Keokuk County Iowa IAGenWeb - 1903 Biography

CHARLES A. NAUMAN

There must be something ennobling in the life of the agriculturist, else why does urban society recruit so largely from the ranks of country-bred men and women? In these latter days, when so many prove victims to the' allurements of city life, and forswear the place of their birth and rearing, it is refreshing to record the life of a man who lived out the measure of his days on the farm, proud always to be known as one of the "sons of toil."

Charles A. Nauman (deceased) was born in Saxony, Germany, January 29, 1833. After passing nearly a lifetime in the old country, his parents emigrated with their family to America, Charles A. being at that time twenty years of age. Another son and three daughters made up the family, two of whom now live in Sigourney. This family came direct to Keokuk county and settled on a farm in Clear Creek township, where the parents continued to reside until their death.

Charles A. Nauman was of that thrifty class of Germans who give solid strength to any community in which they may settle. His parents had given him a liberal education in the fatherland, even adding the accomplishment of speaking the English language. When he came to America he was therefore better equipped than the average foreigner, and he was not alone proficient in the spoken language, but wielded a facile pen as well. During his lifetime he was a frequent and valued correspondent for the local press. Following the custom of middle-class Germans his parents had apprenticed him to a trade, and he was possessed of a good knowledge of blacksmithing as a result.

When the war for the preservation of the Union began, Mr. Nauman was one of the first to offer his services, becoming a private in Company F, Eighth Iowa Volunteer Infantry, in which he served for a year. The rigors of army life were too great, however, and a chronic weakness of the throat developing into bronchitis, as a result of which he secured his discharge. It was this disease, together with other complications, which finally caused his death in February of 1893.

In 1863 Mr. Nauman married Miss Mary Goeldner, daughter of John G. Goeldner, who has mention elsewhere in this volume. To the union eight children were born, all now living but one.

Mr. Emil D. Nauman, eldest son of the above, was born in Keokuk county, December 19, 1864. He was given a liberal education in the common schools and at Iowa City Academy and Commercial College. For five years thereafter he taught successfully in the schools of the county and for several years engaged in farming, but is now a bookkeeper.

Mr. Nauman is quite active in Republican circles, his first entrance into politics being in 1895, when he was elected assessor of Prairie township, and also the following year. In 1900 he was selected to take the census of Prairie township. In school affairs he has always taken a keen interest and has served as secretary of the school board of his district for five years. In 1890 he was married to Miss Emma Goodman, of Keokuk county, who has borne him one child, a daughter named Anna. Since January, 1902, the family have resided in Sigourney.

ALEXANDER M. NEAS

Alexander M. Neas is one of the progressive and public-spirited citizens of Sigourney, Iowa, where he conducts a large and constantly increasing lumber business. Mr. Neas was born in Butler county, Ohio, October 6, 1857, and is a son of Levi M. Neas. He was reared on a farm until he was thirteen years of age, at which time his parents removed to Sigourney, Iowa, where his father found constant and remunerative employment in the growing town, working at his trade of brick and stone-laying. After obtaining a good, common school education, Alexander learned the trade of brick and stone masonry and followed it until he was twenty-six years old. During the succeeding years he was very successful at bridge contracting and at the end of that period purchased a lumber yard in this city. Since 1889 he has carried on a lumber business, which has required all of his time and energy to properly manage, and which is one of the important and reliable industries of Sigourney.

In 1882 Mr. Neas was married to Miss Mollie Mackey, who is a daughter of Col. C. H. Mackey, of Sigourney, and two children have been born to this union, namely: Henry M. and Edith Gertrude. In political sentiment Mr. Neas is a Republican, and he is fraternally associated with the orders of Knights of Pythias and the Modern Woodmen. He is one of the solid, trustworthy citizens of Sigourney, honest and upright, fair in his business dealings and ready to cast his influence at all times in the direction of education and morality and to further enterprises of permanent good to his community.

WILLIAM HARRISON NEEDHAM

William Harrison Needham, of the Keokuk County News, Sigourney, Iowa, was born in Guernsey county, Ohio, August 22, 1840; his parents were David Needham, a shoemaker, and Margaret Shaffer, having moved west from Pennsylvania. He moved from Ohio to Iowa in 1853 and settled in Oskaloosa, where he received a common school education and subsequently learned the trade of printer. In June, 1862, he enlisted in Company D, Twenty-second Iowa Volunteer Infantry, and participated in every engagement in which his regiment took part during the war, being mustered out of the service and honorably discharged at Savannah, Georgia, on the 1st of August, 1865. He was promoted to first lieutenant of his company for bravery at the assault on Vicksburg, May 22, 1863, by General Grant, who made special mention of him in his report of that battle. He was appointed on the staff of General Banks, while in Texas, but at his own request was permitted to return to his company and regiment. He was in the battle of Port Gibson, Jackson, Raymond, Champion Hills, Black River Bridge, and the charge and siege of Vicksburg, which lasted forty-seven days. He again went to Jackson, Mississippi, and took part in the second engagement there. He was then sent to New Orleans and Texas, and afterwards sent to Petersburg, Virginia, where the regiment was in Ben Butler's army; afterwards he was sent to the Shenandoah Valley, Virginia, where he took part in the battles of Winchester, Fisher's Hill, and Cedar Creek, where Sheridan made his famous ride. He was in command of Company A for three months; he served as adjutant and quartermaster both at the same time for six months on account of the loss of so many line officers, and took part in two court martials.

Soon after returning from the army Mr. Needham purchased an interest in the Oskaloosa Herald, which he conducted until 1877. In November, 1878, he removed to Sigourney, purchased the Keokuk County News and still retains the position of editor of that paper, developing it into one of the best and strongest weeklies in Iowa. It now has a circulation of three thousand copies weekly. For the past few years his two sons, Charles K. and John R., have been associated with him. Charles K. is associate editor and John R. is business manager. Both are good young rising newspaper men. With this company of co-workers the News is bound to go forward and win still greater honors. The News is always actively identified with every object and movement which has the welfare of the community at heart. The paper is and always has been Republican in politics.

In politics Mr. Needham is a prominent Republican, having always taken a deep interest in party affairs, and serving it in important capacities with the same ability and faithfulness which have characterized his business life. While a resident of Oskaloosa he was postmaster from January, 1870, to 1877. He served as a member of the school board and city council of Sigourney for some time, and on September 1, 1898, was appointed postmaster by President McKinley, which office he still holds. In 1896 he was a delegate to the Republican national convention at St. Louis, which nominated William McKinley for the presidency. He has been chairman of the Keokuk county Republican committee for six years, and has attended as a delegate nearly all the Iowa state conventions of the party during the last quarter of a century, and was also a member of the Republican state central committee for two terms. Mr. Needham is a prominent member of the Grand Army of the Republic and a Knight Templar in the Masonic fraternity.

December 20, 1866, he married Olive, daughter of Samuel Knowlton, of Oskaloosa, Iowa, and they have had eight children: Charles K., John R., Alice Pearl (deceased), Edna P., Emma J., Sherman Waldo, Anna Belle, and William Harrison, Jr.

J. M. NELSON

For almost a half century J. M. Nelson has been a resident of Keokuk county and now resides upon the old family homestead which his father entered from the government upon locating here in 1853. It is located in Washington township and was one of the first farms settled in the locality. The subject of this review was born in Knox county, Illinois, May 5, 1844. His father, Elias Nelson, was a native of Virginia, bprn in Greenbrier county, May 27, 1822, and when five years of age left the Old Dominion in company with his parents, who removed to Lawrence county, Ohio, where they remained for about eight years, and then took up their abode in Knox county, Illinois, making their home upon a farm there until called to their final rest. Elias Nelson was married in Knox county in 1843 to Miss Emily Brown, a native of Pennsylvania, who with her parents left that state when she was four years of age, locating in Meigs county, Ohio, where she spent her early childhood. At the age of eighteen she went with her parents to Knox county, Illinois, where she gave her hand in marriage to Mr. Nelson. She became the mother of eleven children, six sons and five daughters; Jonathan, of this review; John Columbus, who died in the anny; William Oregon, deceased; a son who died in infancy; Mary Jane, who has also passed away; Virginia E., the wife of Henry King; Perry F.; Julia, the wife of John Axtell of Poweshiek county, Iowa; Florence, the wife of Alexander Zerring; Annie, the wife of John Colbert of Washington township; and Grant, who completes the family.

It was on the 1st of April, 1853, that the parents located on the farm on which our subject now resides, the place comprising one hundred and sixty acres of raw prairie land, which the father entered from the government and improved, making it a good farm, whose productive fields returned to him golden harvests. He remained upon the old homestead until his death, which occurred July 24, 1902, when he was eighty years of age. His death was the first in their home in Iowa. From the organization of the Republican party he had been one of its staunch supporters, always active in its work. He was a member of the Methodist church and his Christian faith molded his life. His widow still survives him and is yet living on the old home place at the age of seventy-eight years. Like her husband, she has lived an earnest Christian life and is highly respected for her many excellent traits of character.

J. M. Nelson came to the old homestead with his parents when about nine years of age and spent his youth there, working in field and meadow during the summer months, while in the winter season he performed the duties of the schoolroom and greatly enjoyed the pleasures of the playground. He was yet but a boy when the Civil war broke out, but at the early age of seventeen years he offered his services to his country, enlisting in September, 1861, as a member of Company F, Eighth Iowa Infantry, joining the regiment at Sigourney, Iowa, and being mustered in at Davenport. He served for about seven months and was then discharged on account of disability. He then returned to the old homestead and remained with his parents until 1864, when he once more enlisted under the call for men to serve for one hundred days, and remained at the front until the close of the war—a loyal defender of the old flag.

Once more Mr. Nelson returned to the old homestead and remained until 1867, when he went upon the road as an agent for about five months. He was then married on the 24th of August, 1868, to Miss Margaret S. King, a native of Indiana, where she spent her early girlhood, and then accompanied her parents to Iowa at the age of nine years, the family settling in Marion county, where she remained until she gave her hand in marriage to our subject. Their union has been blessed with seven children, two sons and five daughters: Chelca Q., Elsie C., Emily A. and Elias B., who are all deceased; Perry F.; Laura, the wife of Fred Payne of Whatcheer; Maggie, at home. The mother of these children passed away in Whatcheer, October 12, 1882, and Mr. Nelson was again married on August 7, 1885, his second union being with Ella A. Hockenberry, a native of Pennsylvania, who came to Iowa in her early girlhood, locating in Keokuk county, where she remained with her parents until her marriage. She became the mother of twins, who died in infancy, and she died May 20, 1886, at her home in Frontier county, Nebraska, and on the 11th of October, 1891, Mr. Nelson married Mrs. Anna Klein, a native of Keokuk county, but reared in Nebraska. A son, Elias, has been born to them.

Mr. Nelson has spent the last few years upon the old homestead in Washington township, and in addition to the attention which he gives to the operation and management of the old farm he is also engaged in carpentering. He is a member of the Grand Army of the Republic and in his political views is a Republican, faithful to the party and its interests, yet never seeking office as a reward for party fealty. He belongs to the Methodist Episcopal church and is well known throughout the county as a man worthy the respect of his fellow citizens and deserving of the friendship which is so largely accorded him.

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JOHN OWEN NEWKIRK

Among the retired farmers of Keokuk county is numbered this gentleman, who is a highly-esteemed and respected citizen of Warren township. He was born in Johnson county, Indiana, July 20, 1833, and comes of a family of Holland origin. His father, Daniel Newkirk, was a native of Holland and with his parents crossed the Atlantic to America, the family settling in Kentucky when he was about two years of age. He remained under the parental roof until he attained his majority and then removed to Indiana, locating in Morgan county, where he followed the occupation of a gunsmith, making his home, however, upon a farm. He led a busy and useful life and was thus enabled to provide for his family in a comfortable manner. Before leaving Kentucky he was united in marriage to Matilda Elston, a native of that state, where she lived until after her marriage. They became the parents of eleven children, seven sons and four daughters. Of this number three sons and two daughters are yet living. William H. and Mary E. have both passed away. J. O., of this review, is the next in order of birth and the others are as follows: Elias; Elizabeth; Martha; Jacob who was killed in the army; Daniel who died in infancy; Nettie, deceased; Cyrus; and Milton, deceased. These parents came to Iowa in 1852, the family being established upon a farm in Keokuk county, where the father purchased six hundred and forty acres of land, the greater part of which was wild and unimproved. With characteristic energy the elder Newkirk began clearing and developing this tract and also followed his trade until his eyesight failed him. He was considered one of the leading gunsmiths of the country, being an expert workman and understanding his business thoroughly, both in principal and in detail. He remained upon the farm until his death and his supervision of the land and the cultivation he bestowed upon it transformed it into a very valuable tract. Suffering from a stroke of paralysis in June, 1887, Mr. Newkirk never recovered, but passed away on the 1st of September of that year at the age of eighty-four. He had been a loyal and exemplary member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, but at the time of his death was not associated with the organization. In his political views he was a Whig in early life. Later he became a Democrat, but at the time of his death his support was given to the Republican party, and he consistently upheld its principles. He was a member of the Methodist Episcopal church and his life was in consistent harmony with his professions. So honorable and upright was he that his word was considered as good as his bond, and wherever known he commanded the respect and unqualified confidence of those with whom he was associated.

J. O. Newkirk spent his childhood days in Morgan county, Indiana, and with his parents came to Keokuk county, Iowa. He assisted his father at his trade and also upon the farm and was thus early trained to habits of industry, economy and enterprise—habits which have followed him throughout his entire life and have led to his success in later years. As a companion and helpmate for life's journey he chose Miss Elizabeth McNabb, the marriage being celebrated on the 13th of March, 1856. The lady is a native of Morgan county, Indiana, and is a daughter of Andrew J. McNabb, a pioneer settler of Keokuk county. The McNabbs came from Indiana to Iowa in 1842 and stopped in Washington county one year. In 1843 they settled in Warren township, Keokuk county, where he entered one hundred and sixty acres of land and improved it, carrying on the work of cultivation until the farm became very productive and valuable; he plowed the first furrow that was turned north of Skunk river, in the western part of Keokuk county, and was an active factor in the early development and improvement of this part of the state; he died September 9, 1896, in Delta, Iowa, at the age of eighty-two years; both he and his wife were natives of Kentucky.The home of our subject and his wife has been blessed with seven children, a son and six daughters, but two of the daughters have now passed away. The family record is as follows: America E.; Matilda, the wife of W. T. Wharton, of Spokane, Washington; Martha S., deceased; Flora D., the wife of C. G. Saunders, of Council Bluffs, Iowa; Jennie, deceased; Mary Ann, the wife of Frank Kendall, of Delta, Iowa ; and John L.

After his marriage Mr. Newkirk located upon a farm in Warren township, making his home thereon for twelve years, during which time he placed his land under a high state of cultivation and made other substantial improvements upon his place. He then sold the property, but immediately purchased another farm in the same township. This, too, he sold at a later date and in 1892 he came to his presdnt home, where he has since lived. During the past sixteen years he has worked at the carpenter's trade, and he still follows this pursuit, although he is now in his seventieth year. His life has been one of unremitting toil and should put to shame many a man of younger years who, having felt the burden of business life, would relegate to others the cares which he hiinself should bear. Mr. Newkirk is a member of the Masonic fraternity, having taken the three degrees of the blue lodge and holding membership in Delta. He has always been identified with the Democratic party, having firm faith in its principles, for he believes that they are best calculated to conserve good government. He has served as a postmaster of Delta for four years, filling the position under President Cleveland's second administration, and then refused to continue in the office during the Republican administration. He was also a notary public for a number of years and has held every township office with the exception of one. For twenty-four years he has been a member of the school board and the cause of education has found in him a warm friend, for he believes in good schools and competent teachers, realizing that education is one of the bulwarks of the nation and a splendid preparation for the duties of life. He and wife and family belong to the Christian church of Delta and his entire life has been one which has awakened uniform respect and confidence. In public office his course has been above reproach, for he has ever been prompt, loval and faithful.

W. W. NEWSOME, M.D.

Dr. W. W. Newsome is a skilled physician and surgeon of South English, Iowa, whose knowledge of Ihe science of medicine is broad and comprehensive, and whose ability in applying its principles to the needs of suffering humanity has gained him an enviable prestige in professional circles. The Doctor was born in Bradford, Yorkshire, England, May 12, 1843, his parents being William and Sarah (DeGarrs) Newsome, the former a rative of Leeds, England, the latter of Bradford. The father was a contractor by occupation, brought his family to America about 1848 and located at Athens, Ohio, but in 1852 he came to Iowa, and after spending some time in Burlington took up his residence in Crawfordsville, Washington county, where he continued to make his home throughout the remainder of his life, dying there at the age of fifty-one years. His wife, who long survived him, was nearly ninety-four years of age at the time of her death. She was a sister of Henry DeGarrs, a noted man of England, and she became a very eminent woman. She was highly educated and well versed in the Bible, being an earnest, consistent Christian, who was loved and respected by all who knew her. She was the mother of seven children, namely: Mary Ann, who died in infancy; Alfred, who was also a physician and is now deceased; W. W., of this review; Walter, who is engaged in the practice of medicine; Sally, the wife of J. H. Taylor of Chicago; Mary N., the wife of J. D. Stull of Iowa City; and William Henry, who died at the age of seventeen years.

Dr. W. W. Newsome was only five years old when he came with the family to the new world in 1848. His literary education was completed in the academy or high school at Crawfordsville, Iowa, and he began the preparation for his chosen profession in the medical department of the State University of Iowa, then located at Keokuk, where he was graduated in June, 1863. He began practice as assistant surgeon in the Estis hospital under Dr. Corns of Tama City, and by the practical knowledge which he gained there he was well fitted for private practice on locating in South English in the fall of 1863. His skill and ability in his profession were soon widely recognized, winning for him a large and lucrative practice which he still enjoys. To-day he is the second oldest physician in the county and ranks among the first in professional ability.

On the 3rd of May, 1902, Dr. Newsome was united in marriage to Mrs. Helen Ludington, a native of Illinois and a daughter of Rev. Charles Bachelor. She first married Harry Ludington, a son of Govenor Ludington of Wisconsin, who was a very wealthy man. She is a noted singer, possessing a highly cultivated contralto voice of remarkable sweetness, having pursued her musical education abroad at a cost of twenty thousand dollars. She has sung in London, England, Paris, Mexico and South America, as well as all over this country, and has won the highest praise from the best of critics wherever she has appeared.

Fraternally the Doctor is a prominent member of Naphtali Lodge, No. 188, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, of South English, of which he was worshipful master for seven years, and he is also an Odd Fellow. Since attaining his majority he has been unwavering in his support of the Republican party and its principles, and has taken a commendable interest in public affairs. In connection with his profession he holds membership in the County Medical Society, and is regarded as one of the leading physicians of this section of the state. A pleasant, genial gentleman, he is quite popular both in social and professional circles.

HANNO P. NEWTON

Hanno P. Newton requires no introduction to the major part of the readers of this volume, because he is so widely known in Keokuk county. He is now living a retired life in Keota, having after many years of close association with business affairs put aside the more arduous duties of industrial life. He is of New England birth, having been born in Cheshire county, New Hampshire, on the 17th of September, 1838. His father, the Hon. Hosea N. Newton, was likewise born in the old Granite state and was reared in Cheshire county, where he learned and followed the occupation of a cooper. In his native place he was also married to Miss Mary A. Fisk, likewise born in Cheshire county, and about 1840 they removed to Connecticut. At length the west attracted them and in 1858 they made their way to Keokuk county, Iowa, taking up their abode upon a farm in Lafayette township, where both spent their remaining days, the mother passing away in 1880, while the father's death occurred in 1883. They were devout members of the Episcopalian church and were widely recognized as earnest Christian people.

In his political views Mr. Newton was a staunch Repubhcan, active in the work of the party and recognized as one of its leading members in this section of the state. In 1875-6 he represented his district in the state senate and he also held local offices in his township. He had marked influence over public thought and action because of the confidence reposed in him by his fellow men, and he ever labored earnestly and conscientiously for the welfare of his county and state.

Hanno P. Newton is the only member of his parents' family that reached adult age. He was about a year and a half old when his parents removed to Connecticut, and in the public schools of that state he pursued his education to some extent and was also a student in a private boarding school. In 1858, when he was nineteen years of age, he came to Keokuk county, Iowa, and assisted in the development of the home farm until after the death of his parents, his labors relieving his father of all care during his declining years. On the 2d of February, 1862, Mr. Newton was united in marriage to Maria De Berand, a native of Syracuse, New York, and a daughter of Charles and Susan De Berand, the family being of French descent. Mrs. Newton was their eldest child and bv her marriage she has become the mother of eight children, as follows: Bertha, who died at the age of five years; Ida, who died at ten years of age; Stella; Susan Mary, the wife of J. N. Ramsey; Minnie, the wife of R. A. Huston; Lulla, who married E. O. Smith; Charles N., who wedded Minnie Shaffer; and Lettie, the wife of A. C. Martin.

At the time of his marriage Mr. Newton took his bride upon the old farm in this county and continued to engage in the tilling of the soil and in the raising of stock until 1896, when he retired from farm life to enjoy further rest from labor save for the attention which he gives to his invested interests. Since 1884 he has been the secretary of the Farmers' Pioneer Mutual Insurance Company, of Keokuk, Iowa, and this claims his attention to some extent. He yet owns a valuable farm of one hundred and sixty-three acres, which is well improved and represents the work of himself and his father. In his political views Mr. Newton is a staunch Republican and in 1897 was appointed postmaster at Keota, holding the position until 1902. He has served as township clerk and township trustee and is again filling the former position, having been appointed to fill a vacancy. Almost continuously he has served in one public office or another, and over the record of his official career and his private life there falls no shadow of wrong or suspicion of evil.

Prominent in the Masonic fraternity, he is now serving as worthy master of Adelphi Lodge, No. 333, Free and Accepted Masons. He is also a member of Enterprise Lodge, No. 159, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, in which he has filled all of the offices and also has occupied all of the chairs in the encampment. He has represented both lodges in the grand lodge and is true to the beneficent teachings of these fraternities. A consistent and helpful member of the Methodist church, he has served as one of its stewards for many years and has taken an active part in church work. For forty-four years he has been a resident of Lafayette township and has ever been deeply interested in its progress and improvement, taking just pride in what has been accomplished here as the county has emerged from conditions found upon the frontier to take its place among the leading counties of this great commonwealth.

CLAIBORNE JACKSON NUGENT

Among the honored residents of Keokuk county for the past five decades is the honored gentleman whose name precedes this paragraph, and who resides on section 24 in Steady Run township, he having passed his eightieth milestone. Mr. Nugent is one of the most substantial citizens of the county, both in sterling qualities of citizenship and in financial standing. He is in the best sense of the term a "self-made man," having by a life of ceaseless energy and unexampled toil risen from a condition of comparative penury to one of easy affluence. He has retired from the active management of the farm, and is passing his remaining days in the enjoyment of the results of his earlier labor.

As stated, Mr. Nugent is one of the pioneers of Keokuk county, he having settled here in 1853. He was born in the Hoosier state, where he first saw the hght in Clark county on the 24th of September, 1818. He was the son of John R. Nugent, a native of Nelson county, Kentucky. Here his father passed his early youth and married, and from thence settled in Clark county, Indiana, where he engaged in agricultural pursuits during the remainder of his life time. He was the father of seven sons and six daughters, all of whom grew to maturity, married and reared families. On the maternal side of our honored subject's family, Mary O. Connors, his mother, was also a native of the Bourbon state, and of Nelson county, where her father, Richard Connor, was one of the early settlers and a large land owner. It is related of him that he gave away large tracts of land in order to induce the settlement of neighbors in his vicinity.

Our subject was the fifth child of a family of thirteen. He was reared in his native county in the Hoosier state. He remained in that state until he was thirty-five years of age, when he came to Iowa. His first purchase of real estate in Keokuk county was of Mr. Richard Miller, consisting of a tract of one hundred and eighty acres, the land upon which he now resides, and for which he paid one thousand dollars. There were no improvements on this land, except the single house of two rooms. He continued to cultivate this farm, and as he prospered added other tracts to it until he had the present holding of six hundred and eighty acres, highly improved, and with all the buildings necessary for the conduct of a large ranch. This was not done without the most severe labor and the greatest of economy.

Mr. Nugent entered the married state in Clark county, Indiana, in the year which marked his coming to Iowa, when he was joined to Miss Susana Lister,, a lady of English extraction, but a native of the same county as our subject. Her birth occurred in 1826, on the 21st of February. She died May 26, 1902. Mrs. Nugent was a most estimable lady, and had proved to her husband a most faithful companion and helpmate on life's journey, her sound advice and assistance having been important factors in his prosperity. She was buried amid a large concourse of mourning friends and neighbors at Mount Zion church in Steady Run township. She was the mother of three children, one of whom died in infancy; Mary Jane married Mr. A. D. Smith and now resides on the farm, where she takes loving care of her remaining parent; she is the mother of eight children, seven of them now living, as follows: Roscoe, Guy, Pauline, Andrew, Benson, Harold, and Myra. The second daughter, Anna Eliza, is the wife of Mr. Frank Marshall, of Ollie, who is a prominent farmer and stock raiser; they have three children, of whom the eldest died in infancy, and the names of the other two are Raymond N. and Claybourn R.

As stated before, our honored subject started in life a comparatively poor boy, and has accumulated a very nice property. All of this has been done in legitimate farming and stock raising. He has a just pride in stating that he was the first man that paid forty-five dollars an acre for land in Steady Run township. He has been highly respected for his many good qualities during his residence in Keokuk county, and is a Republican of the old school, having got his Republican principles from the oId Whig party, having cast his first vote for William Henry Flarrison in 1840. He has voted for every Republican President since the organization of that party. He has held many of the local offices of the community in which he resides, the duties of which he administered with credit. He and his wife were life-long members of the Christian church. It is the modest boast of Mr. Nugent that he never defrauded any man of anything, and owes no man a single dollar. The success of Mr. Nugent in financial matters is well deserved, having always been faithful and industrious, continuing through hardships and discouragements, and now in his riper years he can enjoy the fruit of his toil, being also favored with the confidence and esteem of his many friends and acquaintances.