ability, the traits of character that have laid the corner stone of this great and prosperous country.

  
ISAAC FLEENER, one of the representative farmers of Page County, Iowa, is from an old American family of German descent. The great grandfather, Nicholson Fleener, emigrated from Germany and settled in Washington County, Virginia. His son, Michael, was born on ship-board, on the passage to America; when he was a young man, he fought in the war of the Revolution, and was wounded in the battle of King's Mountain; he received his pay in Continental money, which was worthless. He lived in Virginia all his life, where he was engaged in agricultural pursuits. His oldest son, John Fleener, was the father of our worthy subject; he was born about the year 1770, and served in the Revolution about six months before its close. He became a farmer, and when a young man was united in marriage to a Miss Hensler, and they had born to them nine children: Nicholas, the oldest son, was under General Harrison in the war of 1812, and at the battle of Tippecanoe he was severely wounded, twenty-four bullets passing through his clothing. The mother died, and Mr. Fleener married in Virginia, Miss Mary Gibson, to whom were born ten children, Isaac Fleener being next to the youngest. The father removed to Washington County, Indiana, in 1811, and settled near Salem, in a heavy timber section, his nearest neighbor being fifteen miles distant; it was here that Isaac Fleener was born; his mother died when he was about two years old, and the father was married a third time, to Miss Rebecca Bortroff; she became the mother of five children. This was, indeed, an old-fashioned pioneer family, numbering twenty-four children.
Mr. Fleener was a successful hunter, and as all sorts of game was plentiful his family was well supplied with the best of meats. He lived to the great age of ninety-two years. He was a Presbyterian in his religious faith and possessed ail the virtues of an old-time American pioneer.
Isaac Fleener, son of John and Mary (Gibson) Fleener, was born August 22, 1827, on his father's farm in Washington County, Indiana. The dwelling on this farm was built of brick, a very uncommon thing in Indiana at that date. Isaac received the limited education afforded in the primitive pioneer schools, and was trained to the details of agriculture on his father's farm. When a young man of twenty-two, in 1848, he entered 160 acres of land in Des Moines County, Iowa, and was therefore one of the earliest settlers of the State. He resided on this farm until he came to Page County. He was married in Des Moines County to Permelia Gallaher, daughter of George and Amanda (Williams) Gallaher. The ancestors of the Galiahers wore Scotch people who settled in Tennessee, were also pioneers of Illinois, and among the first settlers of Des Moines County, coming there early in the thirties.
Mr. and Mrs. Fleener are the parents of five children, who are now living: John, Lorinda, Charles, Levina and Janie. In September, 1874, Mr. Fleener removed to Page County and settled on his present farm, which consists of 320 acres; it was then in a wild, state, but by energetic management he has converted it into a valuable farm with excellent improvements. He and his wife are both members of the Presbyterian Church, of which he is an elder. He is a man who has always taken an active interest in educational and religious matters, and has contributed liberally of his means to the erection and support of the church.   He is a man of unquestioned rep- [page 823] utation, with a keen sense of honor and justice.
Lorinda Fleener married Dennis Crostwait and they have two children; John married Sadie Grafton; Levina is the wite of Van Evrie Ballard, and they have three children; Janie married William Lamborne, and is the mother of one child, Emma; Charles married Abbie Lamborne.