Kossuth County >> 1913 Index

History of Kossuth County Iowa
by Benjamin F Reed. Vol. II Chicago: S. J. Clarke Publishing Company, 1913. 

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Unless noted, biographies submitted by Jean Kramer.

CHARLES H. TAYLOR, manager and secretary of the Algona Ice Cream & Candy Factory, was born December 25, 1872, in Algona, where he has ever made his home. His parents are Joel G. and Ellen May (Wilkins) Taylor. The father came to Kossuth county, Iowa, before his marriage, and here followed farming but some years ago took up his abode in Algona and is now president of the Algona Ice Cream & Candy Factory. Our subject was the first born in a family of four children, the others being: Edwin, who is the proprietor of a lumberyard at Curlew, Iowa; Mary Elizabeth, the wife of H. C. Ward, of Curlew; and Nettie, who gave her hand in marriage to J. R. Bankson, of Sioux City, Iowa.

Charles H. Taylor was educated in the common schools of Algona, later pursuing a normal course. He then followed the profession of school teaching, acting in the capacity of an instructor for six consecutive years. At the end of that period he entered the United States military service and for eleven months was quartermaster sergeant at Chickamauga Park, after which he taught one term of school. He next conducted a restaurant for C. H. Hudson, for six months, and in March, 1898, embarked in the manufacture of ice cream and candy. The capital stock of the corporation is ten thousand dollars, of which he holds fifty-two shares. This well known concern made thirty thousand gallons of ice cream in 1911 and did sixty thousand dollars worth of business that year. The excellence of its products and the promptness and business courtesy with which its orders are handled have made it a popular institution, with a constantly increasing business. Its products are sold not only by the dealers of Algona but by a large number of those in adjoining towns and cities. The concern was incorporated in March, 1911, with the following officers: Joel G. Taylor, president; J. T. Belmer, vice president; Charles H. Taylor, secretary and manager; E. E. Conner, treasurer; and E. A. Wolcott, director. Charles H. Taylor is also connected with various other enterprises of Algona in the capacity of a stockholder.

In 1900 Mr. Taylor was married to Miss Edith E. Roswell, whose home was near Bancroft, Iowa. One child, Grace E., now six years old, has been born to them. Both Charles H. Taylor and his father are republicans and have rendered their party efficient services, although they have not aspired to any of the lucrative places which have been within its power to bestow. His support is given to the Baptist congregation of Algona. He is a member of the local lodges of the Odd Fellows, Modern Woodmen of America, Mystic Workers, and American Nobles, and both he and his wife belong to the Rebekahs. Mr. Taylor early began taking an active interest in all the meritorious enterprises of Algona and in social, educational and fraternal circles, as well as in the business life of his city, he has been an energetic, efficient and popular figure since boyhood. Not many of Algona's sons have been more successful or have been able to render the city more valuable services than he. He is one of the popular young men of his home town and among its most valued citizens.

REV. CHAUNCY TAYLOR

It has been said that “it is not from the few conspicuous deeds of life that the blessings chiefly come which make the world better, sweeter, happier; but from the countless lowly ministries of the everydays, the little faithfulnesses that fill long years.” From pioneer times, in that year in which Algona had its birth, down to the date of his death on the 29 th day of February, 1876, Father Taylor, as he was lovingly called, lived and labored among the people of Kossuth county, seeking ever the moral uplift of those with whom he was associated. Here he came to old age, and the white-haired, gray-eyed man of kindly face and still more kindly spirit was honored and loved by all who knew him. He was born in Vermont, February 17, 1805, the old homestead farm where his birth occurred lying along one side of the slope of the Green mountains. His opportunities and advantages in youth were very meager. His parents were in limited financial circumstances, never able to have a home of their own, but rich in faith and Christian belief. Their children were carefully trained according to the teachings of the church and theirs was one of the earnest Puritan households that has sent its influence as a permeating force throughout the country. Nature, too, endowed Father Taylor with strong mentality and a love of learning. His educational privileges were eagerly improved and though he had to provide the means for continuing his studies after he left the public schools, his diligence and industry at length enabled him to become a student at the State University of Vermont, from which he was graduated in 1831, when twenty-six years of age. He used frequently to say that the day on which he entered school at the age of four years, and the day on which he graduated from the university were two of the great days of his life. He never had any theological training or preparation for the ministry beyond that which he could make himself. His reply to the question as to what theological school he attended was: “I studied theology in the chimney corner, with the Bible for my text-book, explained by the Assembly's Shorter Catechism, illustrated by Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress and enforced by the Godly lives of my parents.”

Converted in his early years, Father Taylor from that time forward led a consistent Christian life and his determination to aid in the great work of savings others resulted in his being licensed to preach in 1833. He was called to the pastorate in one of the hill towns of Vermont and there soon won the love of his people, to whom his great heart and spirit went out in sympathy, helpfulness and encouragement. In 1838 he read a book or paper concerning Iowa and from that time forward he eagerly informed himself in every possible way concerning the state, hoping that he might ultimately see the fulfillment of his desire to become a resident of what seemed then a far distant country. Twenty years he waited for the fulfillment of this hope but it came at last, brought about in the natural order of things. As emigration tended westward it was recognized that the land of Vermont was much better for pasturage than for the raising of grain and the people of his native state scattered. He was thus left with but a very small congregation and with a family growing up around him to support. He wished to visit Iowa and found a new home amid a people whom he could benefit by his teaching, imbued with the hope that he might found a new church on the frontier and indeed become a factor in the upbuilding of a community that should be actuated by high purposes and honorable principles. Such a vision drew him to the west and in March, 1856, when the winter snows were melting and the ice in the streams was breaking up, he reached the door of the Home Missionary agent at Davenport, Iowa, having crossed the Mississippi over treacherous ice on foot, bearing with him a commission for some field in respect to which he was to seek advice. As directed, he visited places along the river as far as Bellevue, but his vision of a new place was not realized. He said, “If I am going west, I might as well make a business of it.” He had heard of a place called Fort Dodge and determined to see what was there. By rail he traveled to Iowa City, then the terminus of the road, and by stage proceeded to Fort Des Moines and on to Fort Dodge; but even this did not seem to be the place that he was hunting and he heard of a newer settlement further on called Algona. Mostly on foot he traveled toward the town and on the 19 th of April, 1856, reached his destination, as he said, “with an oak stick for a cane, my pants tucked in my bootlegs, my satchel swung over my shoulder and my overcoat over my arm and, what especially distinguished me, was a stovepipe hat on my head.” A few men were laying out a town. The next day being Sunday, by invitation he preached, his congregation numbering about twenty-five. He told the people who he was and why he came and they invited him to remain. That was one of the happy days of his life. He accepted the invitation and decided to send for his family, and from that time forward Algona numbered him among her citizens until his life's labors were ended in death. Here he founded the Congregational church and continued as its minister until three years prior to his demise, when a younger man took his place, but even after that he continued preaching in the surrounding country until three weeks before he was called to his eternal home. The early settlers relying upon Father Taylor to advance the cause of education, also elected him three times county superintendent of schools.

The only surviving member of his family is Mrs. Harriette E. Stacy, of Algona. He lost his wife soon after he came to Algona and was obliged to conduct her funeral services. His son, George, died out in the mountains many years ago, and his son, James, gave up his life for his country in 1862. The local James C. Taylor G. A. R. Post was named in honor of this young soldier.

Father Taylor made himself a part of the life of the community. He shared in the joys and sorrows of the people, aided them in their labors, encouraged them in hours of trial and temptation, inspired them with courage and preached to them the hope of a blessed immortality. The consensus of public opinion gives to Father Taylor the credit of doing more for the moral uplift of the community in Kossuth county than any other man. He died February 29, 1876. The memory of such a man can never die while living monuments remain upon which were imprinted the touch of his noble soul. Many years have come and gone since he passed from this life, but his memory is yet enshrined in the hearts of all who knew him and his influence remains as a blessed benediction to those with whom he came in contact.

JOEL G. TAYLOR is president of the Algona Ice Cream and Candy factory and as such is well known in business circles of the city, a spirit of enterprise and ambition actuating him in all that he has undertaken, so that he has gradually worked his way upward to success. He was born at Port Kent, Essex county, New York, September 13, 1848, a son of Norman P. and Elizabeth Alms (Pike) Taylor, both of whom were natives of Maine. The former removed from the state of New York to Illinois in the year 1855 and after the father's death the family, then consisting of the mother and two sons, Joel G. and Nyram C., removed to Kossuth county, Iowa, settling in Lotts Creek township in the spring of 1866.

Joel G. Taylor was at that time a youth of eighteen years. His education was largely pursued in the schools of Illinois but at the age of thirteen years he began working on the farm for his father, putting aside his text-books at that time. With the removal of the family to Kossuth county a farm was here purchased and Mr. Taylor conducted its cultivation and improvement for thirty-one years, carefully tilling the fields, season after season, until 1897, when he left the farm and became manager of Cook's elevator at Hobart, Iowa, where he continued for five and a half years. In 1902 he removed to Algona, where for a period of three years he was the manager of Beer's elevator. He resigned that position to become connected with the ice cream factory in 1905, at which time he was elected president of the company that now owns and controls the business. The excellence of their product has insured a liberal patronage and their output is now large while the business is a growing one. Modern methods are employed in its conduct and close study of the demands of the trade and honorable dealing have secured gratifying financial results.

On the 12 th of November, 1871, Mr. Taylor was married to Miss Ellen Wilkins, a daughter of Charles Wilkins, of Essex county, New York, and to them have been born four children: Charles H., whose birth occurred December 25, 1872; Edwin N., born in 1875; Mary Elizabeth, who is the wife of Harvey Ward, a resident of Curlew, Iowa, and has four children; and Nettie May, who is the wife of Roscoe Bankson, of Sioux City, Iowa.

Mr. Taylor has long been an enthusiastic member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and has passed through all of the chairs in Algona lodge as well as filled all of the offices of the encampment. He is likewise connected with the Rebekahs and is a member of the Court of Honor at Algona. He is most loyal to the teachings of the fraternity, the high principles of which are such as develop honorable manhood and loyalty in citizenship. An interesting incident of his boyhood days well illustrates the patriotism and devotion to his country, when Mr. Taylor on May 4, 1862, enlisted for service in the Civil war in Company C, One Hundred and Forty-seventh Illinois Volunteer Infantry. He was a mere boy at this time and would not reach the age of fourteen until the following September. He passed the state examination for volunteers at Belvidere and Freeport, but when the young men reached Springfield and were there examined by United States army surgeons about five hundred boys out of about thirteen hundred who had enlisted were told to return to their homes on account of age. Mr. Taylor has been a lifelong republican and cast his first vote for president for General U. S. Grant.

TAYLOR, NYRAM C.

When Nyram C. Taylor died in Algona, that city lost an upright and honorable citizen and the farming interests of Kossuth county a conspicuously successful representative. He was born January 21, 1844, in Vermont at the foot of the Green mountains and received his early education in the public schools of that district. He went to Illinois at an early date and enlisted for service in the Civil war as member of the One Hundred and Forty-second Volunteer Infantry, from that state. At the close of the war he came to Iowa, settled on a homestead in Lotts Creek township, Kossuth county, and engaged in the cultivation of the soil until his death. The land which he owned was in an entirely unimproved condition at the time he settled thereon. Mr. Taylor made all the improvements upon his farm, erected the buildings necessary and cultivated the soil along scientific and modern lines. He was interested in each new development in the agricultural world and purchased improved and labor-saving machinery to assist him in his work. He remained upon the farm on which he located in Kossuth county until 1900, when he gave up the active management of his holdings and moved to Algona, Iowa. He became prominent in this community and was well liked and respected by his many friends. He was loyal to his adopted state and always took a keen interest in Algona where his public spirit, industry and intelligence made him influential in municipal affairs. He died in that city on May 15, 1911.

In 1867 Mr. Taylor was united in marriage to Miss Josephine J. Minkler, a daughter of Orange Minkler. Mrs. Taylor's birth occurred in Ohio, April 17, 1847. She was reared at home and educated in the public schools of Algona. She held a teacher's certificate issued by the Rev. Mr. Taylor, the first Congregational minister in Algona, and she taught school for one term in Algona. She and her husband were the parents of ten children. Edwin L. died at the age of twenty-one. Leonard Arthur, whose birth occurred November 29, 1870, is now living in Montana. Ernest E., born December 21, 1877, lives in Algona, Iowa. Elsie E., who was born October 7, 1882, is the wife of Edwin Madden of Amarillo, Minnesota. Elmer Carl is a prominent ranchman at Havre, Montana. The others died in childhood.

Mrs. Taylor is living in Algona, where she has many friends and is well known in social circles. She is owner of two residences and one hundred and sixty acres of land in Minnesota and is active in the management of the comfortable fortune left her by her husband. She is a member of the Congregational church in which faith she was reared. During his life Mr. Taylor was one of the prominent factors in the affairs of Kossuth county. He was a republican in politics, and held several township offices. He was a member of the Brotherhood of American Yeoman and belonged to the local post of the Grand Army of the Republic. He never shirked his duty in any respect. He served his country with the utmost courage when his services were needed; when he cultivated the soil he made his farm one of the most modern and productive properties in the county, and his death deprived Kossuth county and the state of Iowa of an upright, honorable and worthy man.

CARL TEGELBERG

A highly cultivated farm of two hundred acres located in section 15, Swea township, pays tribute to the agricultural skill of Carl Tegelberg, whose birth occurred in Sweden, June 22, 1859. He is a son of Carl and Johanna (Carlson) Tegelberg, who passed their entire lives in the old country, where the father, a farmer, died several years prior to the emigration of his son Carl to America. They were the parents of seven sons.

After graduating from the common schools of Sweden, Carl Tegelberg engaged in mining, continuing to follow that occupation there until 1881, when he took passage for the United States. The first seven months of his residence in this country were passed in the vicinity of St. Joseph, Missouri, where he worked in the mines. At the expiration of that period he went to Chicago, obtaining a position with Marshall Field & Company with whom he remained for two and a half years. In 1884, he came to Kossuth county and bought eighty acres of land on section 15, Swea township, which formed the nucleus of his present homestead. He worked out as a farm hand while the improvements necessary for occupancy were being made on his own place, and upon their completion he began his independent career as an agriculturist. Twenty-eight years have elapsed since Mr. Tegelberg first located on his farm and during that time he has increased his holdings until his homestead now comprises two hundred acres of fertile and well tilled land, which he has brought under high cultivation. Intelligently concentrated energy united with practical methods, systematically executed, have been the dominant factors in the success of Mr. Tegelberg, who is numbered with the representative agriculturists of the county. From his fields he annually reaps harvests, that well repay him for his many years of toil, while he is meeting with equally remunerative returns from raising stock, being one of the extensive shippers of this section of the county. He has a fine herd of Shorthorn cattle, the head of which is registered, and he makes a specialty of Jersey Red hogs.

In this township in July, 1884, Mr. Tegelberg was married to Miss Hilda Bromark, a daughter of Andrew and Anna (Linquist) Bromark, natives of Sweden. The father, who was a carpenter, emigrated to the United States with his wife and family locating in Florida, whence they subsequently removed to Chicago, where Mr. and Mrs. Tegelberg first became acquainted. Later the parents came to Kossuth county, settling on a farm just south of the Tegelberg home, in the cultivation of which Mr. Bromark actively engaged until his retirement. His latter years were spent in Swea City, where he passed away in 1904. He is survived by the mother, who now makes her home with her daughter, Mrs. C. J. Lenander, of Bancroft, Iowa. Mrs. Tegelberg, who is one in a family of three, has become the mother of eight children: Lawrence Frederick, a carpenter, residing in Kingsburg, California, who married Lillian Erickson and has one child, Henrietta Marie; Carl Raymond, who is farming in Swea township; Annetta Elizabeth, the wife of Otto E. Ekholm, a farmer of Seneca township, whose sketch appears elsewhere in this work; Phoebe Irene and Ethel Wilhelmina, who are at home; Gilbert and Emory, who are attending district school No. 5 of Swea township; and Caleb, the seventh in order of birth, who died when three months of age.

The family belongs to the Swedish Baptist church of Swea township, in the work of which the parents take an active interest, Mr. Tegelberg having for some years been a member of the board of trustees and vice moderator, while Mrs. Tegelberg is a member of the Ladies' Aid Society. He is one of the enterprising citizens of his township, and actively cooperates in forwarding every movement that will tend to advance the interest of the agriculturists. He is a stockholder in the Cooperative Creamery at Swea City, which he helped to organize, and he also owns stock in the Farmers Elevator Company at Armstrong. His political views accord with the principles of the republican party, but in local elections he often casts an independent ballot, giving his support to such men and measures as he deems best qualified to subserve the highest interests of the community. Mr. Tegelberg fully merits the prosperity that has crowned his efforts, as it is the direct result of earnest endeavor and unremitting diligence, applied intelligently in the achievement of a definite purpose.

JOSEPH THOMPSON

A little more than a half century ago Kossuth county was prairie, dotted here and there by sparse settlements and its present farms were wide stretches of unbroken land. The men who brought about their development were the pioneers of the state, who preempted the prairie lands and brought them under cultivation, opened up the country and gave to the United States another source of wealth and prosperity. Joseph Thompson, whose death, on May 29, 1901, ended a long career of activity in agricultural circles of Union township, was a pioneer settler of this district and one of its foremost men. He was a native of Ireland, where his birth occurred April 13, 1831. He was a son of James and Mary Anne (Steward) Thompson, who were both of Irish birth but of Scotch extraction. They came to the United States when their son was only ten years of age and located in Mercer county, Pennsylvania, where they lived until the death of Mr. Thompson. After that event the family scattered and Mrs. Thompson was again married and went to Missouri, where she died at the age of ninety years. She and her first husband were the parents of eight children: David, whose birth occurred in 1829 and who is deceased; Joseph, the subject of this sketch; James, who was born in 1833 and served in the Civil war and who is now deceased; Mary Anne, whose birth occurred in 1835 and is the widow of W. F. Hofius, of Algona, Iowa; John, born in 1837, who served in the federal army during the Civil war and who has also passed away; Margaret Jane, who was born in 1840 and is the widow of Andrew Hanna, of Missouri; Sarah, who was born in 1843 and married G. C. Johnson, of Kansas City, Missouri; and Archibald Steward, whose birth occurred in 1846, a soldier in the Civil war and now a resident of New Castle, Pennsylvania.

Joseph Thompson was educated in Pennsylvania public schools and remained in that state until 1854, when he started out in a prairie schooner for the central west. His first stop was in Rock Island county, Illinois, and from there he journeyed to Jackson county, Iowa, and subsequently located in Kossuth county in the same state in the spring of 1856. The long journey was made in a wagon drawn by ox teams and was accompanied by all the hardships and perils of pioneer travel. Mr. Thompson spent his first summer in a tiny log cabin, which was then the only human habitation upon the townsite of Algona, Iowa. He took up a preemption claim one and a half miles east of Algona, which he improved and developed under great difficulty, bringing it in the twelve or fourteen years of his occupancy to a high state of cultivation. He built a little log cabin upon his holdings, which was the first house ever built on the prairie within many miles of Algona. In 1861 he returned to Jackson county, Iowa, and from there he and his family made the long journey to Cedar Falls. The distance was one hundred and forty miles and the journey was made in a wagon drawn by horses. They arrived in Cedar Falls about Christmas time of the year 1861 and remained in that section of Iowa for some time. Later Mr. Thompson removed to Idaho, where he remained about four years. He had learned the trade of cabinet-maker in his youth but had never been active in this direction. Most of his life was spent in farming but during the period of his residence in Idaho he followed placer mining for some time. Later he removed to Helena, Montana, where he built one of the first log cabins in the district. Here he lived until he returned to Jackson county, Iowa, and finally to Kossuth county, where he lived on his original holdings for one year. At the end of that time he bought a farm three miles north of Algona, which he improved and operated along practical lines until his death in 1901. He lived upon this farm from 1870 until 1901 and at the time of his death had besides the one hundred and sixty acres upon which he was living eighty acres in Plum Creek township, Kossuth county, and was one of the most extensive owners of farm land in this district.

Mr. Thompson was married in Jackson county, Iowa, on December 23, 1855, to Miss Nancy Jane Means, a daughter of Henry and Mary (Gammell) Means, natives of Pennsylvania. Mrs. Thompson's grandfather, Thomas Means, was born in Glasgow, Scotland, and fought in the War of 1812. Her grandmother was born in Edinburgh, Scotland. Mrs. Thompson's great-grandfather, Hugh Means, was a soldier in the Revolutionary war. On the maternal side her grandparents were natives of Pennsylvania. Both of her parents were born in the state, where their marriage occurred. They moved to Jackson county, Iowa, in 1838 and here her father died when she was five years of age. Mrs. Thompson was born in 1837 and her father's death occurred in 1842. After this event the mother came to Kossuth county, where her death occurred in 1870. She is buried in the River View cemetery at Algona. Her husband during his life was a prominent figure in Jackson county, where he pursued the carpenter's trade and built some of the first houses in Dubuque, Iowa. Mr. and Mrs. Means were the parents of three children: Nancy Jane, the wife of our subject; and Mary Anne and John, who are both deceased. To our subject and his wife have been born six children: Mamie, the wife of Joseph B. Hofius, who is residing two miles north of Algona; Carrie, who married Cyrus Blossom, of Burt, Iowa; Henry, who resides in Whittemore, Iowa; Frank, who resides on the old home farm; Jennie, who is living at home; and Clifford, who lives in Minnesota. After her husband's death Mrs. Thompson remained upon the farm until Thanksgiving, 1911, when she moved into the city of Algona, where she lives in a beautiful and thoroughly modern home, which she has erected on East Call street. She still owns two hundred and forty acres of Kossuth county farm land beside her home in Algona. She is the oldest living woman pioneer in this section of the country. During his life Mr. Thompson was one of the foremost men of Kossuth county and in the early days of its development was active in the opening of this section of the country. The pioneers' days are almost over in America, yet the sturdy qualities of men like Joseph Thompson which have made their possessors great in the past are alive today in the sons and daughters of the early settlers, who are bringing the characteristics which made their forefathers great to the active upbuilding and improvement of the work which was begun over half a century ago.

F. J. THOMSON is widely known in connection with the grain elevator business in Kossuth county, having for the past nine years been engaged in the operation of elevators located in various sections of this county. He was born July 12, 1876, and is a son of Solomon and Christy Anne (Burris) Thomson. The paternal grandfather was a native of Canada and at an early day removed with his wife and family to Iowa, where he continued to live until the time of his death. The father is a native of Canada and the mother of Ohio. Her father's family at an early day settled near Kewanee, Illinois, where she was married. Solomon Thomson established his home in Garrison, Benton county, Iowa, in 1878, and during the active years of his life was there engaged in business. In his family were ten children: Charlotte, the wife of H. C. Moody, of Cedar Rapids, Iowa; Evelina, who married William Merchant, of Garrison, Iowa; C. W., who makes his home at Cedar Rapids; Jennie, the wife of S. A. Bolks, also of Cedar Rapids; Earle and Newton, both of whom are deceased; F. J., the subject of this review; Harriett of Cedar Rapids; and Carl and Lola, who have passed away.

F. J. Thomson was reared at home and received his early education in the public schools in Garrison. At the age of fourteen he began work as a farm hand during the summer months and in winter he attended school, thus alternating his studies with his work until he was seventeen years of age, after which time he was continuously engaged in farm labor until 1900. He then took up work in the elevator in Garrison, Iowa, and remained in that occupation for three years, after which he settled in Plum Creek, Kossuth county in 1903, and there took charge of elevators, handling grain, coal and live stock. He also was postmaster at that place until the office was removed from Plum Creek.

Mr. Thomas was united in marriage in 1904 to Miss Anna Campbell, who was born in Emmet county, Iowa, and they are the parents of three children, Vera Lucille, Kenneth Theodore and June Adele, all of whom are at home. Mr. Thomson was raised a democrat but later became affiliated with the republican party. He is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and also of the Yeoman and the Modern Woodmen of America of Algona. He and his family are members of the Presbyterian church. He is one of the well known men in his line of business and is highly respected for his integrity in all business transactions and is a man justly entitled to be numbered among the desirable citizens of his part of the state.

L. N. THORPE, who for the past twelve years has been engaged in general farming and stock-raising in Sherman township, Kossuth county, where he owns one hundred and twenty acres of land, was born near Milledgeville, Carroll county, Illinois, on the 30 th of March, 1852. His father, Caius Thorpe, was born and reared in Batavia, New York, whence he later removed to Illinois, first settling in Carroll county. From there he subsequently went to Whiteside county, that state, where he passed away in September, 1856. Mr. Thorpe had married twice. His first union was with Catherine Vanderbilt, and to them were born three children who attained maturity, as follows: Isaac Newton, who died in the army; Mary, the wife of E. S. Bennett, of Grundy county, Iowa; and John H., of Audubon, Iowa. For his second wife he chose Miss Elizabeth Newman, the mother of our subject and a native of Jacksonville, Illinois. She passed away in 1902. Our subject is the eldest of the three children born to his parents. The next in order of birth is a daughter Catherine M., the wife of I. O. Law, of South Dakota; and the youngest member of the family is a son, Alfred C., who lives in Chicago, Illinois. The father was a carpenter by trade, but in connection with this work he engaged in farming for many years and for a time he was postmaster at New Genesee, Illinois. The paternal grandfather of our subject was English and the grandmother was French.

L. N. Thorpe, who was only a child of four when his father passed away, was educated in the public schools of New Genesee, Illinois. He resided in that vicinity until 1900, when together with his wife and family he removed to Iowa, and purchased the farm he now owns in Sherman township. During the period of his ownership, Mr. Thorpe has wrought extensive improvements in the place, including the remodeling of the residence and the erection of various buildings, and now owns one of the best farms and most attractive homesteads in that community.

In 1878, Mr. Thorpe was married to Miss Patience H. Wilson and they have become the parents of four children: M. Ethel, who was married April 3, 1912, to George W. Godfrey, of Prairie township; Clara M.; Frances L., who is attending school at Fort Dodge, Iowa; and Burton A.

They all hold membership in the Methodist Episcopal church, and Mr. Thorpe is a republican in his political views, and while living in Illinois served for a time as justice of the peace. He is prospering in his undertakings and is classed as one of the representative agriculturists and reliable business men of the township, where he and his family have made many warm friends during the period of their residence.

Christopher Thoreson submitted by Dick Barton

AUGUST F. TIENAN

Deeds of valor as displayed by the soldier on the field of battle have been the theme of song and story from the earliest ages and as long as civilization endures such a theme will have its place on the pages of history and will serve as a source of inspiration as well as admiration to others. August F. Tienan is numbered among those whose patriotism and bravery were called forth by the exigencies of war and, although an adopted son of the United States, none born on this side of the water displayed greater fidelity to the old flag and the cause it represented during the long Civil war.

August F. Tienan was born on the kingdom of Prussia, Germany, his birth occurring August 4, 1842, in Cologne, “the city of churches.” His parents were Arnold and Christina Tienan, the former a native of Prussia and the latter a Castalian by birth. Arnold Tienan learned the machinist's trade in early life and afterward operated a factory in the manufacture of edge tools in Cologne. In 1845 he came to America, settling near Bellevue, Jackson county, Iowa, where he entered a tract of land from the government and for three years devoted his attention to the development and improvement of a farm there. Both he and his wife passed away upon that place within a month in 1849. They had a family of seven children: Agnes, deceased; Mrs. Maria Brown, whose husband is a farmer living near Bellevue; Garrett, who after serving in the Civil war and receiving an honorable discharge went to the west, where he is supposed to have been killed; Joseph, who died in Arkansas in 1909; Frank, a farmer living hear Sabula, Iowa; August F.; and Mary, the wife of Horace Van Slyke, a druggist of Westphalia, Kansas.

August F. Tienan was only seven years of age at the time of his parents' death. Thus left an orphan, he lived for a year with a farmer, who took charge of the Tienan homestead. For eight years thereafter he resided with a farmer who lived on mile north of Lamotte, Jackson county, and during that period attended the district schools. At the age of fifteen years he began earning his own living independently, securing employment as a farm hand, in which work he was engaged at the time of the outbreak of hostilities between the north and the south. He attempted to enlist as a member of the First Iowa Cavalry but was rejected. He afterward offered his services to the Fifth Iowa Cavalry and by telling that he was nineteen years of age he was accepted in that command at Lemotte. The regiment was first called Curtis Horse but was afterward organized into the Fifth Iowa Cavalry in connection with other troops. The command went to St. Louis and afterward to Fort Henry, where they joined Grant's army. Mr. Tienan participated in many important engagements, including the battles of Garrettsburg, Kentucky, Shiloh, Pittsburg Landing, Nashville, Stone River and Lookout Mountain. At the last named he acted as orderly to General Grant although his regiment did not take active part in the engagement. During the last year of the war he was under General Wilson in his southern expedition and participated in the battles of Selma, Alabama, Cohaba, Montgomery, Columbus and Macon, Georgia. He was next ordered to Nashville, where for a time the regiment remained in camp, and afterward to Davenport, Iowa, where in September, 1865, Mr. Tienan was honorably discharged and mustered out of service. He had been severely wounded at Wartrace, Alabama, a bullet passing through his horse and killing it and entering Mr. Tienan's left knee. The horse fell upon him but he was released by comrades and fought the battle through. Six hours afterward he was taken to the hospital and found that he had been shot, for when his comrades lifted the horse off his leg he thought the numbness was caused by the weight of the animal stopping the circulation. He was lifted on another horse and finished the fight; then some hours later a surgeon came to attend him in the hospital. Cutting off Mr. Tienan's clothing, the surgeon and his assistant were making ready to amputate the leg, but Mr. Tienan still had on his holster and pulling his revolver told the surgeon to go on about his business. The latter stormed and said that he was running that part of the business but Mr. Tienan retorted that he was running the leg part any way. That his judgment was sound regarding the matter is shown by the fact that three weeks later he was up and walking on a crutch, yet he carries a two ounce ball in his knee. The surgeon, to get even with what he regarded the insubordination of a private, reported that when Mr. Tienan left the hospital he deserted. On the contrary, he cut a limb from a tree and using it as a crutch started to join his company ninety miles away, which distance he covered in ten days. The report of his desertion, however, reached his command before he did, but when Captain Gallagher of his company saw Mr. Tienan approaching he yelled: “Be Jasus, there comes Tienan on one leg and the limb of a tree and they call him a deserter. Be gobs, any man that will walk ninety miles on one leg to join his command is a hell of a deserter.” When in battle near Chickasaw Landing Mr. Tienan became separated from his company. He went to Lytle's Creek and although his command was only thirty miles away the rebels were between him and the camp and they watched him so closely that it took him two months to get back to Chickasaw Landing and rejoin the boys in blue. On no occasion did he ever show the white feather; he was ever brave, fearless and buoyant and he returned with a most creditable military record, of which he has every reason to be proud. To such men the country owes a debt of gratitude that it can never pay and this was acknowledged in the banner which was flung across Pennsylvania avenue at the time the grand review was held in Washington, the banner bearing the words: “The only debt that the country cannot pay is the debt that she owes her soldiers.” That bravery and fidelity are characteristics of the Tienan family is manifest in the fact that four of the brothers were soldiers of the Civil war, Frank and Joseph serving in the First Iowa Cavalry, while Garrett was a member of the Second Colorado Cavalry.

On his return to Jackson county Mr. Tienan took up carpentering, cabinet-making and wagon-making. He was employed in various counties in Iowa along those lines until 1902, when he came to Kossuth county, settling a mile and a half northwest of Swea City, where he purchased one hundred and sixty acres of fine land on section 13, Swea township. There he engaged in farming for two years but in 1904 retired from business life and came to Swea City, where he purchased property and now makes his home. He has added one hundred and twenty-two acres to his land, which adjoins the town on the south, being situated in section 19, Harrison township. From his farm property he derives a gratifying annual income, supplying him with all of the comforts and some of the luxuries of life.

In 1867 Mr. Tienan was united in marriage to Miss Elizabeth Woods, a daughter of William and Fannie (Carnahan) Woods. The father was born in Washington county, Pennsylvania, and was of Pennsylvania Dutch descent. For some time he conducted a meat market and bakery there. His wife, who was born in Westmoreland county Pennsylvania, was of Irish lineage. In 1855 they removed westward to Iowa and settled upon a farm near Davenport, but after two years removed to Jackson county, locating near Bellevue. Mr. Woods died on a farm in Story county, Iowa, in March, 1883, while his wife passed away in Missouri in 1891, at the home of her daughter, Mrs. Amanda Mitchell, of Bolivar, Missouri. In their family were two sons who were members of the Thirty-first Regiment of Iowa Volunteer Infantry during the Civil war, John serving in Company I and James in Company K. The former is now a farmer living near Vinton, Iowa, but the latter is deceased. The other members of the Woods family are: Frank, who follows farming near Des Moines; William, deceased; Amanda, the wife of D. Mitchell, a farmer living near Clemons, Iowa; and Elizabeth, the wife of our subject.

The marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Tienan was celebrated in Andrew Jackson county, Iowa, and unto them five children have been born who are yet living. Fannie Elizabeth, the eldest, is the wife of Charles Bryant, a farmer residing near Colo, Iowa, and they have six children, Orpha, Fred, Eva, Ray, Florence and Mildred. Agnes is the wife of J. E. Kelly, a resident farmer of Harrison township. Rose became the wife of James Dalley, who died leaving three children, Cecil, Lee and Love, and after his death she married William Griffith, who has also passed away but his widow now makes her home with her children in St. Paul, Minnesota. Frank A. is mentioned elsewhere in this volume. Ella became the wife of Perry McKowen and had one child, Iva. Her present husband is Henry Doble, a real-estate dealer of Spokane, Washington. Mr. and Mrs. Tienan, also lost two children: William Albert, who died when ten years of age; and Henry, who was but three months old at the time of his death. The parents are members of the Baptist church of Swea City and Mr. Tienan gives his support to the democratic party. Both are held in high esteem throughout the community in which they live and have an extensive circle of warm friends, while the hospitality of the best homes of the district is freely accorded them.

FRANK A. TIENAN

Among the younger residents of Harrison township few occupy a more conspicuous place than does Frank A. Tienan, a progressive farmer and stock-raiser, whose interests also extend to various important business enterprises of that locality. The great commonwealth of Iowa claims him as a native son, his birth having occurred in Iowa county, on the 23 rd of September 1874. His parents, August F. and Elizabeth (Woods) Tienan, are natives of Cologne, Germany, and are mentioned at length on another page of this volume.

Frank A. Tienan was the fourth in order of birth in a family of seven children born to his parents, and in the public schools of Story county, Iowa, acquired a good education. He remained at home, giving his father the benefit of his assistance on the farm, until twenty-six years of age, when he entered upon an independent career. He subsequently came to Kossuth county in 1902 and purchased a farm of one hundred and sixty acres five miles north and one mile east of Swea City, in Grant county, which he operated for two years, and then, in 1904, he disposed of that property and came to Harrison township. Here he purchased his present farm of one hundred and sixty acres located on section 32, and in 1909 acquired another tract of one hundred and sixty acres located on section 28, Grant township, which he leases, receiving good rental therefore. His home place is one of the valuable farming properties of Harrison township, being well improved and well tiled, and upon it he engages in general farming and also gives much attention to stock-raising, buying, feeding and raising a large number of horses, cattle, hogs and sheep. The latter is proving an important branch of his enterprise, something of the extent of his operations in that direction being indicated by the fact that he ships on an average of thirty-five car loads of stock to Chicago annually. He is recognized as one of the most progressive young farmers of the township and as he has prospered in his agricultural pursuits he has taken up other interests, being now a member of the Bankers Life Insurance Company. He is also a stockholder in the Farmers Elevator Company of Cylinder, Iowa, and in the Swea City Opera House Company, interests which connect him with some of the important business enterprises of this part of the county.

It was on the 14 th of October, 1900, that Mr. Tienan was united in marriage to Miss Elizabeth Erickson, a daughter of Paul and Inger (Thompson) Erickson, both natives of Norway. The father, who was a sailor, came to America in 1881, making his way direct to Iowa, where he located in Nevada and there took up agricultural pursuits. In the spring of 1897 he removed to Palo Alto county and purchased a farm two miles north of Rodman, upon which he and his wife still reside. While living in Nevada he was married to Miss Inger Thompson, who had come to America at the same time her husband crossed the Atlantic, and to them were born four children, of whom Mrs. Tienan is the eldest. The others are as follows: Minnie, the wife of Roy Graham, a farmer of Palo Alto county; Mollie, who married Leland Brown, a real-estate dealer of Sioux Falls, Iowa; and Elmer, living at home with is parents. Mr. and Mrs. Tienan have become the parents of five children, namely: Homer, who was born October 9, 1901, and is attending district school No. 9, of Harrison township; Mary, born in December, 1903, who died when three months old; Henry, who was born in 1904 and passed away at the age of three months; Frank A., Jr., born in December, 1906, at home; Elizabeth on the 18 th of September, 1909; and Paul, whose birth occurred in February, 1912.

Mrs. Tienan holds membership in the Baptist church of Swea City, while fraternally Mr. Tienan belongs to the Modern Woodmen of America camp at Swea City. He has never been deeply interested in political questions and issues, and is identified with the progressive faction of the republican party. For several terms he served as director for school district No. 9, Harrison township, and is now filling the position of road supervisor, in which he is giving capable and efficient service. He has ever been a champion of progress, where in political, intellectual, material or business lines, and his labors have been an element of growth along those lines during the period of his residence in Harrison township.

J. J. TILLMONEY, who is managing the general mercantile business founded by his father, the late Nicholas Tillmoney, and is also secretary of the Ledyard Creamery Association, is one of the town's most capable business men. He was born in Allamakee county, Iowa, on th 11 th of May, 1881, and is the eldest of three children born to N. and Mary (Nierling) Tillmoney. The father was a native of Germany, who emigrated to the United States in his early manhood and subsequently located in Allamakee county, where me met and married Mary Nierling, a daughter of Anton Nierling, on the of the well known residents of that county. In 1895, they removed to Ledyard and here Mr. Tillmoney established the business now owned by his widow and conducted by his son. It is the oldest mercantile establishment in the town and also the largest. At the time of the Ledyard fire in 1901, Mr. Tillmoney had the misfortune to lose practically his entire stock, but he resumed business as quickly as possible and subsequently removed to the present stand. They carry a large and well assorted stock of general merchandise, carefully selected to meet the needs and tastes of their patrons, and offered at reasonable prices. They occupy two large rooms located on the main business street of the town, that have been fitted up and equipped to meet their particular requirements and are connected by an archway. Mr. Tillmoney was one of the enterprising and progressive men of the town and took an active interest in promoting its development. He voted the democratic ticket, but never held any official position save that of school treasurer in which capacity he served for several years. He was a communicant of the Roman Catholic church, as is also his widow, and belonged to the Catholic Order of Foresters and the American Brotherhood of Yeomen. He owned a very attractive residence, one of the best in the town, located a block from his store, where Mrs. Tillmoney still makes her home. His death occurred on the 2d of May, 1911, at the age of sixty-two years and he is buried in Highland cemetery, and there the son Carl P., the youngest member of the family, is also interred. One daughter was born to Mr. and Mrs. Tillmoney, Gertrude L., who is the wife of L. W. Wiemer, of Ledyard.

J. J. Tillmoney, who was a youth of fourteen years when his parents removed to Kossuth county, completed his education in the public schools of Ledyard, and then began his business career in his father's store. Since the latter's death he has had entire charge of the store and is meeting with success in its development, the business constantly increasing upon his management. He is a man of clear judgment and foresight and in the conduct of his transactions adheres to a policy that commends him to the confidence of those with whom he has dealings.

Mr. Tillmoney married Miss Edna M. Hartshorn, a daughter of J. W. Hartshorn, of Ledyard, and to them has been born on child, Cecil D. Their home is located on Church street a block south and a block east of the store and is one of the finest residences in the town and thoroughly modern in all of its appointments.

Mr. and Mrs. Tillmoney are members of the Roman Catholic church. He is republican in his political views, and is serving as treasurer of the school board and has been mayor. He is empowered to act as a notary public and is often called upon to serve in this capacity. Mr. Tillmoney is a well informed man, whose high standards of citizenship and prompt and capable discharge of his duties in either public or private life would make him an acquisition to any community.

CHARLES TOILLION has for ten years been actively engaged in farming and stock-raising on section 20, Luverne township, where he owns a fine farm of one hundred and sixty acres. He was born in Scioto county, Ohio, near the city of Portsmouth, January 13, 1859, and is a son of John B. and Mary Louise (Vinne) Toillion. The parents were natives of France, where they were also married, and very soon thereafter they emigrated to the United States. The same year, in 1855, they settled in Scioto county, Ohio, and resided there until 1886, when they removed to Nebraska. They located on a claim in the vicinity of North Platte, Lincoln county, that state, upon which they lived until 1903, when they came to Kossuth county to make their home with their son Charles. Here the mother, who was born and reared in the vicinity of Paris, France, passed away on the 31 st of January, 1910, and the father on May 25, of the same year. They are buried in the Catholic cemetery at Corwith. On the 27 th day of September, 1864, the father enlisted in Company D, Forty-seventh Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and went to the front, where he remained until the close of hostilities. He was discharged at Washington, D.C., May 31, 1865. He was a public-spirited man and held some of the minor offices in his township, taking an active interest in everything that affected the development of progress of the community. Our subject now has in his possession a land patent granted his father on a Lincoln county ( Neb. ) holding, under date of April 3, 1890, and bearing the signature of Benjamin Harrison, who was then president. Nine children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Toillion: Victor, deceased; Joseph, who enlisted in the Union army at the age of sixteen years and was killed at the battle of Richmond; Frank, who is a resident of Stillwater, Oklahoma; Falase, deceased; Mary, the wife of Mac July, of Amboy, Illinois; Charles, our subject; Xavier, who is living in North Bend, Nebraska; John, of North Platte, Nebraska; and Lewis, who resides in the vicinity of Denver, Colorado.

Charles Toillion was reared on a farm in Ohio and educated in the common schools. At the age of twenty years he left home and started out to become self-supporting. For a year thereafter he worked on a farm but at the expiration of that time he apprenticed himself to the cooper's trade at a shop located in the vicinity of Portsmouth, Ohio. After completing his period of service he followed his trade at various points in the state of Kentucky, subsequently locating in Peoria, Illinois, where he was employed for three years. From there he west to West Brooklyn, Illinois, and again turned his attention to agricultural pursuits. He resided there for three years and then went to North Platte, Nebraska, where he continued to farm until 1902. In the latter year he disposed of his interests in that state and came to Iowa, purchasing his present farm in Luverne township, where he has ever since resided. Mr. Toillion has wrought various improvements on his homestead, has repaired his buildings and erected a new one and has tiled his fields. He is systematic, practical and progressive in his methods and has prospered in his undertakings, his farm annually yielding him a good income.

In 1886, Mr. Toillion was united in marriage to Miss Margaret Berscheid, who was born in Mendota, Lasalle county, Illinois, on the 30 th of January, 1866. She is a daughter of Mathias and Julia (Weber) Berscheid, natives of Germany, who emigrated to the United States with their parents when children. The family for many years resided in Lasalle county, where the father followed the cooper's trade. They subsequently removed to Lee county, Illinois, and there the father, who engaged in farming during the last four years of his life, passed away in 1882. He was buried in the cemetery at Mendota. The mother is still living and makes her home in Kewanee, Illinois. The family of Mr. and Mrs. Berscheid numbered fourteen, as follows: Elizabeth, the wife of Jacob Schamel, of Mendota, Illinois; Adam, deceased; Henry, also deceased; Mrs. Toillion; Catherine, the widow of Frank Eisenbacher, of Wesley, Iowa; Mary, the wife of Nels Christensen, of Wyanet, Illinois; Matthias, Jr., who is living in Arlington, Illinois; Anna, who married Howard Hewett, also of Wyanet, Illinois; Lula, deceased; Carrie, who married Matthias Lamberty, of Kewanee, Illinois; Louisa, the wife of Charles Bischoff, of Ottawa, Illinois; Felix, who lives in Davenport, Iowa; Lena, the wife of August Lehr, of Jacksonville, Illinois; and one, who died in infancy.

Five children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Toillion: Clarence, who is a fireman on the Illinois Central Railroad; John Raymond, a brakeman on the Minneapolis & St. Louis road; Florence, a music teacher at St. Benedict, Iowa; and Harlan and Charles, who are at home.

The family are communicants of the Roman Catholic church and belong to St. Mary's parish at Corwith. In politics, Mr. Toillion is a republican. He leads a very active, enterprising life as is manifested by the well kept and prosperous appearance of his farm, which is one of the attractive homesteads in Luverne township.

HENRY TURNBAUGH, living retired in Algona, was identified with agricultural pursuits during the entire period of his active life. He was born in Blair county, Pennsylvania, on the 24 th of January, 1840, and is a son of Henry and Catherine (Cherry) Turnbaugh. The father was born in Germany but at the age of four years he accompanied his parents to America. Here the paternal grandfather engaged in the hotel business for ten years, but at the end of that time he started back of Germany to claim his share in an estate. He went as far as New York city and there disappeared and was never heard from again. It is supposed that he was murdered. Henry Turnbaugh was reared and educated in Blair county, Pennsylvania, and upon attaining his manhood he engaged in farming, following that occupation during the remainder of his life. He passed away in 1875. The mother, who was a native of Pennsylvania but of German extraction, died in 1865. They were the parents of fifteen children: Mary Catherine, deceased; Mary and Sarah, twins, the former deceased and the latter the wife of William Foster, of Huntington county, Pennsylvania; Joseph and John, both of whom are deceased; Susan, who is living at Dwight, Livingston county, Illinois; Martin, who spent a year in the cavalry service during the Civil war, also deceased; Amelia, the wife of Alfred Smith, of Tyrone, Pennsylvania; Henry, our subject; Emmeretta, who is deceased; Margaret Ellen, of Tyrone, Pennsylvania; Jacob and David, both of whom are deceased; Nicholas, who is living at Tyrone; and Mary Jane, who died in infancy.

Henry Turnbaugh was reared on his father's farm in Pennsylvania and educated in the common schools of that state. He enlisted in Company E, One Hundred and Fourth Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry during the Civil war, his regiment being stationed in the territory between the James river and Appomattox creek. He participated in a number of skirmishes but was only in one battle. Upon receiving his discharge he returned to Pennsylvania, but only remained a year and in the spring of 1867 he went to Livingston county, Illinois. He resided there for twenty-three years, engaging in agricultural pursuits. In 1890, he came to Algona, but the following spring he purchased one hundred and sixty acres of land northwest of here in Union township, upon which he resided for four years. At the end of that time he disposed of his farm and rented a place near Hobart, this county. The next year he bought one hundred acres of land in the vicinity of Burt, but he only lived there a short time, having removed to Algona in 1905. Mr. Turnbaugh still owns his farm, however, and also a residence and ten lots in Algona. He has always devoted much of his attention to the breeding and raising of thoroughbred stock and brought with him from Illinois nine blooded colts. He has some fine stock on his farm and takes great pride in keeping up the appearance of his place and has but recently erected a new barn.

Mr. Turnbaugh has been married twice. To him and his first wife, whose maiden name was Miss Mary Thackeray, there was born one son, Albert, a farmer at Swea City. He is married and has two children, Agnes and Cletis. In 1886, Mr. Turnbaugh was married to Miss Eliza Springer, who was born in West Virginia and is a daughter of Andrew and Mary J. (Harris) Springer. Her parents lived in West Virginia until the close of the war and then removed to Pennsylvania, going from there to Illinois in 1869. They both passed the remainder of their lives in Livingston county, that state. Their family numbered eleven: John, Asa, Samuel, Susan and Margaret, all or whom are deceased; Caroline, the wife of Joseph Bouldrey, of Down, Kansas; Andrew T., deceased; Mary B., the wife of J. R. Turnbaugh, of Dennis, Kansas; Eliza, the wife of our subject; George W., deceased; and Elvira, the wife of Alexander Elgir, of Sethbridge, Canada. Mrs. Turnbaugh was educated in the schools of West Virginia, Pennsylvania and Illinois, and taught one term in Illinois. To Mr. Turnbaugh and his second wife there has been born one daughter, Laura Myrtle, who is now at home. She graduated from the Algona high school with the class of 1910 and then engaged in teaching and expects to take another school in the spring.

Mr. Turnbaugh was reared in the Quaker faith and has always held to the simple, practical teachings of that society. His wife is a member of the Baptist church and their daughter attends the various Protestant churches. He is a member of the Grand Army of the Republic and votes the republican ticket, having cast his first ballot for Abraham Lincoln. Mr. Turnbaugh has always led an active, energetic life, thus acquiring the means that now enable him to enjoy a highly deserved and well earned rest during his latter years.

DELBERT E. TURNER has for nine years been a resident of Buffalo township, where he owns and operates a well improved farm of a hundred and sixty acres. He was born on a farm in the vicinity of Princeton, Bureau county, Illinois, on the 21 st of February, 1869. His father, Clarence Turner, is a native of the state of New York and a son of Pascal Turner, who with his family removed to Illinois during the pioneer period, being one of the first settlers of Bureau county. There Clarence Turner was reared to manhood and educated, subsequently marrying Mary Palmer, the mother of our subject. He adopted agriculture for his life vocation and for many years was engaged in farming in the vicinity of Princeton, where he is now living retired.

There was no occurrence in the boyhood of Delbert E. Turner to distinguish it from that of the average youth who is reared on a farm and educated in the district schools. At an early age he began assisting his father, under whose competent direction he developed into a first-class practical farmer. Soon after attaining his majority he was married and began farming for himself as a renter in Bureau county, remaining there until 1903 when he came to Iowa. Here he subsequently purchased the place on which he is residing and has ever since diligently applied himself to its further development. He has made many notable changes during the period of his ownership, all of which have improved the appearance and enhanced the value of the property. The residence has been remodeled, while a large barn and granary provide ample shelter for his stock and grain and he has also installed about the premises various modern conveniences and labor-saving devices. Mr. Turner engages in general farming and dairying in connection with which he is raising shorthorn cattle, Poland China hogs and Percheron horses, and is meeting with lucrative returns.

In Bureau county in September, 1890, Mr. Turner was married to Miss Georgiana Heathcock, who was born, reared and educated in Bureau county. Of this marriage there have been born five children, Irene M., Clarence G., Leona M., Blanch M. and Mildred M.

Fraternally Mr. Turner is a member of the Modern Woodmen of America. He is a republican in politics, but has never figured prominently in the official affairs of his township. He is not remiss in matters of citizenship, however, but on the contrary takes an active interest in local matters and is always ready to cooperate in promoting the welfare of the community.

EDGAR F. TUTHILL is one of the active and prosperous farmers of Kossuth county, Iowa, where he owns and operates a farm of four hundred and forty-six acres on section 6, Burt township. He is also proprietor of a well improved and valuable property of one hundred and sixty acres on section 5 in the same township. Mr. Tuthill is a native son of Iowa, his birth having occurred in Black Hawk. His family is of English ancestry and the line of descent is clear from 1640 to the present time. The first of the name to settle in America was the great-grandfather of our subject and the first member of the family who was born in the United States was the grandfather of E. F. Tuthill. His birth occurred in Cayuga county, New York, and here he spent his life engaged in various activities. In this section also his son, George Tuthill, the father of our subject, was born and educated. He came to Iowa when he was a young man and settled in Black Hawk county, where he married Miss Catherine Anderson, a native of Canada and who is of Scotch ancestry. Geroge Tuthill bought a farm in the section where he settled and operated it successfully for many years. His activities have influenced the growth of the state of Iowa and have entitled him to be numbered among the prosperous and intelligent agriculturists of the section. He has been active in local political affairs and has served as supervisor for two terms. He has also held many other offices of trust and honor and has done loyal and patriotic service in the cause of his fellow citizens. He still resides on the old homestead with his wife and has many friends in the district where he is active, prosperous and highly esteemed. He and his wife became the parents of three sons: George B., who came to Kossuth county with is brother and bought land and farmed for a number of years before he disposed of his holdings and went to California where he now resides; E. F., the subject of this sketch; and Fred N., who is farming in Black Hawk county near the old homestead.

Edgar F. Tuthill was reared upon his father's farm and received his primary education in the public schools of his native section. He later attended the State Normal School and fitted himself for teaching although he never engaged in this line of activity. When he had attained his majority he came with his brother George to Kossuth county where he purchased land which he farmed and improved for a number of years. He later bought out the interest of his brother and continued the development of the property. He erected a comfortable house, built barns, outbuildings and granaries, fenced and tiled his property and now has one of the valuable farms of Kossuth county. He has added to his holdings at various times and purchased recently one hundred and sixty acres adjoining his original tract. He is now the owner of four hundred and forty-six acres of fertile and productive land.

Mr. Tuthill is one of the stockholders and was a promoter of the Lone Rock Creamery Association and served many years as a director of this enterprise. He is a stockholder in the Farmers Elevator Company and for some years has been engaged in the dairy business, supplying the Lone Rock Creamery with the products of his sanitary and thoroughly equipped establishment. He is a loyal citizen of his native state and an influential factor in promoting its development.

Mr. Tuthill has no definite political affiliations, preferring to keep entirely independent of all lines and parties. He was elected and served for two terms as township trustee. He gives his time to the management of his agricultural and business interests, yet there are few men who have done more active and effective service in behalf of the public welfare. Mr. Tuthill has been a resident of Iowa in Black Hawk and Kossuth counties during the whole of his life and has witnessed the growth and development of the state. He has been an active factor in its progress and is recognized as one of the public-spirited citizens of the section in which he resides.

George Tuthill, section 36, Washington Township, came to this county in March, 1856, and brought with him 150,000 trees, most of which were apple trees, which he had bought in Waukegan, Illinois. He bought his present farm of 200 acres soon after his arrival, and immediately set out his trees, which he sold through this part of Iowa and in Minnesota. He carried on a general nursery business, with fair success, til 1861, growing all kinds of nursery stock and shrubbery. In May, 1861, he enlisted in Company K, Third Iowa Infantry to serve three years. Mr. Tuthill was discharged at Davenport in July, 1864, when he returned to his home in this township. In 1865 Mr. Tuthill had his old house and his new one, which was then almost completed, destroyed by a fire. He save most of his household goods, but lost all his grain. In the spring of 1865 he built his present residence, although he has since made additions to the original building. Mr. Tuthill was born is Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, August 9, 1833, a son of Nathaniel and Fanny (Smith) Tuthill, both of whom died at Northville, Cayuga County, New York. The father was born and reared in Orange County, New York, the mother also being a native of that county, living there til her marriage. Mr. George Tuthill was married November 23, 1857, to Christeena Anderson, a daughter of Basil and Margaret (Stevens) Anderson. Her parents were born near Frazersborough, Scotland. After coming to America they lived in Canada three years, and when Mrs. Tuthill was about two years of age her parents came to Ill County, Illinois, where the father died. The mother and her eight children subsequently removed to Washington Township, this county, where she still makes her home. Mr. and Mrs. Tuthill have three children- George B., born January 13, 1859, married Lucy Ford, a daughter of Niram ford, also an old resident, is now living in Kossuth county, Iowa; Edgar F., born August 4, 1860, living with his brother in Kossuth County, and Fred, born May 4, 1865, living at home. In politics Mr. Tuthill affiliates with the Greenback Party. He has served three years as county supervisor. He is a member of the Grand Army of the Republic. Mr. Tuthill's mother died December 19, 1878, in her seventy-sixth year, and his father died at the age of eighty years, October 12, 1879. They were of English descent. In the year 1640 John Tuthill came from the county of Norfolk, England, and was one of the first settlers of Long Island.

EDGAR L. TUTTLE is one of the pioneers of Buffalo township, whose efforts have substantially contributed toward forwarding the development of his community. He owns a hundred and sixty acres of improved land on section 28 and here he has been engaged in diversified farming and stock-raising since 1884, with good success. He was born in Ross county, Ohio, on the 2d of October, 1864, and is a son of Libbeaus Tuttle, who was born, reared and married in Ross county, where he was killed by an accident in 1865. The mother subsequently removed to Whiteside county, Illinois, with her children, locating on a farm in the vicinity of Sterling.

Edgar L. Tuttle was only an infant when his mother settled in Whiteside county, where he was reared to manhood and educated. He remained with his mother and assisted in the cultivation of the home farm until 1884, when he joined his uncle, Robert Lane, who was one of the pioneers of Kossuth county. Mr. Tuttle had previously purchased a quarter of section 28, Buffalo township, in the cultivation and improvement of which he has ever since been engaged. For a time he made his home with his uncle, but as soon as he had erected the necessary buildings for habitation he removed to his own place, and fenced the land and prepared the soil for cultivation. He was a diligent and enterprising young man of thrifty habits and practical ideas, and although he encountered the usual difficulties and obstacles experienced by all pioneers, each year brought better returns. Later he was able to erect a more comfortable residence and a better barn and outbuildings and he also planted a grove of forest trees and an orchard, having converted his tract of prairie land into a most promising looking farm by the time he was married in 1889. Yet further improvements have been made on the place during the intervening years, and it is now one of the best properties in the community. Mr. Tuttle largely plants his fields to such cereals as are best adapted to the feeding of stock, as he has for many years made a specialty of raising high-grade cattle and Duroc Jersey hogs. He also does some dairying and is a stockholder in the Titonka Cooperative Creamery Association of which he was one of the founders.

In Kossuth county on the 11 th day of June, 1889, Mr. Tuttle was united in marriage to Miss Mary L. Anker, who was born in New York state but reared in Iowa. She is a daughter of Ludwig Anker, a native of Germany and one of the pioneers of Kossuth county. Three children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Tuttle, as follows: Lee Ernest, who is assisting his father in carrying on the farm; Irma Lucille, who is the only daughter; and Harvey Amos.

Fraternally Mr. Tuttle is affiliated with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Modern Woodmen of America and both he and Mrs. Tuttle are members of the Rebekahs. His political indorsement is given to the republican party, taking an active interest in local affairs. He is now township clerk, having served in this capacity for twelve years, and for a long period he was a member of the school board, while on various occasions he has represented his district in county conventions. Mr. Tuttle is one of the efficient and capable men of Buffalo township, whose success is recognized as the highly merited reward of honest endeavor, persistent effort and determination of purpose.