Dallas County >> 1907 Index

Past and Present of Dallas County, Iowa
Chicago: The S. J. Clarke Publishing Company, 1907.

O

John C. O'Malley is a native son of Iowa , dating his residence in the county from 1867, and he is therefore familiar with much of its history from an early day down to the present time. Re owns and operates a well improved farm of three hundred and twenty acres, situated on section 9, Beaver township, and here he is engaged in carrying on general farming and stock-raising interests. Mr. O'Malley was born near DeWitt, in Clinton county, Iowa , January 27, 1865 , and was a little lad of two years when he was brought by his father, Patrick O'Malley, to this county. The father settled on a tract of eighty acres, which constitutes a portion of the present homestead farm of our subject. Here he reared his family and carried on general farming throughout a long period but is now living retired in Perry.

John C. O'Malley was reared in Dallas county and it was in the common schools here that he received his early training, while later he attended the Des Moines ( Iowa ) Business College . He remained with his father and assisted in the operation of the home farm until his marriage, during which time he gained a practical knowledge of agricultural pursuits, which fitted him for carrying on a business of this character on his own account in later years.

Mr. O'Malley chose as a companion and helpmate for the journey of life Miss Margaret Graney, their marriage being celebrated in Perry , Iowa , January 1, 1890 . The lady was born in Spring Valley township, Dallas county. Following his marriage Mr. O'Malley located on the old homestead farm of eighty acres, having purchased this property. He has from time to time added to his original holdings until his farm now embraces three hundred and twenty acres. He has drained the land by the use of tiling, divided it into fields of convenient size by well kept fences, and set out a good orchard and many shade trees. He also erected a good country residence, modern and up-to-date in its equipments and accessories and built a good barn and other outbuildings, so that his place is now one of the best improved properties of this section of the state. In addition to his general farming interests, Mr. O'Malley is also well known as a raiser of good grades of stock, feeding two carloads each of cattle and hogs for the market annually.

The home of Mr. and Mrs. O'Malley has been blessed with two sons, Charles P. and Eugene J. He gives his political support to the men and measures of the democratic party, believing its principles most conducive to good government. He has filled some local offices, having for three years served as trustee of the  township. In 1904 he was elected supervisor and by reelection is still continued in the position. In this connection, with the other members of the board, Mr. O'Malley is doing excellent work. Through his supervision the highways have been graded and materially improved, bridges built and many other substantial improvements have been made. He has exerted a wide influence in the  county of his residence, for while advancing his individual interests he also promotes general prosperity. Having spent almost his entire life in Dallas county, he is widely and favorably known, and his methods in business life are such as commend him to the confidence and good will of all with whom he comes in contact.

J. S. O'Mally, an extensive stock-raiser and feeder and the owner of three hundred and thirty acres of fine farming land on section 4, Washington township, was born in Clinton county, Iowa, May 10, 1868. He is a son of Patrick and Agnes O'Mally, both natives of Ireland, where the father was born in 1838 and the mother in 1842. Mr. O'Mally came to America in 1861, locating in Clinton county, Iowa, where he bought a farm. His venture in the new world proved to be so successful that he was able, after a life of industry and thrift, to retire and move to Perry, where he is still living. There were seven children born to this union: J. C., of Dallas county, Iowa; J. S., the subject of this review; Anna, the wife of Timothy Graney; Peter, deceased; Benson, of Perry, Iowa; William, of Dallas county; and Martha, at home.

It has been said that the boy who is brought up on a farm stands the best chance of winning his way in the world. When we look over the names of our most successful business men of the large cities we find that those who have done most for the progress of these cities have been born in the country and reared upon a farm. It was on this account that J. S. O'Mally was fortunate. In addition to the work which he did upon his father's farm he found time to attend the common schools and thus acquired an elementary education. When he had attained his maturity he entered into the grain business, becoming a large buyer and continuing in the business at Perry for one year. He then engaged himself as fireman on the Wabash road and served in this capacity for the following three years. In 1889, when the tide of emigration was moving westward, Mr. O'Mally was not able to withstand the temptation and accordingly removed to Oklahoma, where he entered a piece of land and remained one year. At the end of this period he returned to Iowa, where he purchased the farm which he is now conducting. He has added to his general farming the business of a stock-raiser and feeder, in which he has proved most successful.

Mr. O'Mally was married on February 22, 1895, to Miss Flynn, a native of Dallas county, Iowa, where she was born July 21, 1874. Her parents were Patrick and Jane (Riley) Flynn, the former born in Ireland in 1839 and the latter in Canada in 1845. There were five children born to these worthy people: W. E., who is now in Indiana and is the well known manager of the McCormick Harvester Company; Nora, the wife of Mr. O'Mally, who lives in Dallas county; James, residing in New York and superintendent for the International Tobacco Trust; Mrs. O'Mally, the wife of our subject; and Mary, who is still at home in Minburn, Iowa. Patrick Flynn came to America in 1866, locating at first in Wisconsin, where he lived for four years and then removed to Dallas county, where he has since resided. Three children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. J.S. O'Mally; Grace, Wendell L. and Clifford J.

Mr. O'Mally's political affiliations have been with the democratic party. Education has always found in him a warm supporter and he served as school treasurer for eight years. He was also elected to the position of township trustee. Both he and his wife are devoted members of the Catholic church at Perry, Iowa. In the matter of progressive farming and stock-raising, Mr. O'Mally has won a place in the first rank in that business in the county. Beginning with absolutely nothing but his own willing hands and indomitable courage, he has made his way to success and prosperity . He has gained it all by upright, honorable methods which have gained him the warm regard of an extensive circle of friends.

Joseph Otterman 

Forty-three years have come and gone since Joseph Otterman arrived in Dallas county.  He is one of its best known citizens, not because he has figured prominently in public life, but because in business circles he was ever active and honorable and in all life's relations wrought for progress, reform and improvement.  His genuine personal worth has made him most widely and favorably known and no history of the county would be complete without mention of this worthy citizen. 

Mr. Otterman was born April 14, 1826, on a farm that belonged to the George Washington estate in Kanawha county, Virginia.   He was the second youngest child in the family of Louis and Gloria (Null) Otterman.  In both the paternal and maternal lines he is descended from ancestry known for loyalty and fidelity to American interests.  A contemporary biographer in writing of the family, said:  "In the various wars of the nation its members have fought on the side of the United States.  The colonies received their support in the war for independence and they again fought against the British in the war of 1812.  The paternal grandfather, Louis Otterman, descended from German and Swiss ancestry, while on his mother's side he is French and English extraction.  The maternal grandfather, Phillip Null, served for seven years in the Revolutionary war under Generals Washington, Greene  and Marion.  He enlisted thinking to be engaged in the struggle for only about six weeks, but he carried his musket through seven years of that bloody war! Many times footsore and weary, he continued on the long marches and his loyalty to the cause was severely tested.  He went through the hard experiences of that memorable winter at Valley Forge and took part in many of the hotly contested battles that were commanded by General Washington . At the close of the war he was offered payment for his services, but refused the proffered money, saying that his time and aid were freely given his country.  At one time during the war he was in charge of some troops that were crossing the Delaware river previous to the battles of Trenton and Princeton.  About this time Washington came up on foot and got in the way of the advancing regiment.  The old veteran in command, not noticing particularly who it was, called to get out of the way; Washington looked up and smiled, said nothing and passed on, but the commander of the forces felt very much embarrassed when he found out who he had been ordering around. The great-grandmother of our subject, during the Revolution, was driven from her home by the British soldiers and Tories, and forced to beg for bread. After the war the grandfather of Mr. Otterman located in Pennsylvania and previous to the war of 1812 Greensburg was laid out on his farm. 

"The father of our subject, Louis Otterman, served in the second war with Great Britain for two years. In 1829 he emigrated westward to Indiana, locating near Crawfordsville, where he died at the ripe age of seventy-five years. Phillip Null, the maternal grandfather of our subject, died of cholera at Point Pleasant, on the Ohio river, in 1833, while endeavoring to get up the Kanawha river to visit friends at Greensburg, Pennsylvania. The mother of our subject bore the maiden name of Gloria Null, and was born in Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania, while her death occurred in the Hoosier state, at the age of seventy-two years. She became the mother of nine sons and three daughters, all of whom reached mature years, were married and had families of their own. At the time Joseph Otterman was born his father was a near neighbor of Judge Summers, the father of the Judge Summers who held Virginia in the Union during the days of secession." 

Joseph Otterman was a school student for but six months.  Realizing the value of education and desirous of mental development, he has throughout his entire life been a reader and thinker, becoming one of the best informed men of the locality in which he makes his home. His judgment is  sound, his ideas practical, and in conversing with him one easily sees that he has mastered the subjects to which he has given thoughtful consideration.  He is, moreover, a self-made man financially and to his own efforts is attributable whatever success he has achieved and enjoyed.  He started out in the world on his own account when a youth of seventeen years, leaving home in order to learn the carpenter's trade, which he followed at various places until 1864.  That year witnessed his arrival in Dallas county and for a long period thereafter he was closely associated with its farming interests. 

In the meantime, however, Mr. Otterman had married and established a home of his own elsewhere.  On the 12th of January, 1852, Miss Melissa Westfall became his wife.  She was born in Miami county, Ohio, May 2, 1830, daughter of Cornelius and Sarah (Davis) Westfall.  Her father was born in Virginia and died in McDonough county, Illinois, while her mother, who passed away in the same state, was a native of Dayton, Ohio. She was a sister of Dr. William P. Davis, of Des Moines, and Congressman John Steele Davis, of New Albany, Indiana.  The great-grandfather of Mrs. Otterman was also one of the heroes of the Revolutionary war.  Many of the representatives of her family became prominent in professional circles, in the practice of medicine and of the law.  Mr. and Mrs. Otterman became the parents of three children, two of whom are living:  Carrie, now the widow of Dr. Solon B. Campbell, a resident of Pomona, California; and Hattie, the wife of George H. Cooper, of Des Moines. 

Mr. and Mrs. Otterman spent their early life in Thorntown, Indiana, and subsequently removed to Montgomery county, that state, where he followed carpentering until 1864.  He then came to Dallas county and turned his attention to farming on three hundred and ninety acres of land which he had purchased. The soil was rich and fertile and responded readily to the care and labor which he bestowed upon the fields.  Year after year he harvested good crops and for twenty years resided upon that farm, meeting with success that brought to him a very desirable competence.  He is now well situated in life financially and with the wife of his early manhood, with whom he has now traveled life's journey for fifty-five years, he is residing in Adel in a pleasant home and in the midst of many friends. 

In politics Mr. Otterman is somewhat independent.  He proudly cast his first presidential vote for Lewis Cass and in 1856 supported John C. Fremont, while at the two succeeding elections he voted for Abraham Lincoln.  He has supported Horace Greeley, Peter Cooper and General B. F. Butler. He has studied closely the questions and issues of the day and his political allegiance is the result of firm faith in various principles which he advocates.  Both he and his wife are devoted members of the Christian church and for more than a half century he has been a Master Mason.  His public spirit and patriotism have ever been numbered among his marked characteristics and at the time of the Civil war he was unfaltering in his allegiance to the cause of the Union.   With the blood of Revolutionary fathers flowing in his veins he could not be other than a patriot and among the family heirlooms he now has in his possession two silver spoons which were used by British officers  in  stirring their toddy  when  seated around a camp-fire at the time they were surprised and shot by the patriots at the battle of Pedee.  In a review of the life record of Mr. Otterman one finds little to condemn and much to approve.   He has succeeded as a result of close  application  and  earnest purpose.   He started out in life with only a dollar and a quarter and is today one of the substantial and prosperous citizens of Dallas county.  His path has never been strewn with the wreck of other men's fortunes.   His competence has been honorably gained along legitimate lines of labor and at all times he has commanded the respect and good will of his fellowmen by his genuine personal worth, his kindly spirit and his appreciation of the good in others.   Both he and his wife are most highly esteemed and the circle of their friends is co-extensive with the circle of their acquaintances.