Past and
Present of Dallas County, Iowa
Chicago: The S. J. Clarke
Publishing Company, 1907.
V
Samuel G. Van Cleave
The name of Van Cleave has long been connected with the
history of Dallas county and to the residents of this part of the state it
stands for progressiveness and enterprise in connection with farming interests.
The subject of this review is one of the leading agriculturists of Adams
township, making his home on section 6, where he owns and operates a good farm
of ninety-three acres. He is one of the native sons of Indiana, his birth having
occurred in Montgomery county, that state, on the 29th of February, 1832. He is
a son of Benjamin and Matilda (Taylor) Van Cleave, mention of whom is made in
connection with the history of T. T. Van Cleave on another page of this work.
In the days of his boyhood and youth Samuel G. Van Cleave
was a member of his father's household and worked in the fields as opportunity
offered, aiding in the task of plowing, planting and harvesting. The public
schools afforded him his educational privileges and he made good use of his
opportunities in that direction. He continued with his parents until he had
attained his majority and then started out in life on his own account, since
which time he has depended entirety upon his own resources for a living. He came
to Iowa in that year--1853--and located in Dallas county where he entered land.
He experienced the usual hardships and trials of
pioneer life in a district which up to that time had been very sparsely settled.
Indians still sometimes visited the neighborhood and much of the land was
uncultivated, being covered with the native prairie grasses, or with the natural
forest growth. The streams were unbridged and comparatively few roads had been
laid out, but there came into the district a band of sturdy, courageous pioneers
who resolutely undertook the task of subduing the wilderness and extending the
frontier. Mr. Van Cleave bore his full share in this work and as the years
passed by he continued his farm labors until he brought his fields under a high
state of cultivation. He is now the owner of an excellent farm of ninety-three
acres on section 6, Adams township, on which are found the equipments and
accessories known to a model property of the twentieth century.
Mr. Van Cleave was married to Miss Tabitha Francis, who
was born in Darke county, Ohio, September 5, 1831, a daughter of George and
Elizabeth (Johns) Francis. Her parents were both natives of South Carolina and
are now deceased. In their family were thirteen children, of whom five are still
living; namely: Daniel, a resident of Des Moines, Iowa; Darius, who is now
living in Adel; Washington, a resident of Alberta, Canada; Frank, whose home is
in Nebraska; and Mary, the wife of William Wilmore, of Kansas.
Unto Mr. and Mrs. Van Cleave were born four children:
Edward, the eldest, now living in Colfax township, married Miss Ida Hougham and
they have one daughter, Mary Elizabeth, who is now the wife of J. B. Walker.
They have one son, Edward Grimes. Emma is deceased. Frank married Miss May
Ludington, and they have one daughter, Esther. He resides upon the home farm,
which he operates for his father. One child died in infancy unnamed. In the year
1882 Mr. Van Cleave was called upon to mourn the loss of his wife, who in that
year was called to her final rest. She was a lady of many excellent traits of
character and her death was deeply deplored by many who knew her.
Politically Mr. Van Cleave is a prohibitionist and has
served as school director. His religious faith is that of the United Brethren
church and his entire life has been in harmony with its principles, making him a
man whom to know is to esteem and honor.
Sylvester A. Van Cleave, whose farm of ninety-seven acres is pleasantly
situated on section 4, Adams township, was born in Webster county; Iowa, on the
29th of June, 1858. His parents are T. T. and Martha (Fisher) Van Cleave, who
are mentioned elsewhere in this volume. He spent the first year of his life in
the county of his nativity and then accompanied his parents on their removal to
Dallas county, where he has since lived. He is indebted to the public-school
system for the educational privileges which he enjoyed and as the years have
gone by he has made an excellent record in business circles as one whose
industry and diligence have constituted the basis of his success.
Mr. Van Cleave has been married twice. In 1888 he was joined in wedlock to
Miss Elizabeth Hougham, who was born in this county in the year 1867. Her
parents were Jacob and Elizabeth (Cully) Hougham, both of whom were natives of
Indiana. They came to Dallas county at an early.day and here reared their family
of ten children. Both the father and mother are now deceased. Unto Mr. Van
Cleave's first marriage was born one child, Donald H., who is still at home.
Having lost his first wife, who died July 2, 1893, Mr. Van Cleave was again
married in 1896, his second union being with Miss Margaret M. Walker, who was
born In Indiana in 1866; Her parents are R. S. and Mary (Cook) Walker, the
former a native of Virginia. and the latter of Indiana. In their family were two
daughters: Clara A.,.the deceased wife of A. C. Van Cleave; and Margaret M., the
honored wife of our subject. Mr. and Mrs. Walker came to Iowa in 1867 and
located in Dallas county, where the father purchased land. Mrs. Walker died
shortly after they came to Dallas county. For many years he engaged in farming
but is now living retired, he and his present wife occupying a pleasant home in
Adel.
In his political views Mr. Van Cleave is a democrat and keeps well informed
on the questions and issues of the day but has never been a politician in the
sense of office-seeking. He and his wife attend and support the Presbyterian
church at Adel, of which Mrs. Van Cleave is a member, and he is interested in
every worthy movement for the upbuilding and progress of the community. His time
and attention, however, are largely given to his farming interests, comprising
ninety-seven acres on section 4, Adams township. This property is well improved
with modern equipments and accessories. There are good buildings and fences upon
the place and the work of the farm is carried on along lines of progressive
modern agriculture. Mr. Van Cleave has spent almost his entire life in this
county, except three years' residence in Guthrie county, and his interest in its
welfare and upbuilding is deep and sincere, as is manifest by his active
co-operation in many movements for the public good.
Thomas Taylor Van Cleave
In a history of Dallas county it is imperative that mention be made of Thomas
Taylor Van Cleave--else the record would be incomplete--for he is one of the
honored pioneers of this part of the state, a veteran of the Civil war, a
progressive agriculturist and a man whom to know is to respect and honor. He has
now almost reached the seventy-eighth milestone on life's journey, his birth
having occurred November 11, 1829. He is a native of Montgomery county, Indiana,
and a son of Benjamin and Matilda (Taylor) Van Cleave. The mother was born in
Virginia and in her girlhood days went with her parents to Kentucky where she
gave her hand in marriage to Benjamin Van Cleave. Three children were born unto
them during their residence in that state, after which they removed to
Montgomery county, Indiana, then a frontier district, in which the father
entered land from the government. All was wild and the work of development and
improvement seemed scarcely begun there. The family shared in the hardships of
life on the frontier and assisted in the reclamation of the county for the uses
of the white race. In 1853 the father made a trip to Iowa and being pleased with
the country removed his family to Dallas county in 1854. He was not long
permitted to enjoy his new home, however, his death occurring in 1855. The
mother soon afterward entered one hundred and sixty acres of government land in
Adams township and thus provided a home for her family, having the assistance of
her sons in the development of the property. She lived to the advanced age of
eighty-three years, spending her last days among her children. The family
numbered thirteen children, of whom six are yet living: Mary E., now the widow
of Preston Van Cleave and a resident of Idaho; Ada A., the widow of Allen Moore,
making her home in California; Thomas T.; Samuel, of Adams township, this
county; Solomon, who is living in northern California; and Cornelius of Polk
county, Nebraska.
The Indiana farm on which his birth occurred was also Mr. Van Cleave's
playground in youth and his training school for life's practical duties. He was
early taught the value of industry and diligence as he worked in the fields
through the summer months. In the winter seasons he had the opportunity of
attending the common schools. In the fall of 1852 he came to Iowa, spending the
succeeding winter in Wapello and Monroe counties, and in the spring of 1853 he
came to Dallas county, casting in his lot with its earliest settlers, who were
reclaiming this region for cultivation and transforming the once wild prairie
into rich farms. He located in Adams township and bought of Allen Moore one
hundred and twenty acres of land, for which he gave a horse and a note on Mr.
Moore's brother for sixty acres, while Mr. Moore, himself, owed Mr. Van Cleave
one hundred dollars. The joint amount constituted the purchase price of the
farm. Mr. Van Cleave also entered lots 5 and 6 (eighty acres) the same year and
from time to time he purchased additional tracts until he became the owner of
three hundred and forty acres. Subsequently, however, he sold much of the land
to his children, retaining eighty acres of the old home farm, which is still his
place of residence. Here he has lived for fifty-four years.
On the 17th of September, 1857, Mr. Van Cleave was united in marriage to Miss
Martha A. Fisher, the wedding ceremony being performed in Webster City by Judge
Maxwell. The lady was at that time residing near Webster City but was a native
of Indiana, her parents having come to Iowa during the pioneer epoch in the
history of this part of the state. As the years went by seven children were
added to the Van Cleave household and five are yet living: Sylvester A., a
resident farmer of Adams township; Anderson A., living in the same township;
Adolphus R., who carries on farming in Adams township; Alva W., one of the
proprietors of the Cedar Falls Daily Globe, of Cedar Falls, Iowa; and Elmer A.,
living in Adams township.
The only interruption of any length of time which Mr.. Van Cleave has
experienced in his farming operations was when he served his country as a
soldier in the Civil war. In response to his country's need, he enlisted in
August, 1862, as a member of Company C, Twenty-ninth Regiment of Iowa
Volunteers, serving with that command for three years or until the close of the
war and rendering valiant aid to the government in crushing out the rebellion in
the south. He has usually voted the democratic ticket and is in sympathy with
the principles of the party, yet is liberal in his views. He belongs to the
Baptist church, in which he has served as a deacon for nearly forty years, and
his life has been guided by his Christian faith, making him a man honorable in
all relations and true to a high standard of conduct. He is one of Iowa's well
preserved and grand old pioneers to whom the state owes much for what he has
done in promoting her material progress and in upbuilding and upholding her
intellectual, legal and moral status.
Charles E. Vandever
Not only has Charles E. Vandever seen Dallas county grow from a wild country
with only a few white inhabitants to a rich agricultural district containing
thousands of good homes and a number of growing towns, inhabited by an
industrious, prosperous, enlightened and progressive people, but he has
participated in the slow, persistent work of development which was necessary to
produce a change which has been so complete that it now stands in the foremost
ranks of the leading counties of the state of Iowa.
Mr. Vandever is a native son of Dallas county, his birth having occurred on a
farm in Washington township, February 28, 1857. He is a son of Elias and Melissa
(Grove) Vandever, the former a native of New Jersey, born in 1835, and the
latter born near Cincinnati, Ohio, where she was reared. The father was reared
in his native state and as a young man went to Ohio, settling in Hamilton
county, where he engaged in agricultural pursuits. In 1856 he continued his
journey westward, locating in Dallas county, Iowa, where he purchased a farm in
Washington township and reared his family of three children, the two sisters of
our subject being: Fanny, who became the wife of A. L. Sutherland and died in
1905, leaving four children; and Ladora, who was also married and is now
deceased. The father passed away February 27, 1880, and is still survived by the
wife and mother, who now makes her home with her son. She is a faithful and
consistent member of the Methodist Episcopal church at Perry.
Charles E. Vandever was reared to manhood on the home farm, assisting his
father in the operation of the property during the period of his boyhood and
youth, while during the winter months he pursued his studies in the district
schools near his father's home. He remained under the parental roof until the
death of his father, after which he carried on the farm during the succeeding
two years. He then purchased one hundred and twenty acres of his present farm
and located thereon. He built a good two-story frame residence, and also erected
a barn and other outbuildings for the shelter of grain and stock, tiled and
fenced the land, put out an orchard and made the farm a model property. He has
since added to his original holdings until the place now embraces two hundred
acres, all of which is cultivable. He is here engaged in general farming and
stock-raising, making a specialty of the raising of horses and hogs. In addition
to his farm property, Mr. Vandever also owns a good residence in the village of
Perry and a number of vacant lots there.
Although reared in the faith of the democratic party, Mr. Vandever now gives
his support to the republican party. He has been supervisor for nine years and
has also served on the schoolboard. Fraternally he is a member of the Odd
Fellows lodge and the Modern Woodmen camp at Perry. Mr. Vandever is thoroughly
familiar with the pioneer conditions which here existed during the period of his
boyhood and youth. He has broken the prairies with ox teams and can remember
when the Indians were more numerous in this district than the white settlers. He
has seen the town of Perry laid out and grow into a thriving and prosperous
little village. In viewing this county today one would scarcely realize the
conditions that here existed fifty years ago, and in the work of development and
progress that has been carried on to the present time Mr. Vandever has taken an
active and helpful part and therefore deserves to be classed with the honored
pioneers of the county.
H. C. Van Meter
The Van Meter family is so well known in Dallas county that the
subject of this review needs no introduction to the readers of this volume. He is today
one of the large landowners of the county, his possessions aggregating six hundred and
twenty acres, while he derives his income from seven hundred and sixty acres which he
cultivates in Van Meter township. He is also an extensive stock-feeder and in these
connections is well known.
Mr. Van Meter is a native son of the county, born on the 14th of
August, 1872, his father being J. R. Van Meter, one of the prominent and influential
residents of this part of the state, represented on another page of this work. He was
reared to an agricultural life and lessons of industry, integrity and economy were early
impressed upon his mind. Having arrived at years of maturity, he sought a companion and
helpmate for life's journey, being married November 20, 1894, to Miss Delia Smithson,who
was born in this county, August 2, 1875. Her parents were natives of Dallas county and
were farming people, whose family numbered nine children. Unto Mr. and Mrs. Van Meter have
been born three children: Hazel, born June 1, 1895; Harold, born September 1, 1896; and
Hugh, born March 29, 1898.
The family home is an attractive one, situated on section 16, Van
Meter township, and everything about the place is indicative of the careful supervision of
the owner. As stated, he is now in possession of six hundred and twenty acres of rich and
productive land, which responds readily to the care and labor bestowed upon it. He does
not confine his attention entirely to his own farm, however, but operates altogether seven
hundred and sixty acres in Van Meter township, being accounted one of the most extensive
agriculturists of the community. He is also largely engaged in feeding stock and makes
extensive shipments, deriving therefrom a gratifying income. He is a capable manager,
readily determining the outcome of a business transaction and solving with ease intricate
and complex business problems. Moreover, he has placed his dependence upon the substantial
qualities of energy and perseverance, which always insure success when guided by sound
judgment.
Mr. Van Meter and his wife support and attend the Christian church
and are most widely and favorably known in the community where they live, enjoying in
large degree the friendship and esteem of those with whom they have been brought in
contact.
Jacob
Rhoads Van Meter
is the president of the
Van Meter Milling Company at Van Meter, Iowa, and several other business
interests claim his time and attention and profit by his sound judgment as well
as unfaltering diligence and activity. He is now in the eighty-second year
of his age and few men who have advanced thus far on life's journey remain in
active life, but Mr. Van Meter is one whose record proves the fact that old age
is not necessarily a synonym of weakness nor inactivity nor need it suggest as a
matter of course idleness or want of occupation. There is an old age which
grows stronger and brighter as the years go by, both intellectually and
spiritually, and gives out of its rich stores of wisdom and experience. Such has
been the erase with Mr. Van Meter and it is with pleasure that we present to our
readers the record of his life.
A native of Bartholomew county, Indiana, he was
born on the 27th of September, 1824, his parents being Joseph H. and Elizabeth
(Grundy) Van Meter, both of whom were natives of Kentucky. The
father was born in Hardin, September 30, 1792, and was a son of Jacob Van Meter,
a native of Virginia, while his grandfather also bore the name of Jacob and was
a native of the Old Dominion. The family came from Scotland, the original
ancestors in America settling in this country at a very early day in its
development. Joseph H. Van Meter was a boatman and pilot on the Elizabeth, the
third steamboat ever run on the Mississippi river. Later he turned his
attention to farming, removing to Indiana, about 1821 and there carrying on
general agricultural pursuits until in 1858, when he came to Iowa. He died
in this township at the very venerable age of ninety-five years and thirty days.
The mother of our subject died when her son Jacob was but eight years of age and
left four children, namely: Jacob; Susan G., the deceased wife of Edgar H.
Haycraft; Julius J. and Grotus, who have also passed away.
Mr. Van Meter of this review was reared upon his
father's farm in Indiana and was a pupil in one of the old-time log
schoolhouses such as were common in that day. He afterward took up the study of
civil engineering in Hardin county, Kentucky, and at a later date returned to
Indiana. Settling at Kokomo, he there carried on merchandising and in 1850
he came to Iowa, making the journey with a two-horse wagon. Here he located land
warrants and thus prepared for the establishment of a home on the frontier.
Subsequently he returned to Indiana and in 1851 he again came to this state,
where he has since lived. He first made his home near De Soto, where he had six
hundred and forty acres and with characteristic energy he began to cultivate and
develop this. He carried on farming on that property until 1856, when he
turned his attention to the banking business in Adel, the partners being J. R.
and H. G. Van Meter. That business was conducted from 1857 until 1860,
when in the vicinity of De Soto, Mr. Van Meter built a flouring mill, which he
operated until 1864. In that year he organized a company for service at
the front, for the Civil war was then in progress.
Mr. Van Meter, with patriotic spirit, offered his
services to the government, enlisting as a member of Company C, Forty-sixth Iowa
Infantry, and was mustered in with the rank of captain at Davenport. He
went to Memphis, Tennessee, in June, 1864, and was engaged in guarding railroads
there under Colonel D. B. Henderson. He was under no fire in any regular
pitched battle but a number of his men were killed by bushwhackers. He continued
to discharge the military duties assigned him until after the close of the war,
when he was mustered out at Davenport in the fall of 1864.
Mr. Van Meter returned to his home much impaired
in health and it required some months to recover but as soon as possible he
again became an active factor in business life. He built a mill at Van
Meter, which he operated until 1884, when it was washed away in a freshet.
It was a four-story structure but the high waters completely destroyed it,
causing considerable loss. At that time Mr. Van Meter went to Adel, where
he also built a mill and later he built another at the town of Van Meter.
In January, 1867, he came to Van Meter, where he has since resided with the
exception of two years spent in Adel. He is now engaged in the milling business
as president of the Van Meter Milling Company and as such is associated with one
of the important industrial concerns of the county. He is also the owner
of much valuable land, having six hundred and thirty acres in this county and
one hundred and sixty acres in Dakota. He has at different times owned other
property but has disposed of this save his residence in Van Meter.
On the 27th of March, 1855, Mr. Van Meter was
united in marriage to Miss Mary Peabody, who was born in Highland county, Ohio,
October 14, 1834, and was a daughter of Stephen and Susan (Elliott) Peabody, the
former born in Maine on the 5th of November, 1795, and the latter in Ohio, April
20, 1801. The father died in Van Meter at the age of eighty-one years, while the
mother passed away in 1894. They were the parents of nine children of whom Mrs.
Van Meter and one son, Stephen, of Hamilton, Missouri, are still living.
Unto Mr. and Mrs. Van Meter have been born seven children, of whom four still
survive: Ellen E., the wife of S. B. Kenworthy, of Des Moines; Joseph, who died
at the age of fourteen years; Mary Ann, the wife of Ira Hall of Nebraska; John,
who died in infancy; Jacob R., who was killed by a horse falling upon him in
1884; Carrie, the wife of W. C. Dack, of Des Moines; and Henry C., who is living
upon the home farm.
Mr. and Mrs. Van Meter celebrated their golden
wedding on the 27th of March, 1905. They have traveled life's journey
together for a half century, sharing with each other its joys and sorrows, its
adversity and prosperity. Two more years have now passed and it is to be hoped
that they will be spared for a long time to come as fellow travelers on life's
journey. They are members of the Christian church and Mr. Van Meter is a
member of the Masonic fraternity. His has been an active, useful and honorable
life, and as one of the most venerable and most respected citizens of Dallas
county he well deserves mention in this volume.
Wilbur L. Van Meter is numbered among the native sons of
Dallas county who are successfully engaged in general agricultural pursuits
here. He was born in Van Meter township on the 30th of August, 1881, and is a
son of Hugo G. and Damaris (Dodge) Van Meter. The father was a native of Indiana
and came to Iowa in August, 1852. The family name is closely associated with the
development and progress of this part of the state and is perpetuated in the
township which is so styled. Mr. Van Meter located in the township bearing his
name and resided within its borders up to the time of his death. He was very
successful here although his residence in Iowa covered a comparatively short
period. He made judicious investments in property, acquiring almost two thousand
acres of rich farm land in Dallas county, besides extensive holdings in Madison
county, Iowa. He owned and operated the De Soto grist and saw mills for a number
of years, and in addition to his milling interests and the production of grain
he was a heavy breeder and feeder of stock. His business affairs were therefore
large and important and brought to him an excellent return. He was seldom if
ever at error in matters of business judgment and seemed to recognize with
remarkable intuition a favorable business situation. Moreover, whatever he
undertook he carried forward to successful completion, and he thus won his way
to the front ranks among the progressive and representative men of the county.
In political affairs Hugo G. Van Meter was deeply
interested and became a recognized factor in molding political thought and
action. He gave stanch support to the republican party and for years was a
dominant force in its councils, his opinion always carrying weight therein. On
the republican ticket he was elected to represent his district in the lower
house of the state legislature for one term and became an able member of that
body, serving on several important committees and taking active part in the
deliberations in the committee rooms and upon the floor of the house. Widely
recognized as a man of strong individuality and marked force of character, he
left his impress for good upon the public as well as upon the agricultural
development of this part of the state. Fraternally he was connected with the
Masonic order, being a charter member of Adel lodge, A. F. & A. M. He died
in 1885, at the age of fifty-five years, and is still survived by his widow, who
is now residing in Des Moines. In the family of this worthy couple were five
children, of whom four are yet living: Mabel, the wife of E. S. Ames, a resident
of Chicago; John C., of Des Moines; Bert D., of Linn county, Iowa; and Wilbur
L., of this review.
The last named was reared at home and pursued his
education in the common schools, in the De Soto high school and at Drake
University at Des Moines, being graduated from the last named institution in the
class of 1904. He was thus well equipped for the responsible and practical
duties of life and following his graduation he located on his present home farm
in Adams township. Here he owns one hundred and sixty acres of valuable land and
has charge of one thousand acres, the other eight hundred and forty acres still
belonging to his father's estate. He is thus actively engaged in the cultivation
of the soil. He is well known as a breeder and feeder of cattle and hogs.
In his political views Mr. Van Meter is a republican, but
without desire for office. He belongs to De Soto lodge, No. 591, A. F. & A.
M., and to the Christian church, and in his life exemplifies the spirit of these
two organizations. He is regarded as one of the leading reliable young farmers
of Dallas county, carrying on an extensive business and manifesting in its
management excellent capacity for the successful control of large affairs. He
displays keen discernment and sound judgment and his life has been one of
continuous activity in which has been accorded due recognition of labor.
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