History of the Campbell Family

While the recital of family history may seem somewhat egotistical, yet it is proper that every family should know something of its ancestors—whence they came, where and how they lived, and the place they held in the world’s esteem.  In this age of development and progress nothing is taken for granted that may be at all questionable.  

There is a vast difference between the noble and the servile and even in our own free land, where all are sovereigns, distinctions are as marked as they were in ages that are past in any country.  Hence the pride of every family is a noble, brave, pure and honorable ancestry.  

The historian’s duty requires him to deal in facts.  Few are so constituted as to observe strictly this requirement when weighty matters of state or questions involving the molding of society are in issue, the author of historical sketches often becomes a partisan and finds himself a partial chronicler.  

Sometimes the pen of genius is a purchasable commodity, and wielded at the instance of mercenary motives to write up or down, men and measures.  While I partake largely of the same characteristics of my erring fellow mortals of the present and the past, yet I will assume that, were I dealing with the doings of entire strangers, or questions of abstract right and wrong in any department of life, you might expect absolute impartiality.  But interested as I am, should I add a little coloring to the natural picture I may be pardoned the weakness not unnatural to every son and daughter of our race.  

“Home, sweet, sweet home,” has thrilled the world and next to that noble lofty sentiment, “There is no place like home,” the love of family ties and reverence for a daring, heroic and God-fearing ancestry, stands in the sunlight of the ages, worthy objects of admiration.  

How bright, how real the present, as we look out upon the busy world with its attractions that bind us to our race and ancestry.  Scientists have agitated the world in discussing the source and origin of man.  Theologists have been equally industrious in pointing out where he eventually goes to, but we lose sight of this controversy as the “Campbell’s are not only coming,” but they are here and for the time being, we’ll not worry about their destiny.  We are satisfied of their origin or they would not now be as numerous as summer leaves.  Time will not permit a detailed history of the Campbell clan, an examination of Scotch and Irish annals would become necessary to its presentation.  My particular province is to present our immediate family history with some observations connected there-with.  

In 1790 James Campbell and Mary McKensie, our grandfather and grandmother, were married in Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania, the one nineteen and the other seventeen years of age.  Both were born in that county and state.  Their parents came from Ulster Province, North Ireland.  The great-grandfather of our family, on the one side, was James Campbell, the great-grandmother, Nancy Gill, on the other, Hunter.  Three children were born in Ireland, William, Nancy and George.  In this country were born James, Robert, John, Alexander, Thomas and Matthew.  

James, our grandfather, moved to Harrison county, Ohio, in 1816, taking all of his family with him.  They settled in Archer township, that county, and for many years were foremost in clearing the lands, organizing schools and churches—the Ridge Presbyterian church being one of the first established in that section of the country—and contributing largely to making that part of the state what it has since become.  

Thirteen children blessed that union of 1790, twelve born in Pennsylvania, and one in Ohio, as follows: Nancy, William, Fannie, Mary, Robert, Daniel, George, James, Hannah, Elizabeth, John, Alexander and Thomas.  

More than a century has passed since James Campbell and Mary McKensie were married in that Pennsylvania home, yet how eventful the century has been to that couple.  We learn from its subsequent history; not only in numbers does it speak, but in all that tends to make a family honorable and respected, and the world better.  

Nine of the thirteen children married as follows: Nancy, to William Nickson, Harrison county; William, to Delila Brandyberry, Ashland county; Fanny, to Thomas Alberson, Harrison county; Mary, to Isaac Sage, Richland county; Robert, to Margaret Archibald, Harrison county; Daniel, to Ann Biddinger, Richland county; George, to Elizabeth Laughery, Richland county; John, to Lizzie Landon, Ashland county; Thomas, to Elizabeth Donley, Richland county. I name the children of these families in their order as follows:

Nancy Nickson—Nickson.

William Campbell—Susan, Mary, Rebecca, Catharine and one deceased, five.

Fannie Alberson—Mary, James, Ann, William, Elizabeth, Robert W. and Thomas, seven.

Mary Sage—Henry C., Daniel W. and Fannie, three.

Robert Campbell—John, James, William, Sarah, Milton, Daniel, Mary E. and three dead, seven.

Daniel Campbell—Daniel Jr., Mary, James, Nancy, Sarah, Jefferson, Wilson, Eliza, Orvil, Frank, Samantha, eleven.

George Campbell—James, Boles, Martha, John, Thomas, Robert M., Jane, George and Almyra, nine.

John Campbell—Jason, Fannie, Robert, three.

Thomas Campbell—John, Irvin, Jennie, three, (one dead).  

Our grandfather came to Ashland county from Harrison county, in 1836, and the sons are all located in Orange township.  He lived and died on his farm, three and one-half miles north of the village of Orange.  His death occurred September 8, 1860, at the age of eighty-nine years, eleven months and twenty-four days.  His wife died December 23, 1859, aged eighty-six years.  They lived together nearly seventy years.  All the children of these pioneers have passed to their reward.  Many of their children have also joined them and others have passed the seventieth milepost, aging in the service of God and humanity.  The fourth generation now rises and enters upon life’s active stage.  Original No. 2, children 13; grandchildren, fifty-four; great-grandchildren and great-great-grandchildren nearly three hundred.  

Eighty years ago nearly all of the fifty-four grandchildren herein mentioned were born in Orange township.  Only one, William Alberson, resides there now.  Some are dead, some in other parts of Ohio and some have gone to other states.  What a commentary upon the “whirligig of time.”  A family or a combination of families which seventy years ago wielded such an influence in the social and political development of that township, now reduced to one representative, but great-grandchildren have taken their places and by them we are assured our line will not become extinct.  This period of time has swept from the earth two whole generations and part of a third.  Yet the world is better that these generations have lived, labored and died.  

The history of every family is what they make it.  I have a right to pay a tribute of love to the dead.  

Eighty years ago the place where they settled was not the garden it is today.  The swamp and forest almost covered it and the howl of the wolf and the scream of the panther was no rare sound.  We find our sturdy ancestors among the advance guard in the wilderness, clearing the lands, and making homes, where so much of civilization and Christianity are found today.  They aided in rearing a strong edifice socially, politically and morally.  

Our ancestors were all farmers and knew no way of making a livelihood except by honest combat with nature’s forces, where they found deep, dark woods they left cultivated fields and gardens, but this material change was not their grandest triumph.  Schoolhouses and churches rose simultaneously with their cabins and their minds and hearts were trained as well.  They were active participants in civil and educational interests and in the church their voice was heard.  In that grandfather’s house the morning and evening sacrifice were never forgotten.  That influence was imparted to the children, and let us trust that children’s children to the latest generation will feel its effect.  

I will not omit referring to the companions of our sires and grandsires, scattered over Orange township, we find the Uries, Summers, Murrays, the Bishops, the Donleys, the Clarks, the Welches, the Culbersons, the Flukes, the Hiffners, the Chilcotes, the Stentzes, the Biddingers, the Millers, the McConnells, the Norrisses, the Fasts, Masons and others, whose devotion and honesty of purpose were as great in building up this country as ever marked the history of man.  Such is an imperfect picture of the Campbell family some eighty years ago.  

Today that entire township is dotted over with palatial homes.  But how is it with the descendants of these honest, industrious, faithful men and women of former generations.  Scattered over almost this entire country, let their lives answer the question.  They are found in every learned profession, in every trade and calling from the independent farmer to the less independent artisan, and our posterity will hold us responsible for the part we play on the world’s broad stage.  

In Orange cemetery our fathers, with the exception of Robert, sleep the long last sleep.  To this branch of the family another chapter may be added.  Robert and Margaret (Archibald) Campbell came to Iowa, took up their abode in Henry county soon after the Civil war and purchased a farm in New London township, where he made his home until his death, his wife also passing away on that farm.  To them were born nine children as follows: John, James, William, Sarah, Milton, Daniel, Mary E., three of this number being dead.  

The writer was third in order of birth in this family of nine children.  He acquired his education in Ashland county, Ohio, and by reading and observation in later life.  He came to Iowa in 1854.  He was married December 28, 1857, to Miss Elizabeth Spearman, a daughter of James D. Spearman, who was an old settler, coming to this section of the state when it was largely a new and undeveloped region.  He afterward returned to his native state, Ohio, and spent six years, then again came to Henry county and purchased the Spearman homestead about four miles southeast of Mount Pleasant.  

Unto Mr. and Mrs. Campbell have been born six children, four of whom are living: Charles P., who married Miss Laura Tate, of Des Moines, has three children, viz.: Gladys, Albert and Maggie, and they reside on their farm three miles east of Mount Pleasant.  James Cornelius, who married Jessie Hughes, of Mount Pleasant, has four children, viz.: Clara, Willie, Ralph and Mildred, and they reside on the old homestead.  Frank D., who married Florence Palmer, of Mount Pleasant, has three children, viz.: Glen, Marcelene and Alice.  Maggie is the wife of J. R. Hughes, a farmer and stockman living two and one-half miles northwest of Mount Pleasant, and has two children: Rex and Elizabeth.  Two children, Annie and Willie, are dead.  

As life’s duties, objects and responsibilities thicken and call the Campbell clan to different and distant fields of toil and exertion, our minds and hearts will ever turn to the fields on which our fathers lived and to the old churchyard where they are buried, with ardent love and veneration.

  (Biographical Review of Henry County, Iowa. Chicago: Hobart Publishing Co.,1906, Page 502) (PE) 

JAMES S. CAMPBELL well deserves mention among the representative citizens of Henry county because of an active business life, untiring devotion to the general good and also by reason of the possession of those sterling traits of character which in every land and clime command respect and confidence.  He chose as a life work the occupation of farming, following it successfully for a long period and is now living retired in the enjoyment of a well earned ease.  

Mr. Campbell was born in Ashland county, Ohio , June 4, 1828, a son of Robert and Margaret (Archibald) Campbell.  The father was born January 26, 1800, in Washington county, Pennsylvania , and the mother’s birth occurred in the same county on the 16^th of June, 1806.  Following the occupation of farming as a life work Robert Campbell devoted his attention to that pursuit first in Pennsylvania and afterward in Ashland county, Ohio , subsequently in Henry county, Iowa , becoming a resident here on the 15^th of May, 1865.  He purchased a farm and his attention was devoted to its further development and cultivation up to the time of his demise, which occurred June 17, 1877.  He had for about five years survived his wife, who died November 30, 1872, their remains being interred in Pleasant Hill cemetery.  Both were devoted members of the Presbyterian church and Mr. Campbell gave his political allegiance to the democracy.  He held several township offices but his energies were more largely concentrated upon his business affairs although in no duty of citizenship was he ever remiss.  He was watchful of opportunities for his business advancement and for the general progress as well, and his devotion to his community made him a representative resident of this part of Iowa.  Unto Mr. and Mrs. Campbell were born ten children, of whom six are yet living: Sarah Jane, living in Mount Pleasant, Iowa, is the widow of Thompson Chambers, who died three years ago; Mary is the wife of James Patton, a resident of Henry county, Iowa; William resides in Mount Pleasant; Milton N. is living in Denver, Colorado; Daniel resides in New London, Iowa.  

The second member of the family is J. S. Campbell, whose name introduces this review.  In the country schools of his native state he received his education.  His privileges in that  direction, however, were very limited but by experience, reading and observation he has greatly broadened his knowledge and has learned many valuable lessons that have been of practical use to him in his later business life.  After putting aside his text-books he remained with his parents on the home farm not only until he had attained his majority but for some fifteen years after his marriage and practically had the management of his home place.  He was married on the 27^th of December, 1849, in Polk, Ashland county, Ohio, to Miss Ruth Cole, a daughter of Thomas and Etheliah (Cole) Cole, and a native of the Buckeye state, born August 21, 1831.  Her father was born in the early years of the nineteenth century, followed the occupation of farming and was also a local minister of the Methodist church in Ashland county, Ohio.  Both he and his wife died during the early part of the ‘70s, and were buried in Ashland county.  In their family were ten children but only two are living: Elizabeth, now the widow of Chester Matthews, and a resident of Ohio; and Rachel who is the widow of Isaac Gordon and also lives in Ashland county, Ohio.  Mr. Cole was republican in his political views.  

Mr. and Mrs. Campbell began their domestic life in the Buckeye state and remained residents of Ashland county until 1865.  Several years before he had purchased a farm in Ohio which he cultivated and improved until his removal to Iowa and here he purchased a farm of one hundred and fife acres of improved land in Henry county.  He began farm work and continued to cultivate that place until 1880, when he sold out and bought a farm of eighty acres near Mount Pleasant.  He was a general agriculturist and stock-raiser, continuing in the business until 1896, when he retired and purchased his beautiful home at No. 501 South Walnut street.  

Unto Mr. and Mrs. Campbell were born ten children: W. E., born in Ohio, November 24, 1850, resides in Woodson county, Kansas.  He wedded Miss Mary Chandler who has had six children, of whom five are living: Clark, Herman, Ethel, Ruth and Lee.  Irene, the second member of the father’s family, was born in Ohio November 7, 1852, and is the wife of E. McPeek, of Burlington, by whom she has three children, Mamie, Roy and Dallas.  Of this family Mamie is the wife of Robert Willis, who is a conductor on the railroad and resides in Burlington, and they have one child, Wanda.  Roy McPeek married Miss Ida Feasman and is living in Arizona.  Dallas is in the depot at Burlington.  Margaret J. Campbell, the third member of the family, was born in Ohio, August 24, 1855, and died when eight years of age.  Anna D., born in Ohio, February 25, 1857, died in early girlhood.  Mary L., born in Ohio May 1, at home.  Milton E., born in Ohio June 30, 1862, married Miss Jessie Courtney, by whom he has three daughters, Marie, Clela May and Roma.  He now serving as sheriff of Henry county.  Lydia, born June 27, 1863, died in childhood.  Lillian A., born in Henry county, Iowa, November 15, 1867, is the wife of John Deal, residing in St. Francis, Kansas, and they have six children, Blanche, Earl, Marie (deceased), Floyd, Mina, Pearl and Merle.  Thomas C., born in Henry county, February 8, 1871, is deceased.  Robert Clyde, born in this county September 6, 1873, is now deputy sheriff under his brother.  He was only six weeks old at the time of his mother’s death, for she passed away on the 27^th of October, 1873, her remains being interred in Pleasant Hill cemetery.  She was a devoted and loving wife and mother and an earnest Christian woman, and her many excellent traits of character endeared her to those with whom she was associated.  She held membership in the Methodist church, of which Mr. Campbell is also a member and in the work of the church he has taken a very active and helpful part, serving as steward, class leader and also as Sunday-school superintendent.  

In his political affiliation Mr. Campbell is a stalwart democrat who has served as supervisor and school director and he was also constable of Henry county in 1876.  He became agent of the Campbell cheese, manufactured by his brothers, and for twenty-eight years sold that product in eastern and northwestern Iowa, conducting the business in connection with his farming interests but now he has put aside business cares to spend his remaining days in the enjoyment of a well earned rest and is now in the seventy-eighth year of his age.  His has been a useful, active and honorable life and he can look back over the past without regret.

  (Biographical Review of Henry County, Iowa. Chicago: Hobart Publishing Co.,1906, Page 243) (PE) 

JOEL CAMPBELL, who has a wide and favorable acquaintance in Henry county, resides at No. 503 Division street, in Mount Pleasant, having retired from active connection with agricultural interests, to which he devoted his energies for many years.  He was born November 30, 1846 and is of English lineage.  His parents, James and Nancy (Birdwell) Campbell, were born in East Tennessee, the former on the 18^th of May, 1818, and the latter March 4, 1825.  The father came to Iowa in 1848, when his son Joel was only two years of age.  Much of the journey was made on a flatboat, for there were no railroads at that time, and travel was either by water or by stage, or private conveyance.  

Mr. Campbell was a farmer by occupation, and on his removal to the Mississippi valley settled first in Sullivan county, Missouri, where he remained for a year, and then came to Henry county, Iowa, establishing his home near Maryland.  He purchased land from the state, which he afterward sold, and then removed to Jefferson township, where he carried on general agricultural pursuits until his death, which was occasioned by typhoid fever, November 25, 1855.  When about eighteen years of age he had aided in driving the Indians out of Kentucky and Tennessee, this war against the red men occurring about 1836.  When he came to Henry county he found that the Indians were still numerous in this part of the state, and that wild game of all kinds was plentiful.  He was well fitted to cope with the difficulties of pioneer life, possessing a genial, jovial nature that set at naught the hardships and difficulties and made the most of opportunities.  Moreover, he was an honest, upright man and did much to promote the good of the community.  His political allegiance was given to the Whig party, and both he and his wife were members of the Presbyterian church.  Mrs. Campbell survived her husband for a number of years, and died January 3, 1866.  In their family were six children, of whom two are living: Joel and Polly N., the latter of Harper county, Kansas.  The father was married twice, and by his first union he had one daughter, Mary Jane, who married Abraham Carpenter, who died in September, 1904, his remains being interred in Forest Home cemetery in Mount Pleasant.  His widow now resides in Harper, Kansas.  

The mother of our subject was laid to rest in Tippecanoe township, while the father’s burial occurred in Wayland.  Their eldest son, Joshua B. Campbell, enlisted for service in Company I, of the Fourteenth Iowa Infantry in the Civil war, and was taken prisoner at the battle of Shiloh, which occurred on the 6^th of April, 1862.  He was, after being in prison sixty days, paroled and was in parole camp at St. Louis one year and afterward on detached duty.  There were also three cousins of Joel Campbell in the Civil war—James, Archibald and Jasper Campbell, the last-named being only fourteen years of age when he was killed.  

Joel Campbell pursued his education in the district schools near his home.  As he lost his father when only eight years of age, and was thus thrown upon his own resources, he was compelled to work for his board and clothing for several years.  Soon, however, he was given wages, and his industry and close application enabled him to secure good positions.  He has traveled to a considerable extent, crossing the continent from ocean to ocean.  He has worked on railroad bridges and in sawmills, and also followed the occupation of farming, and in 1889 he turned his attention to agricultural pursuits in Jefferson county, where he remained until the 28^th of January, 1897, when he sold his property there and came to Henry county, settling in Marion township, where he purchased a farm.  He had there a comfortable house and fifteen acres of land on section 28 and resided continuously upon the farm until February, 1905, when he removed to his present home in Mount Pleasant, having purchased the property in 1902.  In addition to the dwelling, he has six acres of land within the city limits.  

Mr. Campbell also made a creditable military record in the Civil war.  In February, 1864, he secured his mother’s written consent, and enlisted as a member of Company G, Thirtieth Iowa infantry.  He was transferred in May, 1865, to Company K, of the Sixth Iowa Veteran Infantry, and was honorably discharged on the 28^th of July of the same year.  He participated in the battles of Dalton, New Hope Church, the siege of Atlanta, Savannah and Bentonville, being under the command of Sherman.  He also participated in the celebrated march to the sea, which proved the weakness of the Confederacy; at the close of the war, he took part in the grand review in Washington, the most celebrated military pageant ever seen on the western hemisphere.  He endured the privations and hardships that were meted out to a soldier, and his mind is filled with interesting reminiscences of the great conflict.  He tells of being for three days and three nights without anything to eat but green chestnuts, and he was suffering severely from rheumatism at that time and was unable to walk.  It was about the time that Hood flanked the Union troops.  He now has in his possession a most interesting and valuable map, showing the route of the marches of the army of General Sherman from Atlanta to Goldsboro, North Carolina, being the only map of the kind in the county.  

Mr. Campbell was first married July 4, 1872, to Miss Sarah Collins, who was born in Salem township, and was a daughter of John and Martha Collins.  She died January 26, 1873, and was laid to rest in Pleasant Point cemetery.  On the 27^th of July, 1892, after living alone for about twenty years, Mr. Campbell was again married, his second union being with Miss Leona Luzadder, who was born in Highland county, Ohio, May 22, 1850, a daughter of Jacob and Mary Ann (Barnard) Luzadder, both of whom were natives of Highland county, Ohio.  The maternal grandparents were born on the island of Nantucket, and the paternal grandparents were natives of Pennsylvania.  Mr. Luzadder was a farmer, and brought his family to Iowa from Ohio in a wagon in 1850.  His destination was Tippecanoe township, this county, where he purchased an improved farm of one hundred and sixty acres, upon which he carried on general agricultural pursuits for many years, there residing at the time of his death, which occurred January 26, 1892, when he was in his seventy-eighth year, his birth having taken place on the 15^th of June, 1814.  His wife, who born March 1, 1821, died January 29, 1893.  Her people were members of the Society of Friends, while the ancestry of the Campbell line were represented in the Baptist and Methodist churches.  

Mr. Luzadder, father of Mrs. Campbell, was for several months in the state militia, acting as a member of the home guards at the time of the Civil war.  In politics he was a republican, and kept well informed on the questions and issues of the day.  He served as one of the school directors and also as county commissioner, and is said by all who knew him to have been one of nature’s nobleman.  Unto Mr. and Mrs. Luzadder were born seven children, of whom four are now living: Clark, a resident of Miami county, Kansas; Albert, of Butler county, Kansas; Arthur, who is living in Wapello county, Iowa, and Mrs. Campbell.  Besides rearing his own family, Mr. Luzadder always had some orphan or homeless child with him, who was treated as a member of his own family.  His broad humanitarianism and benevolent spirit prompted him to many actions of kindness and deeds of charity, and the poor and needy found in him a warm friend.  Many have lived to bless his memory for timely assistance which he rendered, and his influence was ever given on the side of right, progress, truth and justice.  During his declining years Mr. Luzadder was tenderly cared for by his daughter, Mrs. Campbell.  

Following the splendid example of her father, Mr. and Mrs. Campbell have reared an adopted son, William Arthur Luzadder, who was born September 15, 1878, in Henry county, whose parents were Arthur B. and Sarah L. (Craig) Luzadder.  He lived with Mr. and Mrs. Campbell until his marriage to Miss Leslie Scott and now resides in Adair county, Missouri.  By this marriage there are three children, Vera H., Laura Ruth and Nelda Belle.  Mr. Campbell is a republican with somewhat independent tendencies.  He has been a member of the school board and township constable for two years.  Fraternally he is connected with Glasgow Lodge, No. 145, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and with McFarland Post, Grand Army of the Republic, of Mount Pleasant, thus maintaining cordial relations with his old army comrades.  Both Mr. and Mrs. Campbell are held in the highest esteem by all who know them.  He has a genial, jovial nature, with native wit, with always a joke and a pleasant smile.  His kindness of heart, his inflexible integrity and his genuine worth have gained him the unqualified respect of all with whom he has been associated.  His wife, too, enjoys the esteem of many friends, and no history of this community would be complete without mention of this worthy couple.  Although his school privileges in youth were limited, he has, by reading and travel, gained broad and comprehensive knowledge, and is an entertaining conversationalist, having acquired an education equal to that of many of better early advantages.

  (Biographical Review of Henry County, Iowa. Chicago: Hobart Publishing Co.,1906, Page 496) (PE) 

HON. THOMAS F. CAMPBELL, president of the Henry County Farmer’s Mutual Insurance Company and a prominent retired farmer living in Mount Pleasant, was born near Shelbyville, in Shelby county, Indiana, on the 9^th of August, 1844, his parents being Hugh and Cheney (Ray) Campbell.  The father was born near Knoxville, Tennessee.  The paternal grandfather was one of five brothers who came from Scotland to this country prior to the Revolutionary war and served as a soldier in the struggle for independence.  He was with the Southern Army and he participated in addition to the engagements of that war in the battle of Horse Shoe Bend with the Indians.  After the close of hostilities he located near Knoxville, Tennessee, where he conducted a large plantation, being recognized as one of the prominent men of his day.  There he spent his active life, but shortly before his death came to the north and made his home with his son.  

Hugh Campbell, born in Tennessee, in 1801, war reared to manhood there and when a young man of twenty-one years removed to Shelby county, Indiana, where he settled upon a tract of raw land.  With characteristic energy he began its cultivation and in the course of years developed it into a good property.  In that county he married Miss Cheney Ray, who was born near Wilmington, North Carolina, and went with her father’s family to Indiana.  The home property of Mr. Campbell embraced four hundred acres of rich and cultivable land.  In the development of this place he endured the usual hardships and trials incident to pioneer life.  Their home on the frontier was far separated from the contingencies of the older east, for around them lay an uncut forest.  From his own doorway Mr. Campbell shot deer and wild turkeys.  The farm implements were of a very primitive character compared to the improved agricultural machinery of the present day, and it required much arduous labor to bring the fields under cultivation.  In public affairs Mr. Campbell was prominent and influential and was called to various county offices.   

Again he cast in his lot with pioneer settlers, when, in the spring of 1851, he came to Henry county, Iowa, and purchased twenty-five hundred acres of land from Samuel Wells.  This was all wild and unimproved, save for a tract of about eighty acres.  He divided this land among his children, who improved their respective portions and the father also developed a good home for himself.  In the early days he espoused the cause of abolition and when the Republican party was formed to prevent the extension of slavery he joined its ranks.  Both he and his wife held membership in the Methodist Episcopal church, and his death occurred in September, 1870, while her death occurred April 27, 1883.  They had eight children who reached adult age, while four died in childhood:  James H., now of Nebraska; Mrs. Maria Leach; Mrs. Martha J. Lafferty; Robert, who died in 1900; Susan, the wife of J. W. Keith; Mrs. Emily Payne, Thomas F., and Mrs. I. J. Holt.  

Thomas F. Campbell was a lad of about seven summers when brought by his parents to Iowa, and in the common schools near Wayland he acquired his early education, which was supplemented by study in Howe’s Academy.  In 1862 he enlisted as a defender of the Union cause, becoming a member of Company K, Fourth Iowa Cavalry.  The regiment was engaged in active duty in Missouri, Arkansas, Tennessee, Mississippi, Louisiana, Georgia and Alabama, completing its services at Atlanta.  Mr. Campbell was on active duty throughout that entire time and was never home on a furlough.  He was too young to be promoted, but proved a brave and loyal soldier and returned home with a most creditable military record.  

On again reaching Iowa, Mr. Campbell resumed the occupation of farming, to which he had been reared, early becoming familiar with the work of the field and meadow.  His father had given him land six miles north of Mount Pleasant, which he improved, residing thereon from 1867 until 1892, and during that time bringing his farm up to a high state of cultivation.  He added to the original tract until he owned two hundred and forty acres of land, which was splendidly developed.  He carried on general agricultural pursuits and stock-raising and for a number of years dealt in high bred Norman horses, continuing in this business until the spring of 1905.  In 1892, however, he sold his farm and removed to Mount Pleasant, where he now has an attractive home.  He was one of the organizers of the Henry County Farmer’s Mutual Insurance Company, has been a director and vice president and is now the chief executive officer.  His official service with the company covers fifteen years and he has been president since 1902.  This company has had a successful career from the beginning and its risks now represent about three million dollars.  

On the 8^th of January, 1868, Mr. Campbell was united in marriage to Miss Hattie E. Dutton, a daughter of Willard Dutton, and they have six children: Hugh, who is now a merchant of Mount Pleasant; Ada, the wife of C. Carnahan, a resident farmer of Henry county; Susie, the wife of W. E. Young, also a farmer; Alice, a teacher in the schools of Mount Pleasant; Carrie, who is teaching in New London, and Bessie, who is now a student of the Iowa State University.  The parents are members of the Congregational church.   

Miss Dutton was educated at Dunkirk, also Howe’s Academy, Mount Pleasant, and was at home until her marriage.  Hattie E. Dutton was born near Dunkirk, New York, a daughter of Willard and Anna M. (Jenks) Dutton.  The Dutton’s were of New England ancestry; the father was born near Norfolk, Connecticut, and the mother at Amenia Union, New York.  Soon after their marriage they moved to near Dunkirk, where he was a farmer and came to Henry county, Iowa, in the spring of 1864, and owned a farm seven miles north of Mount Pleasant.  This he improved.  He later moved to Page county, Iowa, where he died February 29, 1904, and the mother died about 1877.  

Mr. Campbell gave his political allegiance to the Republican party until 1876, since which time he has voted for the democracy.  He has been active in support of the cause of education and his services in this particular have been effective and far-reaching.  In 1899 he was elected to represent Henry county in the twenty-eighth general assembly, and on the minority side he served on the committees of the agriculture, insane hospitals and others.  His well directed business efforts have resulted successfully and he is today classed among the substantial citizens of the county in which almost his entire life has been passed.

  (Biographical Review of Henry County, Iowa. Chicago: Hobart Publishing Co.,1906, Page 95) (PE) 

WILLIAM CAMPBELL, who has been a promoter of farming and stock-raising interests in Henry county and is now living retired in a beautiful home on West Monroe street in Mount Pleasant, was born in Ashland county, Ohio, August 22, 1830, a son of Robert and Margaret (Archibald) Campbell.  The father was born in Harrison county, Ohio, and was there reared and married.  Later he followed agricultural pursuits in Ashland county, and was one of the successful men of that place.  Later in life he came to Iowa, following the arrival of his son here.  He took up his abode in Henry county soon after the Civil war, and purchased a farm in New London township, where he made his home until his death, his wife also passing away on that farm.  He owned and operated two hundred acres of land and was an enterprising agriculturist, reliable and trustworthy in all his dealings.  

William Campbell, the third in order of birth in a family of nine children, acquired his education in Orange township, Ashland county, Ohio, and by reading and observation in later life.  His youth was passed on his father’s farm and he assisted in its development and improvement until thinking to find other occupation more congenial he learned the trade of a plasterer, which he followed for about thirty years.  He took contracts for plastering and employing a large number of men was thus enabled to cover an extensive field of labor.  He did much work all through that section of the state, being accorded an extensive patronage that enabled him to retain many workmen in his service.  He first came to Iowa in 1854, and here continued in the plastering business, being accorded much of the important work in this locality, one of his last jobs being the plastering of the Harlan house built by Senator Harlan.  

Mr. Campbell was married in December, 1857, to Miss Elizabeth Spearman, a daughter of James Spearman, who was a farmer and old settler, coming to this section of the state when it was largely a new and undeveloped region.  Mr. Campbell afterward returned to Orange township, Ashland county, Ohio, where he gave his attention to farming upon a tract of land which he owned, but when he had spent six years in his native state he came again to Henry county and purchased the Spearman homestead, whereon his wife was reared, about four miles southeast of Mount Pleasant, in the Pleasant Hill neighborhood.  The farm comprised three hundred and seventy acres and had been developed and improved by Mr. Spearman.  There Mr. Campbell successfully carried on general agricultural pursuits and the dairy business.  He was the first cheese manufacturer in the county, and he had on the farm about one hundred cows of his own, and at times as many as one hundred and thirty-five head.  He also added to his land two farms amounting to three hundred and twenty acres.  For a time he purchased milk from the neighboring farmers and did an extensive dairy and cheese business and the cheese factory is still conducted by his sons.  He was also interested in the sheep industry, having driven six hundred sheep from Ashland county, Ohio, with which he first stocked his farm.  

There is no man who has been more interested in improving the grade of stock raised and few have assisted so largely in this work and thereby promoted so efficiently the welfare of the agricultural class.  Mr. Campbell always owned and raised fine stock and he introduced thorough-bred Holstein cattle into Henry county, twenty-five years ago.  He has brought his whole herd up to a high standard and it is a well known fact that stock sent from the Campbell farm is always of superior breed.  While conducting his farming and stock-raising interests he likewise carried on a grocery store in Mount Pleasant from 1875 until 1879.  

Unto Mr. and Mrs. Campbell have been born four children, who are yet living, Charles, who married Miss Laura Tate and has three children, resides upon his farm east of the city.  James Cornelius, who married Jessie Hughes and has four children, is living on the old homestead.  Frank D., who owns and operates a farm east of Mount Pleasant, married Florence Palmer, and had three children.  Maggie is the wife of John Hughes, a farmer residing near Mount Pleasant, and they have two children.

Mr. and Mrs. Campbell are members of the Methodist Episcopal church, in which he has served as steward and for some time he was superintendent of the Sunday school.  He has always taken an active interest in the work of the church and the extension of its influence and his co-operation has been a valued factor in its upbuilding.  While living on the farm he was regarded as one of the prominent representatives of the democratic party in his township, and served as township treasurer but has never been active in his search for public office as a reward for party fealty.  He belongs to Mount Pleasant Lodge, No. 8, Free and Accepted Masons, and also took the chapter degrees.  

In 1900 he purchased a beautiful home on West Monroe street, where he has since lived and with the competence acquired through his earnest and well directed labors is now enjoying a richly merited rest.  He started in business life when sixteen years of age at a salary of five dollars per month, and from this sum supplied his own clothing.  He afterward earned one hundred dollars per year and thus started out in a humble way but recognizing the possibilities that lay before all who have determination and energy he has made continuous advancement, gaining a place among the foremost agriculturists of Henry county and securing the prosperity that is the merited reward of labor.  He may indeed be termed a self-made man and deserves all the credit which the phrase implies.

  (Biographical Review of Henry County, Iowa. Chicago: Hobart Publishing Co.,1906, Page 505) (PE) 

WILLIAM CARDEN, one of the honored and prominent citizens of Henry county, now serving his district in the state legislature, is a native son of Des Moines county, his birth having occurred near Middletown on the 24^th of August, 1865.  His parents were William and Isabelle (Miller) Carden, both of whom were natives of Hamilton county, Ohio, in which state they were reared and married.  The year 1852 witnessed their arrival in Iowa and the father purchased land near Danville, Des Moines county, where he carried on farming for two years.  Subsequently he took up his abode near Middletown, where his remaining days were passed, his death occurring in 1866.  His wife long survived him and passed away in 1890.  

William Carden was reared under the parental roof until nineteen years of age and acquired his early education in the public schools near his home.  His more advanced education was obtained in Parson’s College, at Fairfield, Iowa.  His collegiate course was not consecutive but as opportunity offered he continued his studies and was thereby well equipped for life’s practical and responsible duties.  He engaged in teaching at intervals for about three years in Des Moines and Henry counties and then accepted a clerkship in the Crane hardware store in Mount Pleasant, where he remained for two years, thus gaining a practical knowledge of mercantile methods.   

Removing to Winfield in the fall of 1890 he entered into partnership with his brother, L. J. Carden, in the conduct of a hardware and implement business.  They carried on the store with constantly growing success for fourteen years and then sold out to George Bloomer.  On the 1^st of September, 1904, Mr. Carden entered into partnership with Will D. Garmoe in the real-estate and loan business and still figures prominently in commercial interests of Winfield.  He is a man of enterprise and determination, carrying forward to successful completion whatever he undertakes, and his business career has ever been characterized by sound judgment and unfaltering purpose, resulting in the attainment of a creditable position among the substantial citizens of Henry county.  

On the 18^th of November, 1901, Mr. Carden was united in marriage to Miss Fannie De Lashmutt, who was born in Des Moines county, and was educated in Burlington, completing the high school course.  She is a daughter of T. L. and Ellen (Shaw) De Lashmutt, the former a native of West Virginia, and the latter of Ohio.  Her parents were pioneer residents of Des Moines county, aiding in laying broad and deep the foundation for its present prosperity and progress.  

Mr. Carden is a Presbyterian in religious faith and fraternally is connected with the Masonic Lodge and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows.  Since taking up his abode in Winfield he has been actively interested in politics as a supporter of the Republican party and his fitness for leadership has been recognized in his election to the office of representative.  In the fall of 1901 he was chosen a member of the general assembly and by re-election will continue a member of the house until the 1^st of January, 1907.  He is a capable, working member of the legislative, giving careful consideration to the questions which come up for settlement and his interest in the welfare and development of his state is deep and sincere.  He has made a creditable record in both commercial and political circles and is justly accounted one of the distinguished and leading citizens of Henry county, Iowa.

(Biographical Review of Henry County, Iowa. Chicago: Hobart Publishing Co.,1906, pp 454-455) (PE)

CORNELIUS C. CASE, one of the prominent and rising young business men of Mount Pleasant, conducting a carriage and wagon repair shop and general blacksmithing business, was born in Blairstown, Benton county, Iowa, June 23, 1870, his parents being Separate and Samantha (Bacheler) Case.  The father, a farmer by occupation, was born in Indiana, but when a young man went to Clinton county, Iowa, and later purchased a farm in Benton county, where he spent the remainder of his active business life.  He died at the home of his son near Belle Plain, and the mother passed away in 1879, at Blairstown.  

Cornelius C. Case, having pursued his elementary education in the schools of Benton county, continued his studies in Iowa Seminary, at Blairstown, after which his attention was devoted to farm work in Benton county until he came to Mount Pleasant in 1894.  Here he learned the blacksmith’s trade, which he followed in the employ of others until he formed a partnership with his brother under the firm style of Case Brothers.  They carried on the business which had formerly been established by the brother, Cornelius C. Case having purchased a half interest and until 1903 conducted a general wagon repair and blacksmithing shop.  Since that time Cornelius C. Case has been sole proprietor, having purchased his brother’s interest and he now conducts an extensive and successful business at No. 213 East Monroe street which he recently erected and fitted with improved machinery for his work, where he furnishes employment to three men and at the same time does active work in the shop himself.  His patronage has continually increased and he is now in charge of a good remunerative business.  Although he came to the county without capital his ability and industry have been the strong elements in success.  

On the 1^st of June, 1898, in Mount Pleasant, Mr. Case was married to Miss Bertha Nicholson, a daughter of John Nicholson, one of the early residents here.  Her grandfather, Thomas Nicholson, is still living in Mount Pleasant.  Mr. and Mrs. Case have three sons: John, Everett, and Charles.  They attend and support the Methodist Episcopal church, of which Mrs. Case is also a member and they own and occupy a pleasant home on East Monroe street, which is one of the fine residence streets of the city.  Mr. Case votes with the Republican party and belongs to Mystic Lodge, Independent Order of Odd Fellows.  Although a young man he has won a creditable position in industrial circles and his strong and salient characteristics are such as argue well for future success.

(Biographical Review of Henry County, Iowa. Chicago: Hobart Publishing Co.,1906, pps 199-200) (PE) 

 On the list of representative business men of Mount Pleasant appears the name of S. S. Case, who from 1902 until December, 1905, successfully conducted a hardware store.  He is one of the native sons of Iowa and possesses the enterprising spirit which has been the dominant factor in the upbuilding of the middle west.  His birth occurred in Clinton county, this state, January 5, 1862, his parents being Separate and Samantha E. (Bacheler) Case.  The father was born near Lafayette, Indiana, and when eight years of age came to Iowa with his parents, the family home being established in Clinton county, where he assisted his father in the farm work.  He was educated in the district schools and in the public schools of Charlotte, Iowa.  Following his marriage he removed to Benton county, this state, where for many years he followed farming, but about three years ago he sold his property there and went to live with his son at Belle Plain, Iowa, his death there occurring in 1903.  He voted with the republican party and filled the office of road supervisor in Benton county.  At all times he was a loyal, public-spirited and progressive citizen and reliable business man.  Both he and his wife held membership in the Methodist church and were true to its teachings.  

Mrs. Case was born in Vermont, the family home being in the shadows of the Green mountains, and she came to Iowa when a maiden of eight summers.  She, too, passed away, and the husband and wife now rest side by side in the cemetery at Blairstown, Benton county.  Unto Mr. and Mrs. Case were born six children: S. S., of this review; Lemuel G., who married Louisa Mohler and resides in Belle Plain, Iowa; E. P., deceased; C. C., who married Miss Bert Nicholson and is living in Mount Pleasant; Cora, the deceased wife of Frank Davis, of Blairstown, Iowa; and Nora, the wife of Frank Erhard, also of Blairstown.  

S. S. Case is indebted to the public-school system of Blairstown for the educational privileges he enjoyed.  He worked upon his father’s farm until twenty years of age, after which he learned the blacksmith’s trade in Mount Pleasant, following that pursuit for four years as journeyman.  He afterward established a shop of his own, on East Monroe street, which he conducted successfully for twelve years, or until 1902, when he sold to his brother, and purchased a fine hardware store at No. 113 Jefferson street, and successfully conducted this business until selling out in December, 1905.  He carried a large line of hardware and stoves; in fact, had the most extensive stock of goods of this character in the city.  He received a liberal patronage because of his honorable methods and earnest desire to please his customers, combined with his reasonable prices.  

On the 2^nd of May, 1888, Mr. Case was united in marriage to Miss Leona Vorhies, a daughter of Levi Vorhies.  She was born May 12, 1869, in Indiana, and was educated in Howe’s academy, at Mount Pleasant, Iowa.  Her parents came to this state, settling in Henry county when she was about eight years of age.  Mr. Vorhies was a wagonmaker by trade, conducting a shop in Indiana, but following his removal to Iowa he devoted his energies to agricultural pursuits.  He exercised his right of franchise in support of the men and measures of the republican party, and fraternally he was an Odd Fellow.  He died December 28, 1904, in Merrimac, Iowa, where his widow still resides.  In their family were nine children, of whom five are living: Albert, a resident of Urbana, Illinois; Addison, who is living in Burlington, Iowa; Charles, a resident of Nebraska; Frank, who makes his home in Merrimac, Iowa; and Leona, now Mrs. Case.   

Unto our subject and his wife have been born three children.  Chloe, who was born May 20, 1889, in Burlington, has completed the course in the common schools, and is now pursuing a business course in Antrim’s Business College.  Linn, born April 14, 1897, is in school.  Emmet, born February 18, 1900, completes the family.  

Mr. Case has always been a democrat in his political views, and upon that ticket was chosen and served as alderman of the city for two years.  He is an Odd Fellow, has passed all of the chairs, and is now serving as treasurer of his lodge.  He likewise belongs to the Ancient Order of United Workmen, in which he has filled all of the offices.  The family home is at No. 311 East Monroe street, where Mr. and Mrs. Case are comfortably situated in life.  Without special advantages or pecuniary assistance to aid him in the outset of his career, Mr. Case has steadily and gradually worked his way upward in financial affairs, and is today a leading resident of Mount Pleasant.

(Biographical Review of Henry County, Iowa. Chicago: Hobart Publishing Co.,1906, pp 422-424) (PE)

     Elihu Chandler

Elihu Chandler's mother's name was Harlow. In the Congregational Church Record at Fox Craft Maine is the name Elihu Chandler, baptized infancy.

Our grandfather Elihu came west. He helped build a fort in 1832 as a defense against the Indians. Soon after he went to Burlington, where he made the first rails made in "Old Flint Hills" as the village was then called. He helped lay out Jefferson Street in Burlington. He lived there but a short time then took a claim in Danville Township in 1834. It was later owned by, or was near, Peter Wilson and is now owned by Henry Giese of Ames, Iowa. Kent Bailey's family live there at present. Finally he settled in Baltimore Township 18 miles from Burlington, about 6 miles from Danville and 2 1/2 miles from Lowell, the oldest settlement in the State. He paid $1.25 an acre for 320 acres of timberland. There were lots of Indians when grandfather came to southeastern Iowa. Wild turkey and deer were plentiful. He was a great trapper.

On the 18th of May, 1834, he had a presentment that something had happened at his Maine home which he had left. Three months later he learned that his mother had passed on, on that day.

He would go to Burlington 18 miles away with an ox team leaving in the morning and getting back about 2:00 a.m. There were log stores in Burlington at that time.

Elihu (our grandfather) was over 40 years of age when he married our grandmother Jeminia Mathis Dobson, who came from Kentucky, a widow with four children. To them were born three children, Jane who married Mrs. Joe Ward. She passed on and left a little girl May. The grandparents raised her and as we lived in a double house with the grandparents, she seems like a sister to us. Olive who married Wm. Suan and had a daughter. Their daughter Versa Suan Fisher lives at 602 C Street in Tacoma, Washington. James S., our father, who married Lucietta Miller. They started housekeeping in the same house with James' parents. To them were born eleven children. Two passed on in infancy. Nine grew up on that farm. Besides Lucretia Smith and Wm. Clemmons lived there for quite awhile.

(Biography written by Elihu's granddaughter, Mary Alice "Mayme" Chandler. Submitted by his great, great granddaughter, Barb Chandler.)     

ISAAC CHILD, who for many years was identified with agricultural interests in Henry county, was born in Plomstead township, Bucks county, Pennsylvania, on the 15^th of December, 1799, and was a representative of an old colonial family, his ancestors having come to America when this country was still numbered among the possessions of Great Britain.  His paternal grandfather was Isaac Child, who on one occasion in the destruction of his home by fire had his four children burned to death.  Later four other children were added to the family and they were named for those whom he had previously lost.  This number included Jonathan Child, father of our subject, who was born in Pennsylvania and there married Deborah Michener, a daughter of John Michener.  

Isaac Child acquired his education in the subscription schools of his native county, became a well informed man and engaged in school teaching in Pennsylvania through the winter months for nine years in one district which speaks highly of his ability and the esteem in which he was held as an educator.  He was married in December, 1833, to Esther Price, who was born in Buckingham township, Bucks county, Pennsylvania, on the 13^th of December, 1803, her parents being James and Naomi (Preston) Price, the former a native of Pennsylvania and the latter of New Jersey.  Mr. and Mrs. Child while still residing in Pennsylvania became the parents of five children: Deborah, who was born in May, 1834, died in 1865, when about thirty-one years of age.  Samuel Joseph was born November 25, 1835.  Homer was born February 24, 1838.  Phebe, born December 12, 1839, became the wife of Pizarro C. Arnold, who is now a retired merchant residing in Cameron, Missouri.  A child who died in infancy, and James, born May 8, 1846, died in Zolfo, Florida, in 1895, after having carried on merchandising there for some years.  

In the year 1859 Isaac Child came with his family to Iowa, making his way to Salem.  He lived in the town for one year and then purchased one hundred acres of land on section 15, Salem township, removing to the farm in the spring of 1860.  There he carried on general agricultural pursuits, placing his fields under a high state of cultivation.  In 1868 however, he was called upon to mourn the loss of his wife, who died on the 20^th of April of that year.  In May, 1869, Mr. Child was again married, his second union being with Mrs. Ellen Kimberley, whom he wedded in the month of May.  She was a native of Ohio and was the widow of Amos Kimberley.   

Mr. Child remained a resident of Henry county until called to his final rest on the 24^th of May, 1882, his second wife having died in 1869.  He was reared in the faith of the Friends church and always continued a believer in its doctrines.  His early political allegiance was given to the Whig party and upon its dissolution he joined the ranks of the new Republican party, with which he continued to vote until called to his final rest.  He was never active as an office seeker, preferring to do his public duty as a private citizen.  During the years of his residence in Henry county he became widely known as a reliable business man, who was loyal to the public welfare and to all private trusts which were reposed in him.  In business he was strictly honorable and when he was called to his final rest Henry county mourned the loss of one of its leading citizens.  

It will be interesting in this connection to note something of his children and their history.  His daughter, Deborah, following the removal of the family to Iowa, returned to Pennsylvania, where she engaged in teaching school from 1861 until the spring of 1865.  She then came again to this state, where her death occurred in the fall of the same year.  James Child went to Colorado, where he was superintendent of mines, continuing there until the winter of 1885, when he went to Florida, where he carried on merchandising until his death in 1895.  Phebe was married January 1, 1881, and resided in Salem until the spring of 1888, her husband, Pizarro C. Arnold, being engaged in the hardware business in that town.  He then removed to Missouri and they are yet living in that state.  The representatives of the family who now reside in Henry county are Homer and Samuel J., who are living upon their father’s old farm.  Homer Child has traveled extensively, having been in all the states of the Mississippi valley and also to Manitoba, Canada.  They now carry on general farming and also raise horses, cattle and hogs and both branches of their business are attended with a desirable measure of success.  

(Biographical Review of Henry County, Iowa. Chicago: Hobart Publishing Co.,1906, pp 587-588) (PE)

HARRY WEAVER CLAWSON, conducting a profitable tin smithing and roofing business in New London, was born in Preble county, Ohio, September 3, 1857, and is a son of John and Lucy (Fisher) Clawson, who in the year 1853 took up their abode in Mount Pleasant, so that the son was educated in the public schools of that city, where he also attended Howe’s Academy.  His choice of an occupation led him to take up the tin smith’s trade under the direction of his father and he has always continued his connection therewith.  

In 1876 he went to Creston, Iowa, where he was located until 1890, when he removed to Mount Pleasant, where he carried on his trade.  He was also located for a time in both Fairfield and Ottumwa.  He afterward returned to Mount Pleasant and since 1895 he has been engaged in business in New London, doing the entire tin work and roofing of this vicinity.  He has equipments for carrying on work in every department of this line of activity and does all kinds of sheet metal work in every design.  He also handles both gasoline and heating stoves and he has a well equipped establishment at the corner of Main and East Main streets, where business is carried on under the firm style of H. W. Clawson & Son, for he is associated with his son in the conduct of this enterprise.  

On the 8^th of May, 1874, Mr. Clawson was united in marriage to Miss Mary Gunn, a daughter of Louis and Anna Belle Gunn.  Unto them has been born a son, Frank LeRoy, who is a partner of his father in the tinning business, having thoroughly learned the trade under the direction of the senior member of the firm.  He married Alberta Pixley and they had three children: Emma and Laura, now living; and Grace, who died in infancy.  

In his political views Mr. Clawson is an earnest democrat and in the year 1901 served as treasurer of New London.  He belongs to the Universalist church and is interested in all that pertains to the intellectual and moral progress of the community as well as to its material growth and upbuilding.  Mr. Clawson is a popular citizen, being a favorite with many warm friends and his position therefore in New London both in a business way and socially is an enviable one.  

(Biographical Review of Henry County, Iowa. Chicago: Hobart Publishing Co.,1906, pp 614-615) (PE)

LYMAN COBB, deceased, whose life exemplified all the traits of the good citizen and upright man, was born in the state of New York in 1833, a son of Usual and Sarah (Stevens) Cobb.  The father resided for a number of years in the Empire state, and upon removing to the west settled in Janesville, Wisconsin, whence he afterward came to Henry county, Iowa, where both he and his wife spent their remaining days upon a farm, their remains being interred in Forest Home cemetery, about twenty-six years ago.  

They were both members of the Methodist church and their lives were in harmony with their professions.  They were the parents of ten children, seven sons and three daughters, of whom four are living: Gerry, who resides in Correctionville, Iowa; Ebenezer, who is also a resident of Correctionville; William, who is living at Littleton, near Denver, Colorado; and Warren, who resides at Columbus Junction, Iowa.  Two of the sons, Gerry and Luman, the latter now deceased, were soldiers throughout the Civil war.  During the time of the war Mr. Cobb paid three hundred dollars for a substitute and also took to his home the family of his brother Luman and cared for them, so that while not at the front he did much for the cause.  

Lyman Cobb of this review attained his education in the public schools of New York and entered upon his business career by working by the month in a hotel, where he was employed until about 1862.  He then went to Wisconsin, where he spent two years on a farm and in 1864 arrived in Henry county, Iowa, and became identified with agricultural interests in this state.  Here he owned one hundred acres and carried on general farming and stock-raising, and in his work was practical and systematic.  He placed his fields under a high state of cultivation and gained a good profit from the sale of his crops and of his stock.  Thus he annually added to his income until he had acquired a comfortable competence, and in 1890 retired from further active connection with agricultural interests and removed to Mount Pleasant, taking up his abode at No. 603 East Henry street, where he purchased a pleasant home and where his widow still resides.  

On the 22^nd of December, 1856, Mr. Cobb was united in marriage to Miss Emma M. Drum, who was born in Luzerne county, Pennsylvania, January 30, 1833, and is a daughter of Andrew and Katherine (Gordon) Drum, both of whom were natives of Pennsylvania.  Her father was a carpenter by trade and was a good accountant, often acting as bookkeeper for various firms.  He also farmed at times and was an active, energetic business man.  He held membership in the Odd Fellows society and also in the Methodist church, while his wife was a member of the Lutheran church.  His political support was given to the republican party and he served as justice of the peace for a number of years, his decisions, which were strictly fair and impartial, winning him favorable regard from the general public.  Both he and his wife passed away in Pennsylvania, the mother dying about eight or nine years ago.  Mr. and Mrs. Drum were the parents of five children, of whom Mrs. Cobb is the only one now living.  

Unto our subject and his wife were born four sons: Benjamin Franklin, who was born in Rock county, Wisconsin, December 7, 1858, and is now living in Denver, Colorado, married Miss Anna O’Hare, who died, leaving a little son, Samuel Nolan.  He again married and by this union has two sons, Walter and Thomas.  William Betrawn and Willard Betrawn are twins, born in Wisconsin, March 8, 1861.  The latter married and has a daughter, Nellie Belle, and they reside in Santa Barbara, California.  William, a barber of Mount Pleasant, Iowa, married Miss Allie McRoberts and has two sons, Roy L. and Harold.  Ulysses Grant Cobb, born April 18, 1865, in Henry county, married and is living in Omaha, Nebraska, being a part owner and manager of the Balduff restaurant.  

In his political affiliation Lyman Cobb was a stalwart republican.  Mr. and Mrs. Cobb held membership in the Baptist church and for many years he acted as janitor of the church in Mount Pleasant, following his retirement from farm life.  He passed away at his home in this city September 21, 1902, and his remains were interred in Forest Home cemetery.  He was a man of genuine worth, esteemed because of his excellent qualities of heart and mind, and he left behind the priceless heritage of an untarnished name.  Mrs. Cobb is an earnest Christian woman, of sweet disposition and modest demeanor, who has been devoted to her family and has also put forth many efforts for the good of the community, especially in the assistance rendered to the poor.

(Biographical Review of Henry County, Iowa. Chicago: Hobart Publishing Co.,1906, pps 327-329) (PE)

ARTUS B. COCKAYNE is the owner of one hundred and sixty acres of land on section 11, Scott township, and in the work of improvement and development here he has shown thorough familiarity with modern methods of farming, while his labors have been characterized by a practical spirit that produces results.  He is a native son of Des Moines county, Iowa, born on the 15^th of May, 1859, and he was the twelfth in order of birth in a family of thirteen children, seven sons and six daughters, who were born unto Hiram and Elizabeth (Riggs) Cockayne.  His parents were natives of Marshall county, Virginia, and the mother was a daughter of John Riggs of the Old Dominion.   

Leaving the south they made their way westward to Iowa, traveling by team to a town on the Ohio river, where they embarked on a steamer, proceeding down that stream and up the Mississippi river to Burlington.  They then continued their journey to Flint River township, Des Moines county, which was then a pioneer district, in which the work of development and improvement had scarcely been begun.  Mr. Cockayne cast in his lot with the frontier settlers and entered from the government five hundred acres of land, on which he built a log house.  This was previous to 1840 and few indeed were the settlements that had been made at that time in eastern Iowa.  Of this claim there were about seventy-five acres that could be cultivated at the time of the purchase but he at once began to further clear and develop the farm and in course of time placed many acres under the plow.  He also sold a portion of the land previous to clearing it.  His time and energies throughout his remaining days were devoted to farm work there and he resided upon the old homestead until his death, which occurred August 18, 1869.   

His wife continued upon the old homestead for about sixteen years longer and then went to Cass county, Iowa, to live with her son, J. H. Cockayne, with whom she resided for about twenty years.  She then became a member of the family of Artus B. Cockayne, living with him for a short time in Des Moines county, after which she went to the home of her daughter, Mrs. George Riffel in the same county and there died in December, 1889, at an advanced age.  

Artus B. Cockayne lived with his mother until twenty-six years of age and acquired his education in the public schools of Flint River township.  When not occupied with his text-books his attention was devoted to the labors of the farm and when he left home in 1885 he began farming on his own account.  He first rented land in Washington township, where he lived for sixteen years and his savings during that period enabled him, on the 19^th of February, 1891, to purchase one hundred and sixty acres of land on section 11, Scott township, Henry county.  He has since built a hay barn, twenty by thirty-two feet, and has put eighteen thousand tile on his place and about one thousand had already been laid so that his land is now splendidly drained and its productiveness thereby greatly augmented.  He carries on general farming and raises about ten head of shorthorn cattle each year, together with ten or twelve horses and about forty head of Poland China hogs, the sale of his stock adding materially to his income.  

On the 1^st of January, 1885, Mr. Cockayne was married to Miss Minnie Schnittger, a native of Burlington, Iowa, and a daughter of Frederick and Frederica Schnittger, both of whom were natives of Germany.  Unto Mr. and Mrs. Cockayne were born two sons and a daughter: Artus Walter, born February 21, 1886; Rolly Herman, August 9, 1889; and Rosa Lily, December 5, 1895.  All are yet at home.  The wife and mother died March 1, 1896, and on the 28^th of December, 1897, Mr. Cockayne was again married, his second union being with Miss Caroline Schnittger, who was born in Burlington and is a sister of his first wife.  

They are now pleasantly located upon the home farm in Scott township and have many warm friends in this community.  Mr. Cockayne is a Presbyterian in his religious belief and votes with the Democratic party, but has neither time nor inclination for public office, preferring to give his attention to his business affairs.

(Biographical Review of Henry County, Iowa. Chicago: Hobart Publishing Co.,1906, pp 42-44) (PE)

REV. ELI H. CODDINGTON, deceased, was a prominent member of the Methodist Episcopal ministry in Iowa, and although he has departed this life, his influence yet remains as a potent element for good and his memory is yet a blessed benediction to those who knew him.  He was born in Champaign county, Illinois, July 1, 1837, a son of William and Lucinda (Wray) Coddington.  The father was a farmer in Maryland and came west to Iowa, both he and his wife dying in Hillsboro, Henry county.  In their family were eight children, but only two are now living.  Caroline is the widow of Greenberry Trekell, a resident of Mount Pleasant, and Cyrena is the widow of David Taylor, who is living at Neleigh, Nebraska.  

Eli H. Coddington was a young lad when brought by his parents to Iowa, and his early education was acquired in the public schools of Henry county.  He afterward entered the Iowa Wesleyan University at Mount Pleasant in 1859, and while a student there he belonged to the Hamline Literary Society.  His alma mater conferred upon him the degree of Master of Arts in 1870.  

Rev. Coddington responded to the first call for volunteers to aid in the suppression of the rebellion in the south, leaving college for that purpose and becoming a member of Company F, Fourteenth Iowa Infantry, in 1861.  He was wounded at the battle of Fort Donelson in February, 1862, losing his left arm, having a shoulder joint amputation, which always caused him trouble.  Because of disability thus occasioned, he was honorably discharged from the service a few months later.  After his wound healed he re-entered college in 1863, but in 1864 again left that institution for the war, being commissioned captain of Company H, Forty-fifth Iowa Infantry.  He served for the full term of his enlistment and then once more became a college student, finishing his course in 1866.  He was particularly interested in the study of languages and he could read the Bible in English, Latin, Greek, German, French and Italian.  He became a member of the Iowa conference in 1866 and was assigned that year to the pastorate of the Methodist church in Troy, where he remained until 1868.  He was pastor at Bloomfield, Iowa, in 1869, at Mount Pleasant in 1870 and at Fairfield from 1871 and 1873, at each place doing much good and leaving many warm friends.  

On the 24^th of December, 1866, at Troy, Iowa, Rev. Coddington was married to Mrs. Belle (Graham) Tannehill, who was born in Champaign county, Ohio, December 30, 1842, a daughter of William C. and Sarah (Patterson) Graham.  His father was a grandson of one of the heroes of the Revolutionary war.  His birth occurred February 15, 1816, in Tennessee and his wife was born in the same state, December 28, 1815.  In their early married life the parents of Mrs. Coddington removed to Ohio, where Mr. Graham followed farming until 1845, when he came to Iowa, settling in Davis county, where he again carried on agricultural pursuits.  He died November 30, 1882, at the age of sixty-four years, and his remains were interred in Adair county, Iowa.  The mother of Mrs. Coddington died December 20, 1857, and was buried in Davis county, Iowa.  

In the family of this worthy couple were five children, of whom Mrs. Coddington is the eldest.  The others are as follows: Martha J. is the wife of F. L. Spurgeon, of Orient, Iowa, and has four children.  Andrew M. married Miss Louisa Unkefer, by whom he has four children and their home is at Carl, Iowa.  Howard A., who married Miss Alice Caldwell, by whom he has three children, resides in the state of Washington, and during the Lewis and Clark Exposition at Portland, Oregon, he had charge of the exhibits from his state.  Sarah M. is the wife of William Hoskins, of Lawrence, Kansas, and has five children.  After losing his first wife, Mr. Graham married Miss Ann Yost, by whom he had three children: Ida W., the wife of Elmer F. Bennett, of Portland, Oregon, and the mother of four children; Josephine, the wife of John Stewart, of Randolph, Nebraska, and the mother of one child, and William L., of Omaha, Nebraska, who married Miss Bertha Gandy and has two children.  Mr. Graham was a whig in his political views and afterward became a republican.  He held membership in the Methodist church, in which he served as class leader and steward, while his first wife was a member of the Presbyterian church.  

Unto Mr. and Mrs. Coddington were born four children, but only one is now living.  Clinton G., the eldest, born December 7, 1867, in Troy, Iowa, died in Denver, Colorado, in November, 1894.  He pursued his preliminary education in the schools of Mount Pleasant and in 1884 entered the Iowa Wesleyan University, which his father had previously attended, and became a member of the same literary society to which his father had belonged.  He likewise held membership with the Phi Delta Theta and was a delegate to its national convention at Galesburg, Illinois, in 1890.  He won the degree of Master of Arts in 1893.  He was local editor of the Iowa Wesleyan and delivered the master’s oration in 1893.  After leaving college he became assistant editor of the Randolph Times at Randolph, Nebraska, where he remained until his health failed in 1894.  He died suddenly of acute pneumonia.  He was a member of the Knights of Pythias fraternity and the Masonic lodge and his political support was given to the Republican party.  He was a bright and talented young man, and as a college friend was ideal, faithful and true.  He death was a most severe blow to his mother, for in him were centered many proud hopes and around him were many far-reaching plans.  He possessed a most sunny disposition, full of life and joy, and he had a faculty of binding his friends closer to him as the years passed by.  He possessed a native American wit and was able to produce laughter in an entire company, at the same time keeping a sober face himself.  He had been conducting the Randolph Times for a year with great success when he was obliged to leave Nebraska and go to Colorado for his health.  He was well fitted for a journalistic career in every respect, but his ambition was too great for his strength.  His ideas upon religious questions were broad and liberal, and while he did not subscribe to any creeds or dogmas, he recognized in nature ample evidence of a Creator.  In his business life he was ambitious to excel, was quick to grasp an idea, was fruitful in imagination and had a mind stored with well selected and useful knowledge, and his language gave every evidence of being well chosen.  He did not readily take up new friends, but his acquaintance bore the test of time and all who knew him learned to respect him and many gave to him their lasting friendship and regard.  In social circles he was often the light and life of a company because of a mind well stored with information as well as wit and with a fund of apt quotation, which he readily used.  During his last days many of his college friends and schoolmates called upon him and did what they could for him in his sickness, and when the end came they bore his remains home and he was laid tenderly to rest by the side of his father.  He died in the home of his attending physician with his devoted mother at his bedside, and as the end came he joined with her in singing the hymn, “On Christ, the Solid Rock, I stand.”  

Ernest M. Coddington, the second child of the family, was born May 30, 1871, and died in 1872.  Laura, the surviving daughter, was born September 1, 1872, in Fairfield, Iowa, and in Mount Pleasant high school prepared for college work, and in 1887 entered the Iowa Wesleyan University in 1893 and won the Master of Arts degree in 1896.  She belonged to the Ruthean Literary Society and the P.E.O. Sisterhood.  She was a teacher in the graded schools of Mount Pleasant from 1895 until 1899, spent the following year as a teacher in Ottumwa, Iowa, and taught in Lake Side, Washington, in 1900-01, while her mother visited there.  She holds a teacher’s state certificate.  On the 3^rd of August, 1901, in Mount Pleasant, she gave her hand in marriage to French L. Eason and they reside at Madison, Wisconsin, Mr. Eason being a commercial traveler.  They have two children: French Leon, born August 1, 1902, and Marjorie, born April 30, 1905.  Manly G. Coddington, the youngest child of the family, was born in Mount Pleasant, January 29, 1876, and died in August of that year.  Two of the children were buried in Mount Pleasant by the side of the father, and the little son, Ernest, was laid to rest in Fairfield cemetery.  

Mr. Coddington was a republican in his political views and he took all of the degrees in Odd Fellowship, continuing his active connection with the order until within a few years prior to his death.  He passed away July 30, 1877, at Mount Pleasant, when forty years of age.  His life did not cover a very long period, but it was one of usefulness, and the world is better for his having lived.  He was devoted to his family and to his church and he accomplished great good in the world.  

At the time of her marriage to Rev. Eli H. Coddington, Mrs. Coddington was a widow, having been married on the 17^th of April, 1862, to N. H. Tannehill, who was born in Champaign county, Ohio, in 1837, and was a farmer by occupation.  In September following his marriage he enlisted for service in the Civil war, joining Company I, Thirteenth Iowa Infantry, at Troy, this state.  He became ill when on boat near Vicksburg, going to re-enforce General Grant, and died in the hospital at Lake Providence, Louisiana, of typhoid fever, February 10, 1863, when twenty-five years of age.  He was buried there, being laid to rest in a soldier’s grave, having given his life in defense of the Union.  Fraternally he was an Odd Fellow, politically a republican, and religiously was connected with the Methodist Episcopal church.   

Thus, at the age of twenty years, Mrs. Coddington was left a widow.  Both her husbands fought under the stars and stripes.  The spring following the death of her husband, Mrs. Tannehill was commissioned as a hospital nurse at Benton Barracks, St. Louis, and on the 1^st of June, 1865, she received a commission as a delegate of the United States Christian Commission.  Following the loss of her husband, she was anxious to have her time and attention employed, and taught school until a place had been made for her in the hospital.  Benton Barracks was one of the largest hospitals in the west and included the amphitheater and other buildings on the fair grounds of the St. Louis Agricultural Society.  Often there were two thousand patients there, and the institution was under the charge of Dr. Russell, of Natick, Massachusetts, who was in every way fitted for this responsible position.  

During the first day of her hospital service Mrs. Coddington had a smallpox case in her ward, but the man was soon removed to the isolation hospital.  She escaped the smallpox, but was taken down with measles.  As soon as she recovered, however, she again resumed her work as a nurse.  In March, 1865, she was transferred to the Nashville Hospital, where Dr. Russell had gone as surgeon in charge.  Before she left Benton Barracks the soldiers in the ward where she had been for nearly a year presented her with an elegant silk dress pattern as a token of their good will and appreciation of her kindness to them.  On the 1^st of June, 1865, she was called to St. Louis to enter the work of the Christian Commission and remained there until December 3, 1865, when she returned to her home in Troy, Iowa, reaching there in time for the celebration of her twenty-third birthday after an absence of two years.  

Here she gave her hand in marriage to Rev. Coddington, who had seven successful years in the ministry after that time, followed by four years of intense suffering.  He left two children, but the son has since died, leaving Mrs. Coddington with one daughter.  Mrs. Coddington possesses a remarkable memory, and the sketch of her life during her two years of hospital service she wrote without referring to any notes, and this article is found in a book entitled, “Our Army Nurses,” compiled by Mary A. Gardner Holland in 1895.  It is a very interesting record and shows not only the work of Mrs. Coddington, but also displays scholarly ability in its compilation.  Mrs. Coddington is a most estimable lady, popular with a large circle of friends.  Her life has been greatly devoted to good work.  

Since the death of Mr. Coddington she has made her home in Mount Pleasant and has been very active in church work, acting as district secretary of the missionary society.  For twenty-two years she had charge of the primary class in the Sunday school and had hoped to remain as its teacher for a quarter of a century, but impaired hearing necessitated her giving up the work.  One of her pupils when she took charge of the class was Max Babb, son of Judge Babb, of Mount Pleasant, who at the time of her resignation as primary teacher was serving as superintendent of the Sunday school.  From time to time she received many beautiful presents from the school in token of appreciation of her work.  She was junior vice-president of the department of Iowa of the Women’s Relief Corps for one year, filling that position at the time of her son’s death.  She took the federal census in the two wards in Mount Pleasant in 1890, and she has been an active member of the Women’s Relief Corps, in which she has served as president, vice-president and chaplain.  She has also been recording secretary and treasurer in the Home and Foreign Missionary societies, but has been obliged to retire from more active connection with these various organizations because of her hearing.  Her life has been indeed filled with good deeds, acts of mercy and works of kindness, and many there are who bless her memory because of the assistance that she has rendered and the influence she has exerted toward nobler living and higher ideals.  

(Biographical Review of Henry County, Iowa. Chicago: Hobart Publishing Co.,1906, pp 216-221) (PE)

JOHN CHAMPLAIN CODNER is a prominent representative of industrial interests of New London, being proprietor of the Codner mills and elevator.  He was born in West Point, Lee county, Iowa, April 6, 1858, and is a son of Job and Hannah Raner (Graham) Codner, both of whom were natives of Athens county, Ohio, the former of French and English lineage, while the latter was of Irish descent.  The paternal grandfather, John Champlain Codner, was captain of a vessel that ran into Lake Champlain and discovered that body of water, and it was named in his honor, the middle name being chosen.  

When only eight years of age the subject of this review, who was named for his grandfather, accompanied his parents on their removal to New London, Iowa, and in the public schools of this town he acquired his education.  On account of poor health he turned his attention to farming, feeling that the outdoor life might prove beneficial.  He followed that vocation until 1889, when he was appointed by President Cleveland to the position of postmaster of New London, in which capacity he served for one year.  He then retired from the office in order to become a factor in the commercial life of the city, joining John Buckingham in the establishment and conduct of a meat market under the firm name of Buckingham & Codner.  After a year his partnership was dissolved and in connection with James H. Biesen, Mr. Codner purchased the business of Farrell & Redfern.  They remained together until 1894, when their store was destroyed by fire, after which Mr. Codner engaged in the racket business, purchasing the Baptist church property and erecting a business block upon that corner.  This was in 1895 and he continued to conduct the store for eight months, after which he purchased a third interest in a meat business and became a member of the firm of Codner & Lyman.  Some time afterward H. Codner purchased Mr. Lyman’s interest and the firm of Codner Brothers was then formed and existed for a year, when H. H. Codner sold out to Edward Roach.  The firm of Codner & Roach continued business for two years, when Mr. Roach disposed of his interest to J. B. Hiles and the name of Codner & Hiles was found upon the signboard for six months, after which Mr. Codner was alone in business for six months and then sold a half interest to Dave Pickering.  The firm of Codner & Pickering existed until 1899, when our subject sold out to his partner.  

In that year he entered the employ of his brother, H. H. Codner, who in 1900 established the present mill and elevator business at New London.  He erected the buildings and conducted the business under the name of H. H. Codner until 1902, when William H. Fye was admitted to a partnership and the firm style of Codner & Fye was assumed, being so continued for about eight months.  On the 1^st of April 1903, J. C. Codner purchased the half interest of Mr. Fye and the business was then carried on under the name of Codner Brothers until January 28, 1904, when J. C. Codner purchased his brother’s interest and has since conducted the business alone.  He deals in all kinds of grain and also coal and coke and until the 20^th of July, 1905, he likewise dealt in lime, cement and cement blocks and builder’s supplies, but on that day he rented to Andrew Johnson the part of the building in which he carried on that line of business and Mr. Johnson is still conducting the enterprise, while Mr. Codner concentrates his energies upon the grain and elevator business.  The capacity of the elevator is about one hundred thousand bushels and in the month of August, 1904, he shipped over forty-two thousand bushels of oats, which he bought and sold the same month.  He has a forty-horse power steam engine and a fifty-horse power boiler and he has all the necessary machinery for operating a first class plant.  His business has constantly increased both in volume and importance and he is now a leading representative of the grain trade in Henry county.  

In 1881 was celebrated the marriage of John Champlain Codner and Miss Lillie Caroline Biesen, a daughter of Herrman Biesen.  They has three children: Irena Maude, the wife of Ellis McCune, and a resident of New London; Mabel May, the wife of S. P. Mott, of Batavia, Iowa, where he is a telegraph operator; and LeRoy C., who is his father’s assistant in business.  

Some time after the death of Mrs. Codner, Mr. Codner was again married, his second union being with Ellen Agnes Roach, a daughter of Patrick and Catherine (Hennessey) Roach.  By the second marriage there are four children: Job, who died when between three and four years of age; Katie, who is now a student in the schools of New London; George Walker, also a student; and John Edward.  

In his fraternal relations Mr. Codner is an Odd Fellow, belonging to New London Lodge, No. 56, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, in which he has passed all the chairs.  He is likewise a member of the Encampment.  Politically a stalwart republican, he served for fourteen years as constable of his town.  Mr. Codner has a wide and favorable acquaintance in Henry county.  Each step in his business career has been thoughtfully planned and carefully made, and he has been therefore a progressive one.  Starting out in life in a humble capacity, he has gradually extended the field of his usefulness and is today in control of a large and profitable business, which is not only a source of individual profit, but is also one of the desirable elements of commercial and industrial activity in New London.  

(Biographical Review of Henry County, Iowa. Chicago: Hobart Publishing Co.,1906, pp 107-109) (PE)

New London is proud to number among her representative citizens Carl William von Coelln a man of broad and liberal culture; a man who values and appreciates education, for education’s sake, who has devoted his life to the spreading of the ideas and to the creating of the ideals that go to make up a broad and well rounded existence.  By his living the cause of education has been materially advanced, for he has been successively student, teacher and editor.  It is to Germany that we are indebted for many of our scholarly men.  In this country Carl William von Coelln was born on August 31, 1830,  in the province of Westphalia.  He is the son of Theodore August and Charlotte (Evers) von Coelln.  He attended the public schools in the city where his father was pastor, later the gymnasium, at Hereford, from which he was graduated in 1851, then the University at Bonn, after which he entered the German army, serving for one year, during this time he furnished his own provisions and being a graduate of a gymnasium, he was required to serve only a year.  

In 1835 [sic], he took passage upon a sailing vessel bound for New York, and after a voyage of fifty-two days reached destination in safety.  From New York, he went to Ashtabula county, Ohio, where he found employment upon a dairy farm for one year.  At the end of that period, he began teaching, and for the succeeding five years, taught in private schools and academies in Ashtabula, Trumbull, and Summit counties.  In 1861 he went to Des Moines and became a teacher in the public schools for six months, then opened an academy in Cascade, Dubuque county.  Later he was chosen professor of mathematics in Iowa College at Grinnell, remaining there for seven years; then for one and one-half years he taught in the college at Kidder, Missouri, following which he became instructor in Waterloo, Iowa, in the public schools.  

From 1876 until 1882 he served as state superintendent, then entered the public schools at Dennison as a teacher, where he remained until he gave up his position to enter the employ of D. Appleton & Company, publishers of school books.  In 1892 he went to Storm Lake, Iowa, to become professor of mathematics but at the expiration of four and a half years retired from active life.  Again in 1902 he entered the field of active labor, becoming county superintendent of schools of Crawford county.  He remained in this position for two years and in the spring of 1904 went to New London to become editor-in-chief of the Farmer Times, a paper which he purchased in partnership with his daughter, Anna.  

In his religious views Mr. von Coelln is a Presbyterian, and a stanch supporter of the church in which he for many years has been and elder.  In politics he is a republican and a firm believer in the doctrines as set forth by the party to which he belongs.  

On the 19^th of November, 1857, William von Coelln married Celia A. Goodrich, of Ashtabula county.  They have five children, Charlotta (Mrs. Harvey J. Cook), of Dennison; Theodore A., who has not been heard from in twelve years; Carl D. connected with the Nonpariel, of Council Bluffs; Laura Christina (Mrs. Eugene Connor), of Tama; and Anna, her father’s assistant and a member of the firm.  

In 1896 Whitney & Noble owned the printing establishment, of which Mr. von Coelln is now the proprietor, publishing a paper call The Moon.  Whitney & Noble sold the business to Mr. Gifford, who changed the name of the paper to the Times, which was afterwards consolidated with the Farmer.  When Mr. von Coelln entered this business he purchased the Farmer’s Times.  It has a circulation of about one thousand copies and is a bright and newsy paper, always watched for expectantly by its subscribers; the only paper in New London.  

Mr. von Coelln has lived a life of devotion to his chosen profession and has ever been an active worker in the field of education.  His life has indeed been well spent for by his career as a teacher and his business life as an editor he has been instrumental in a wide-spread dissemination of knowledge.  Mr. von Coelln is loved and respected by all who know him and well deserves the position he holds as one of the foremost citizens of New London.

 (Biographical Review of Henry County, Iowa. Chicago: Hobart Publishing Co.,1906, pps 516-518) (PE)

FRANK HENRY COLBY, who is engaged in the livery business in New London, is a son of Nathan and Elizabeth (Blakeway) Colby and was born in Des Moines county, near Middletown, Iowa, on the 14^th of August, 1875.  The public schools afforded him his educational privileges.  He attended school to some extent in his native county and afterward in Montgomery county, Iowa.  He was reared to the occupation of farming and continued the work of the fields until 1903, when he took up his abode in Mount Pleasant, where he bought and shipped horses for one year.  

On the expiration of that period he engaged in the livery business there, which he conducted in connection with his shipping interests until the month of June, 1905, when his barns were destroyed by fire, causing him serious loss.  With undaunted courage and renewed purpose, however, he planned to re-enter business life and on the 24^th of August, of the same year, came to New London, where he established a livery barn with seven head of roadsters and good modern vehicles.  He is now prepared to handle a large livery business and has secured a good patronage here, for his reputation as a reliable and enterprising business man was known ere he came to New London and has been an element in winning him the success which has met him since he opened his present livery barn.  

On the 17^th of August, 1897, Mr. Colby was married to Miss Nellie Wilson, a daughter of Jonathan and Eva (Willeford) Wilson.  They have become the parents of two children: Marjory, born June 22, 1901; and Merel, born July 17, 1903.  Mr. Colby votes with the Republican party, but has neither time nor inclination to seek office, preferring to concentrate his energies upon his business affairs.  He has gained a wide and favorable acquaintance in New London and a review of his life history as a farmer and business man of Mount Pleasant as well as of New London shows that there are many commendable elements in his life record, and this history would be incomplete without mention of his name.  

(Biographical Review of Henry County, Iowa. Chicago: Hobart Publishing Co.,1906, pp 670-671) (PE) 

GEORGE S. COLLINS, who for more than a half century has resided in Henry county, where he is now successfully engaged in farming, was born in Ohio county, Indiana, on the 30^th of October, 1845, his parents being Henry B. and Catherine (Shannon) Collins, natives of New York and Pennsylvania respectively and the latter a daughter of George Shannon.  The marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Collins was celebrated in Indiana, where they resided upon a farm until the spring of 1850, when, thinking to have better opportunities for the acquirement of a comfortable competence in the new and growing west, they made their way down the Ohio and up the Mississippi river to Burlington, whence they drove across the country to Baltimore township, Henry county.  

Here Mr. Collins invested in one hundred and ninety-six acres of land on section 29, which was partially improved but was largely covered with timber and brush.  There was a little log cabin on the place but soon afterward Mr. Collins built another log house, which was more commodious and substantial.  He then gave his attention to clearing and tilling the fields, taking away the brush and timber and placing the land under the plow, so that in course of time good harvests were garnered.  He lived in his log house until his death, which occurred on the 30^th of July, 1877.  Later in that year the family erected a frame residence and the widow continued to reside upon the home farm until her death, which occurred in 1885.  

George S. Collins was the youngest son in a family of three sons and six daughters, five of his sisters, however, being younger than he.  He spent his boyhood days on the old home place and is indebted to the public school system of Baltimore township for the educational privileges he enjoyed.  He worked in the fields through the summer months, aiding in the task of plowing, planting and harvesting and he continued upon the old homestead until the time of his marriage, which was celebrated on the 8^th of January, 1874, Miss Ellen Shelledy becoming his wife.   

She was born in Jasper county, Iowa, April 25, 1852, and her education was acquired in the district schools there.  Her parents were Cary D. and Carrie Amanda Shelledy, the former born July, 30, 1822, and the latter June 10, 1825.  The paternal grandfather, Stephen Shelledy, was a soldier in the Greybeard Regiment of Iowa in the Civil War.  He had also served as a soldier of the war of 1812, and thus did valuable military service for his country on two different occasions.  Cary D. Shelledy was a saddlemaker by trade and manufactured the first saddle ever made in Mount Pleasant.  He married and lived on a farm in Jasper county, Iowa, but his wife did not live long and later he married Sarah Jane Hale.  About 1861 he purchased a farm on Skunk river in Baltimore township, Henry county, where he resided until 1877, when he sold that property and bought another farm in Baltimore township, residing there until his death, which occurred in July, 1892.  In the family were five children, Mrs. Collins being the third in order of birth.  

Following their marriage Mr. Collins built a house on the home farm and operated the land until after his mother died, when he purchased the interest of the other heirs in the property.  He has since resided on the old homestead in the house which was built in 1877.  He owns here one hundred and seventy-two acres of land on section 29, Baltimore township, which is arable and productive.  He has fenced the entire farm with wire fencing and has made good substantial improvements.  He has a horse and hay barn, thirty-six by sixty feet and he uses the latest improved machinery to facilitate the work of the fields.  In connection with the production of crops best adapted to soil and climate he also raises Red Durham cattle and Houdan chickens, having now on hand about one hundred and fifty of these fowls.  

Unto Mr. and Mrs. Collins have been born four children: Cary A., born July 9, 1875, and now living in Jackson township; William Roy, born February 9, 1882, also a resident of Jackson township; Albert Ross, who was born July 9, 1887, and is at home, and Nellie Myrtle, born January 29, 1892.  Mr. Collins is a firm believer in the teachings of the Methodist Episcopal church and served as one of its trustees for many years.  His political allegiance is given to the democracy and he has served as road supervisor.  Every movement that is calculated to benefit the township or county receives his endorsement, for he is a public-spirited citizen and one whose aid can be counted upon to further progressive public measures.   

Almost his entire life has been passed in the county, for he was less than five years of age at the time of the removal of his parents from Ohio county, Indiana, to Iowa.  Thus for fifty-six years he has been a witness of the many changes that have occurred here as the wild and unsettled prairie and forest regions have been converted into the fine farms with here and there flourishing towns and villages in their midst.  The experiences of pioneer life were familiar to him in his youth and he assisted in the arduous task of developing a new farm.  He has seen many changes, but none have been more marked than in the methods of farming.  In the old days the work of the fields was done largely by hand, but such labor has been supplanted by the work of machinery and agricultural implements, rendering the life of the farmer now a comparatively easy one, although any successful man is always busy, and Mr. Collins is no exception to this rule.

 (Biographical Review of Henry County, Iowa. Chicago: Hobart Publishing Co.,1906, pps 211-212) (PE)