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History of
Audubon County, Iowa H Unless otherwise specified, biographies submitted by Dick Barton. ISAAC PERCY HALLOCK submitted by Steve Harrison In 1866, when the Hallock family was established in Audubon county, the very first settlers were arriving here, so that it is safe to say that the family has been connected with the history of Audubon county, and especially the agricultural life, practically ever since it was occupied by white people. It is true that there were settlers in Audubon county before 1866, but they were very few, and the county had made no considerable progress in any line before that time. The remarkable success of this family in agriculture is to be attributed, not only to the fact that the family was established in the county when land was cheap, but to the peculiar genius which the two generations here have shown for the business of farming. Isaac Percy Hallock, one of the most extensive farmers of Exira and Oakfield townships, who is a representative of the third generation in Audubon county, but who really is a representative of the second generation of large landowners, is one of the few well-known farmers who is a native of the county. He was born on February 13, 1883, on the farm where he now lives. His parents, Isaac and Malinda Ann (Norton) Hallock, came here in a very early day. The former, who was born in Illinois in 1840, came to Audubon county with his parents when sixteen years old. They located on the farm where Isaac Percy Hallock is now living, entering the land from the government. Coming from Illinois in a prairie schooner they engaged in general farming, and while Isaac and Malinda Ann (Norton) Hallock started in this county with a hundred and sixty acres of government land, they increased their holdings gradually from year to year until they owned twenty-five hundred acres at the time of Mr. Hallock's death. He was known to be the largest stock feeder in the county. When the family first came to Audubon county they were compelled to haul their produce to Omaha and Des Moines by wagon. Isaac and Malinda Hallock were the parents of seven children, Harriett, Clarence, Alice (deceased), and Isaac Percy. Charles, Mary and Irene died in infancy. Educated in the schools of Exira township, Isaac Percy Hallock saw the opportunities for farming in this section, and after quitting school took up this occupation with his father, with whom he was engaged until he was twenty-one years old. When he had reached his majority he began farming for himself by renting land from his father, and at the latter's death he received a part of the estate, and now controls about eight hundred acres of the best land to be found in Audubon county. Ordinarily, Mr. Hallock keeps about two hundred head of cattle on his farm and feeds out two hundred and fifty head of hogs every year. His farm is exceptional in one respect, in that he has about one hundred acres of timber on the land. Naturally, this timber is very valuable in a prairie country, and Mr. Hallock is conserving it to a time when its value will reach a maximum, and when he can enjoy the full benefit of the policy he has followed. Mr. Hallock is a member of the Modern Woodmen of America, and the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks. He belongs to the latter order at Atlantic. He is a Republican. It can hardly be expected that a young man who has under his care and supervision eight hundred acres of land can find much time for political or civic activities, and Mr. Hallock has shown rare wisdom in devoting his time, his energy and his ability to his own private business. In developing his farm to the maximum point of production he is perhaps doing more for the community where he lives than he might possibly do by neglecting his farm and devoting his time to public interests. This is especially true since Iowa's prosperity depends for its permanence upon the volume of agricultural production. Having reached the real crisis in this country, when the population has caught up with and passed the production and supply of food, it is a potent truth that farmers may serve their country best by doing everything in their power to augment the production and conserve the fertility of their farms. In this respect Isaac Percy Hallock deserves to rank as a young man, whose good work is growing year by year. ISAAC PETER HALLOCK, Jr., was born in Kendall county, Illinois, on March 21, 1840. He married at Oakfield, Iowa, in 1868, Malinda, the daughter of William Canfield and Harriet Ruth (Thayer) Norton, and who was born at Springwater, New York, may 16, 1845. He was a farmer, stock grower and merchant. He came to Oakfield in 1856, with his father, before the town was laid out, and they afterwards lived there together the remainder of their lives. He was a quirt, busy man, generally loved and respected by his kindred and neighbors. He had a large landed estate and was a wealthy man at his death. At one time he owned a flouring-mill at Oakfield and had a general store there several years. He had a fine deer park, containing a large herd of native wild deer, which finally escaped and were lost. He was a Republican, was county supervisor in 1883, and held local offices. His landed estate is now possessed by his sons, Keese and Percy. He is dead and his wife died in 1907. Their children were: Harriett Abbie, who married John Curry; Clarence Keese, married Olive Jenkins, and Isaac Percy, unmarried. Isaac Peter Hallock, Sr. submitted by Steve Harrison Isaac Peter Hallock, Sr., was a lineal descendant of Peter Hallock, who came from Hingham, Norfolk, England, to New Haven, Connecticut, in 1640, and who settled in Southold, Long Island, New York. He was born in Clinton, New York, January 6, 1802, and married Abigail Howland Smith, a native of Massachusetts. He moved from New York state to Chicago in 1830, and soon settled in Kendall county, Illinois, where he lived many years. He then went to Earlville, Illinois, where he we engaged in the lumber business a short time. In 1854-5 he and his son-in-law, Erasmus D. Bradley, bought, from Samuel B. Hopkins, the John S. Jenkins claim in section 20, now Exira township, and upon which Mr. Bradley and his partner, Alva B. Brown, afterwards laid out the town of Oakfield upon Mr. Bradley's portion. The balance of the purchase remains in possession of the Hallocks to the present time. Mr. Hallock and his son, Isaac, and perhaps other members of the family went to Omaha, Nebraska, about the time of making this purchase, but returned to Oakfield in 1856, and permanently settled there on the site of the present Hallock homestead. They resided with their son, Isaac, who succeeded to his father's estate, which is now possessed by a grandson, Isaac Percy Hallock. [See his biographical sketch on pages 667-669.] They were Quakers. He and his sons were stanch Republicans. Her served as county judge in 1863-4, and afterwards was postmaster and justice of the peace. Both died at Oakfield years ago. Their children were as follow: Elizabeth, who married Thomas Dissmore; Richard S., married Julia Burr; Julia Ann, married Erasmus D. Bradley; John Addison, married Catherine Crane; Sarah Melissa, married Joel H. Basham, and Isaac Peter; married Malinda Ann Norton. Hon. John Addison Hallock submitted by Steve Harrison Hon. John Addison Hallock married Catherine, daughter of Daniel and Ann (Echman) Crane. He came to Audubon county about 1856, and was a farmer and successful school teacher. He settled on lot 13, section 3, adjoining the town of Exira on the east. He taught school in Guthrie Center, at Exira and at the Green school. As the town increased his land was required for suburban residences, and now forms a large part of the town. the Congregational church was built on his land. A Republican in politics, he was clerk of the district court, 1863-4; justice of the peace, 1868, and later representative. In 1878 he was a merchant at Exira, but moved to Salida, Colorado, in the eighties, where Mrs. Hallock died. He was an agnostic. There was an unusual amount of gun play in this family. The son, Charles, was accidentally wounded by a mob in Colorado; George shot and killed Colbert Strahl and at the same time wounded Jesse Millhollin near Oakfield, in 1883; Willis was shot and seriously wounded in Elkhorn the same year, in the celebrated horse thief mob case, and Frank was afterwards shot and killed in Colorado. The children were: Charles, who married Anna Burbank; George, married Lucy Norton; Willis, married Belle Overholt; Frank, Grace and Ray. Richard S. Hallock, M.D. submitted by Steve Harrison Richard S. Hallock, M.D., married Julia Burr. He came from Omaha, Nebraska, to Oakfield, in 1856, where he was a successful physician and surgeon many years. He owned several farms and timber lands. He was surgeon of a United States colored regiment in the Union army. He was a Republican in politics. He moved to Salida, Colorado, where he died about 1890. He was the father of the following children: Robert Burns, who married Ossia Orton; Kansas Irene, married Hardy M. Clark; Julia, married George Simmons; Jennie, married William Fuller, and Burr.
Judge Daniel M. Harris was a gentleman with whom it was a pleasure to have been acquainted. No man in Audubon county, during the period of his residence here, from 1854 to 1862, did more than he, as a citizen and public officer, for the advancement of the community. He was worthy, genial, friendly and a highly-intelligent gentleman. He was born in Dayton, Ohio, July 21, 1821. In 1837 he went to Williamsport, Tennessee, where, in 1841, he married Martha Minerva White. He was a carpenter and merchant in Williamsport, whence he migrated and arrived at Hamlin's Grove on November 8, 1854. He settled in section 36, now Exira township, improved land there and worked at his trade. In 1857 he moved to section 14, now Audubon township, and improved land there. He was elected county judge in 1855 and held the office until 1862. It was the most important office in the county, its duties embracing many now exercised by the board of supervisors, relative to elections, taxation, roads, and the general county business, besides jurisdiction in probate matters, and concurrent jurisdiction with justices of the peace. Most of the public county records were installed under his direction, and many of the first records were written with his own hand, showing very neat penmanship, and intelligent, painstaking work, a monument to his memory. He was the first lawyer in the county, and the factotum for all kinds of legal and official business for the people of the county during the period from 1854 to 1861, inclusive, which compares favorably with that conducted at the present time. This is remarkable when it is considered that Iowa was then in its infancy and that the forms and methods of transacting such affairs were not then well settled. Lawyers and officers were then required to make their own forms of documents and legal records, without the aid of the codes, hand books of forms, practice and procedure which are now possessed. Judge Harris was highly esteemed as a citizen and his friends were co- extensive with his acquaintance. If he had enemies, they were few and were confined to his rivals. His integrity was unquestioned. He was an eminently public-spirited man. In 1855-6 he originated the idea and assisted to build the first school house in the county, a log building at Hamlin's Grove, a private enterprise, erected by the donations and labor of the settlers. In 1856-7 he and Peoria I. Whitted erected the first public school house in the county, at the cost of two hundred and sixty-five dollars, built by subscription, at Audubon City (Hamlin's Grove). In 1857 Judge Harris bought from David Edgerton for four hundred dollars, an unrecorded one-half interest in the land upon which the town of Exira was laid out and platted. And while the business was conducted in the name of Mr. Edgerton, Harris was the real promoter and did the business. The first sale of lots was on May 7, 1857, Mr. Harris being the auctioneer, and the sale aggregated one thousand nine hundred and fifty dollars. He reserved all of block 8 in the town for his own home lot, and in the same year built for himself the first dwelling in town. This he sold, about 1860, to William P. Hamlin, and then built for himself another dwelling, which stood where the Park hotel is located. Soon afterwards he built another building, about sixteen feet square, on block 8, for a carpenter shop, where Ernest Voss's residence is situated, and which was afterwards used for a postoffice. It was sold to the county, moved upon the public square and used for the county offices until 1874, when it degenerated into a beer saloon. The same year he originated a plan for building the first school house at Exira, and which was erected with less than one hundred dollars in actual cash. The contract price of the building was one thousand three hundred dollars. The taxpayers brought to the contractor grain, labor, lumber, etc., for which the county treasurer gave a receipt as for cash, and the contractor receipted to the treasurer for it. And so the house was erected and paid for. Judge Harris served as postmaster at Exira from 1857 to 1861. He was elected representative to the Legislature in 1859 from the twenty-sixth district, composed of the counties of Audubon, Guthrie, Harrison and Shelby, and served in the sessions of the ninth General Assembly. He said: "I supported, as representative, all the war measures of Iowa, and was a good a real Union man as nay in Iowa. I was opposed to much of the legislation of the Republican party of that day, believing then, as I do now, that much of it was for the purpose of robbing the people of the South, whom I consider as much entitled to the protection of the United States government as the people of the North." He supported Douglas for President in 1860. It is said that at the beginning of the war, in 1861, he made a strong Union speech at Exira, at which the Democrats, and especially Uncle Natty Hamlin, were offended. John T. Jenkins, of Brayton, says, that when he enlisted in 1861, Judge Harris praised his conduct in going to war and said that it was the duty of young men to serve their country in time of its peril. His son, William J. Harris, enlisted in 1862, in Company B, Thirty-ninth Iowa Infantry, and was captured at Altoona in 1864. The Harris home at Exira was noted for hospitality and was the favorite resort of the elite of Audubon county in early times, being the scene of gayety, festivity and pleasure. The normal condition was that the house was full to overflowing, and all comers were always made welcome and happy. The family rarely set down to the table alone at meal time. Judge Harris moved to Panora, Iowa, in the spring of 1862, and became a member of the firm of Harris & Fogg, prominent lawyers there. At the same time he was proprietor and editor of the Guthrie County Ledger, notorious in its opposition to the Republican party and administration. In 1867 he was the Democratic candidate for lieutenant-governor of Iowa. He moved to Missouri Valley in 1868 and there conducted the Missouri Valley Times. Returning to Exira in 1873, he conducted the Audubon County Defender, and later, moved to Atlantic, Iowa, and there established the Cap Sheaf. He again removed to Missouri Valley, about 1876, and continued the publication of the Missouri Valley Times the remainder of his life. Exceptions were taken to Judge Harris along political lines, as a newspaper editor and proprietor and politician, especially during war times and the reconstruction period. He was prominent in the Democratic party and in harmony with its doctrines, tenets and traditions. He denounced the war in strong terms, and was in sympathy with the South. His paper was considered detrimental to the Union cause. The soldiers, who were then dodging rebel bullets in the army, looked with disfavor and hatred upon those in the rear who were acting against their best interests, and regarded those who were not with them as against them. It was a desperate situation - a case of life or death to the soldiers who were fighting in a just cause for their rights - which is now the verdict of the world, including the Southern people themselves. To err is human. Judge Harris probably lived to regret some things he said and did. Near the time of his death he published in his paper: "In looking back over the past ninety years' history of our life we feel that, with our experience, if we had the journey to make over, we would shun politics as we would a plague. "In the year of his death there appeared in his paper an article from his own pen on the centennial of the birth of Lincoln, the tenor of which was all that a patriotic American could desire; but in marked contrast with the sentiments expressed in his earlier writings. He was for many years a Free Mason and an Odd Fellow. He died at Missouri Valley, October 9, 1911. Mrs. Harris died in 1898. Their children were as follows: Mary Isabella, married John Crane; William James, married Flora Townsend; Daniel Webster, never married; Clarinda Campbell, married John Lahman; John Wiley, married Hattie Toft; Robert Henry, married Frances Chapman; Ellis Nathaniel, married Essie Rainberger; Edwin Freeman, married Emma Jones; Virginia Tennessee, married Will Rutledge; Emma Eudora, married Charles Russell. Amhert Heath, brother of Mark and Milton, came from Indiana in 1857. He was a farmer and well digger. He was a Democrat and served as county judge. He lost his life in a well at the Huyck place in 1868. He married Loly A. Monts and after his death, his widow married David B. Beers. He was the father of the following children: Catherine Lovetta, who married William Gearheart; Rose Ella, married Henry Carpenter; Lewis Comb, married Ina Smith; Frank Byron, married Ida Merrick; Owen Elmer, married Grace Hawk; Martha Almeda, married Lewis M. Parrott. Hiram Heath came to Audubon county with his parents. He married in 1871, Evaline, daughter of Henry and Julia A. (Bolton) Gransberry. He was a farmer at Exira, and a Republican in politics. His children were, Henry M., who married Mary B. Kline; Elizabeth J., who married George B. Martin; Rosall, who married Monroe Higgins; Olga G., who married William Powers, and Winnie I., unmarried. Mark Heath, a farmer, who married Lucy Driver, came from Fort Wayne, Indiana, in 1852, and settled on the hill south of Oakfield, in section 29. He lived there the remainder of his life and died there. He was a Republican in politics and served as justice of the peace. His children were, Marcellus, who married Emma Brinckley; Lovice, married Chauncey Aldrich; C. Adelbert, married Francina Pottle; Kittie, married Frank Lambert. Milton Heath, a carpenter and farmer, married Elizabeth Parent. He came from Fort Wayne, Indiana, in 1852, and lived first on Doctor Ballard's place; then moved a mile west of Ballard bridge, where he built a dwelling, made of poles covered with hay. He went to Shelby county in 1855, and there laid out the now obsolete town of Simoda. He went back to Indiana in 1860, returned to Audubon county in 1869, and lived about Oakfield and other places. He was a Republican. He died in 1897, and his wife died in 1873. Their children were: Hiram, referred to in the following paragraph; Josiah, who married Mary Huntsinger; Wilfred, who married Sarah Eastis; Albert, who married Caroline Goodale, and Arthur, who married Mary The Herrick lineage is a
proud one. It is an old one,
extending back to the period when
English people bore but a single name, and it was then Eric. But,
through various transformations and the prefix of the Cockney "h," it became (H)eyricke, which, in later times, became Herrick.
It is traditional that the very ancient family of the Ericks descended
from Eric, the Forrester, a great commander, who raised an army
to oppose the invasion of William the Conqueror into England, 1066, by
whom he was vanquished; but he was afterwards chosen to command some of
the forces of that king. In old age
he returned to his estate in Leicestershire,
where the descendants became free tenants, holding two virgates,
the fourth of a hide, or about fifty acres of land, which they held
on payment of an annual quit-rent to the king of a pound of pepper. Eyrick, of Great Stretton and of Houghton in Leicester, England, in
time of King Henry III, 1216-72,
was a lineal descendant of Eric, the Forrester.
Henry
Heyricke or
Herrick, was tenth in lineal descent from Eyrick last named. He was born at Beaumont,
England, August 6, 1604, and was named by command of Prince Henry,
eldest son of King James I. His
sponsors were Sir David Murray, Sir
John Spellman and Lady Aston. He
emigrated to Virginia; thence to Salem,
Massachusetts, where he married Editha, daughter of Hugh and Alice
Laskin. They were members of the
First church in Salem, 1629. He was
made a freeman, May 18, 1631. They
moved to Bass River, now Beverly,
Massachusetts, July 4, 1667, where they joined the church the same
year. They were founders of the
Herrick family in New England. Their
descendants are numerous and are well settled over the Northern and
Western states. Alvin
Herrick was
supposed to have descended from Henry Herrick, of Salem, Massachusetts,
1629, but his ancestry has not been traced.
He was the son of Elisha
Herrick and was born in Westfield, Massachusetts. He married
Pauline Leffingwell. He was a
dairyman at Westfield. He moved to
Chautauqua, New York, as early as 1844; thence to Buffalo, New York; thence
to Beloit, Wisconsin, about 1850. In
the spring of 1853 he migrated
again, and arrived in Audubon county in June, of that year, accompanied
by his son, Urbane, and family. He
at once bought out the claim of
Ralph Arthur Decker, which had a cabin on it, and in the same year entered the land from the government, it being the east
half of the northeast quarter of
section 17, now Exira township, and also the southeast
quarter of the same section, embracing some first-class farm land
and the best timber in the county, which shows that he did not come here
empty handed. Part of the present
farm of his grandson, Julius E. Herrick,
is situated in his original purchase. The
remainder of his family came in
1854 and brought with them several hundred sheep, the first brought to Audubon county.
"Folly" Herrick, his son, says that it was
his job to tend the sheep, and that they were herded along the ridge north
of the road, which runs on the north line of section 16. Mr. Herrick sold
his farm land to his son, Elisha, and about 1856 moved to a place half a mile north, in section 9, where he erected a
dwelling, built for him by Howard
J. Green and Alfred Eddy, which is still in existence. About
1863 Mr. and Mrs. Herrick separated, and she, with several of the children, Coit, Curtis, Elisha, Judson D., Orra
and Lawrence, emigrated to
Stockton, California. Herrick sold
his home place to another son,
Augustus C. Herrick, and son-in-law, Richard Gault,
and it was known for many years as the Gault place.
About 1865 his son, Judson
D., called "Folly," returned from California, and the father
and son moved to Bear Grove, Iowa, but soon returned to Audubon county,
where he died in December, 1875. He
was about five feet and six inches
in stature; dark complexion, hair and eyes.
His descendants are numerous,
being mostly farmers and Democrats, and have been substantial, prosperous citizens; people who attend to their own affairs
and let others alone; honest,
honorable, kind, social neighbors - good types of old
Yankee stock. Edson
Herrick married
Mrs. Mary A. West, nee Bigelow, who had a son, named C. Dwight West,
by her former husband. They came
here from Beloit, Wisconsin, bringing
with them her son, who still lives here. But,
fearing Indian troubles, they
returned to Wisconsin, and came back to Audubon county in June, 1856. He
was a farmer and a Democrat. He
entered the northwest quarter of
section 15, Exira township, but settled on an adjoining tract in the northeast corner of section 16, where William Carpenter
and other afterwards lived.
He next built a residence farther west in the same section,
which he sold to G. T. Poage. It
contained one of the first plastered
rooms in the county. About 1864 he
bought the farm first improved by
his brother, Urbane Herrick, in sections 8 and 9, Exira township,
where his son-in-law, Walter B. Temple, now lives, and where he
lived until near the time of his death. He
was a medium-sized man, with dark
complexion, hair and eyes. His name
may justly go down to posterity as
a model citizen. He was one who had
no enemies. Neither should his particular by-word, "By Jocks," be
forgotten. He survived his
wife, but both have been dead many years. Their
children were: Ella Mary, who
married Walter B. Temple; Ida F., married Henry b. Houston, and
is dead; Lilly Ann, married Elihu
Myers; Emma P., married J. Mack Love;
Julius Earl, married Jessie Wilcutt;
Cora, married, first, Grant Brown
and, second, Lloyd Hinkle, and Laura B. died unmarried. Urbane
Herrick married,
first, Charlotte Spurling, who died, and he then married Keziah Smith.
He was a farmer and a Democrat. He
came from Beloit, Wisconsin, with
his father in 1853. He entered and
settled on the place where Walter
B. Temple, Esq., now lives, which he sold to a Doctor Hager, in Illinois,
who sold it to Edson Herrick about 1864. He
then settled on and improved the
farm in section 36 in Hamlin township, where Willie Jenson
now lives. Then he moved to lot 12, in section 3, Exira township,
and built the present residence in the northeast corner thereof.
It embraced the townsite of Exira Heights and the site of the school
house at Exira. He was justice of
the peace and sheriff. He was a
small man, with dark complexion, hair and eyes.
He died at Exira many years
ago, and his widow is now the wife of Frank Persing, of Exira. The children by his first wife were, Urbane Scott, deceased, who
married Clara M. Blackmar;
Orra D., married Samuel Beers; Lorinda
D., married Hiram Young; Rosa M.,
married Clark Gray. By his second
wife, Mr. Herrick became the father
of three children: Robie K., who married first,
John Peterman and, second, Michael Flynn; Mary
E., married Hans P. Hansen, and
Maggie E., married Grant Smith and J. O. Howard. Judson DeForest
Herrick, who was born in
Chautauqua, New York, in 1844, came to Audubon county from
Beloit, Wisconsin, in 1854. He went
to California in 1863; returned to
Audubon county in 1865, and moved to Bear Grove, Iowa, and there married Mrs. Louisa Strickland, nee Roeser.
He later returned to Audubon
county and settled on a farm in section 31, in Greeley township, where
he lived many years. He is now
retired and lives in the town of Exira.
He is a Democrat. Physically, he is a small man, with dark complexion,
hair and eyes. His children are: Alvin, who married Sarah Winchell;
Lenora, married John Crees; Curtis,
married Edna White; Herbert,
married Harriet Jenkins, and Essie M., married George Scott. JERRY S. HOOVER, a farmer of Greeley township, and a resident of this county for nearly thirty years, was born on August 18, 1865, in Racine county, Wisconsin, the son of Jerry M. and Fannie (Foreman) Hoover, natives of Pennsylvania, and of England, respectively. The mother came to the United States when a child, her parents having emigrated to America at that time. Jerry M. and Fannie (Foreman) Hoover were the parents of eleven children, of whom Jerry S., the subject of this sketch, was the fifth and the only one who has ever lived in Audubon county. After living at home until he was twenty-three years old, Mr. Hoover came to Audubon county in 1888 and rented land for five years. He then purchased eighty acres of land in section 33, of Greeley township, and began his career as a farmer, a career in which he has been very successful. The eighty-acre farm was very slightly improved when Mr. Hoover purchased it, having only a small two-room house and a hay-shed barn. He has since built an addition to the house and now has a nine-room house, a good barn, cribs, granaries, garage and well-kept out-buildings. He is engaged in general farming and stock raising and milks on an average thirteen head of cows. He has added forty acres to his original holdings and also rents from forty to eighty acres additional. On February 29, 1888, Jerry S. Hoover was married to Katherine Bauer, of Audubon, who was born on July 22, 1869, in Baden, Germany, the daughter of Christian and Susan (Frankenberger) Bauer. The mother died in the old country, when Katherine was eight years old, and her father again married. She came to the United States with her father and step-mother, and after landing in New York, in March, 1884, they went to Racine county, Wisconsin, where they lived for three years, and then came to Audubon county. To Jerry S. and Katherine (Bauer) Hoover have been born eight children, as follow: Alice, born on May 4, 1889, married F. A. Bartelt, and has one child, George; Elizabeth, November 20, 1890, married Earl Griffin, and has four children, Edith and Elsie (twins), Myrtle and Arnold; Emma, May 13, 1892; Chris, August 26, 1894; Fannie, April 11, 1897; Nora, December 18, 1899; George, September 16, 1903, and Ellowene, April 25, 1907. All of the unmarried children live at home with their parents, except Emma, who stays with her sister, Elizabeth, near Anita. For many years Mr. Hoover has been a prominent republican in Greeley township, having served as justice of the peace for three terms and as a school director for eight years. The Hoover family are members of the Christian church, and Mrs. Hoover especially has been an active church worker for many years. The family is well known in this part of the country. Fraternally, Mr. Hoover is a member of the Ancient Order of the United Workmen. Jerry S. Hoover is a man of wide intelligence, a skillful and scientific farmer, who has followed closely the modern development in farming, and who has used only the most improved processes in farm operations. He believes in good machinery and his place is well equipped with most of the modern farm inventions. Not only is Mr. Hoover well known but he is popular in Greeley township and is held in high esteem by all who know him. GEORGE W. HOOVER belongs to that class of men who win in life's battles by sheer force of personality and determination, coupled with soundness of judgment and keen discrimination. In whatever Mr. Hoover has undertaken, and he has been engaged in many lines of activity, he has shown himself to be a man of ability and honor. He is always ready to lend his aid in defending the principles affecting the public good. He has ably and conscientiously performed all the duties of a public and private citizen, and has conducted himself in such a manner as to win the unqualified indorsement and support of his business associates and his fellow citizens. George W. Hoover was born in Johnson county, Iowa, on January 14, 1856, a son of George and Catherine (Horton) Hoover, who were both natives of Pennsylvania. They were married in the latter state and came to Iowa, shortly after their marriage, settling in Johnson county, where they spent the rest of their lives. To George and Catherine (Horton) Hoover were born five children, Charles, Emily, Levi, George W. and Maria, all of whom are living with the exception of Levi. George W. Hoover was educated in the common schools of Johnson county, Iowa, receiving a good common-school education, and after leaving school, took up farming as a vocation, which he followed for several years, being also incidentally engaged in carpenter work and contracting for some time. Mr. Hoover was not only a successful farmer, but he made a success of the contracting business as well. In 1888 he engaged in the hardware business in the city of Audubon and continued in this line for twenty years, at the expiration of which time he disposed of his hardware business. In the meantime he had built up a large and lucrative trade in the retail sale of hardware and implements under the firm name of the Audubon Hardware Company. At the present time Mr. Hoover is engaged in the furniture and undertaking business, and has one of the best stores in Audubon. George W. Hoover was married in 1880 to Maggie Reynolds, the daughter of John and Lucy Reynolds, both natives of Johnson county, Iowa. Mr. and Mrs. Hoover are the parents of four children: May, who married W. W. Waldron, and Karl, Jessie and Jessamine, who are at home. Mr. Hoover is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. He is also a member of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks at Atlantic. He is a Democrat, but has never been active in political affairs, and has never held office. He has been largely and actively interested in public affairs, however, and was president of the Audubon County Agriculture Society for thirteen years, during which time he developed it into a strong organization. Mr. Hoover also has had charge of Maple Grove cemetery for the past eight years and has cleaned it up and added very much to its attractiveness. |
