History of Linn County, Iowa - 1911

Linn County >> 1911 Index

History of Linn County Iowa, from its earliest settlement to the present time
by Luther A Brewer and Barthinius L Wick. Vols I & II. Chicago: The Pioneer Publishing Company, 1911.

Unless otherwise noted, biographies submitted by Dick Barton.

Edward Leclere submitted by Becky Teubner

One of the representative business men of Central City is Ed Leclere, the well known cashier of the State Bank of Central City. He is a native of Linn county, his birth occurring in Boulder township on the 24th of November, 1876 . His father, Charles F. Leclere, was born in the state of New York . During the greater part of his life he followed farming in Linn county, but a few years ago he removed to Cedar Rapids , where he is now living retired, enjoying in well earned rest the fruits of former toil.

After coming to this county he married Miss Thresa Kemling, a native of Germany , who was brought to the new world by her parents during her girlhood. She is still living and by her marriage became the mother of fourteen children, namely: Henry C., an up-to-date farmer of Boulder township; George L., who is also engaged in the same pursuit in that township; William, who makes his home in Monticello, Iowa, and is engaged in the threshing and sawmill business; Frank, also a farmer of Boulder township; one who died in infancy; Alexander, a retired farmer of Coggon, Iowa; Ed, of this review; Fred L., who is engaged in clerking in a hardware store at Alta, Iowa; Lena, the wife of Harvey Whitney, a farmer of Boulder township; Mamie, the wife of William H. Trefe, who follows farming in the same township; Anna, at home with her parents; Nettie, a trained nurse now located in Waterloo, Iowa; and Elmer D, and Clara, both at home.

Reared on the home farm, Ed Leclere acquired his early education in the country schools of Boulder township and later attended the high school at Monticello , Iowa . He also pursued a commercial course in the Cedar Rapids Business College and was thus well prepared to engage in business pursuits, having obtained a good, practical education. On leaving the parental roof he went to Coggon and on the 1st of July, 1900 , accepted the position of assistant cashier in the bank at that place, where he remained for five and a half years, giving the utmost satisfaction. He then came to Central City to become cashier of the State Bank of Central City, which position he is now filling to the entire satisfaction of all concerned, He is also financially interested in the bank and, being a good, reliable business man, conservative in his methods, yet progressive, he has done much to promote the interests of the institution.

In 1901 Mr. Leclere was united in marriage to Miss May L. Savage, of Coggon , Iowa , and they have become the parents of three children, namely: Fay E., Roy W., and Donnell M. Since attaining his majority Mr. Leclere has cast his ballot for the men and measures of the republican party and, taking an active interest in public affairs, served as township clerk and treasurer while a resident of Coggon. Religiously he is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church. He is the owner of one of the nicest residences in Central City and his home is a hospitable one, the many friends of the family always being sure of a hearty welcome there. Mr. Leclere is very popular both in business and social life and is a man who has the respect and confidence of all with whom he is brought in contact.

Legare, Margaret Swinton

v 1, pp 267:

Southern Influence

In every frontier community we gauge the settlement by the influences which predominate. Thus we have the Buckeye, the Hoosier, and New England elements in certain states and communities, making these local influences more or less marked traits of character, according to the size of the settlements, and also the temperaments of the settlers. In an early day there arrived in Linn county a number of people from South Carolina, who located here and influenced the social side of this frontier settlement in a marked degree. These families settled here in 1849: The Legare, Bryan, McIntosh, Stoney, and other families. The Legare family came from John's Island, about ten miles from Charleston, where they had lived for several centuries, being of an old French Huguenot family, which had removed to England and from there emigrated to America. It was here, or rather in Charleston, that Hugh Swinton Legare was born in 1789, the mother being of Scotch descent and related to Sir Walter Scott. Hugh Legare first obtained a private education from a Catholic priest, later graduating from the University of South Carolina. He embarked in 1818 for France, later taking up studies in Edinburgh and on the continent. After a stay of two years he returned to America to take charge of his mother's plantation. Not until 1822 did he begin the practice of law in Charleston; he also edited the Southern Review, and in this journal advocated views opposed to nullification. His attitude on this question brought him into prominence, and he was elected attorney general of the state. While in Washington he met Livingstone, then secretary of state, who offered him a position as minister to Belgium, which he accepted. After his return to America he was elected to congress in 1836, but was defeated for re- election in 1840 on account of his opposition to the sub-treasury bill. He was rewarded by President Tyler with a place in the cabinet as attorney general, and for a time acted as secretary of state. He died in 1843, one of the best known public men of his time.

His sister, Margaret Swinton Legare, who had been her brother's travelling companion and most intimate friend, in 1849 brought a fortune to Cedar Rapids. She was accompanied by her nephews, B. S. Bryan, Hugh L. Bryan, and Michael Bryan. It is said that nearly $80,000 in cash were at one time invested in property in this county by this family alone. a large part of this amount was invested in lands and in a woolen mill, which was located near what is now known as the Cooper mills.

Michael Bryan was married to a Miss Dwight, a distant relative of General Marion. She was also wealthy in her own name. A bank was started by the Bryans and the Wards in the early fifties known as Ward, Bryan & Co.'s Bank. This bank failed in the panic of 1857, Colonel I. M. Preston becoming receiver.

Donald M. McIntosh, Mrs. Rutledge, and her sisters, Joanna and Harley, came about the same time and were related to the other families. Many other less prominent southern people during these years came to Cedar Rapids which could boast of a true southern society. Mr. McIntosh erected one of the first brick dwellings in the city and held various public offices. Michael Bryan was alderman in 1851, while B. S. Bryan was elected city recorder. The Bryans were not outspoken in politics, but McIntosh was a democrat, the aunt, Miss Legare, held to the whig tenets of her illustrious brother, whose speeches and works she edited. She was also interested in church work, as well as in the education of women.

Michael Bryan erected a fine residence where the old N. B. Brown homestead is now located. At this house social affairs of the little town were conducted in true southern style, and fortunate was the person who was favored with an invitation to visit in the Bryan home. Michael Bryan died here, and the widow with her family returned to South Carolina just proceeding the Civil war. B. S. Bryan removed to the coast and is still living in Seattle.

Miss Legare organized a ladies' seminary, and was an artist of considerable talent. She was also an accomplished musician. It is said that she brought the first piano to the county. However, this claim has been disputed as it is said that the J. P. Glass family brought a musical instrument here in 1846.

In the '50s Miss Legare became the wife of Lowell Bullen, an uncle of the Daniels brothers, whose home was in North Brookfield, Massachusetts. They resided at Marion until Mr. Bullen's death in 1869, when the widow returned to her old home in South Carolina, surviving her husband a number of years.

Nearly all the members of the southern society were members of the Presbyterian church, and took an active part in the religious and social work of that people. Mrs. Bullen was kind and considerate. Her dignified presence was enough to give her entrance into any home. She took an active interest in the poor, and was interested in education in general. She loved and revered the memory of her statesman brother, and never forgot what place he held at one time in the affairs of the nation. During the rebellion she felt that her heart would break as she thought of friends and relatives fighting on both sides in that terrible struggle for the preservation of the Union.

A letter received lately from Bryan & Bryan, attorneys of Charleston, South Carolina, throws some light on this subject:

"In reply to your letter of the 10th instant, we beg to say that H. S. and B. S. (Benjamin Simons) and Michael Bryan, of whom you speak, were the sons of Col. John Bryan, a planter of this section.

"He (Col. John Bryan) married a sister of Hugh Legare, the writer and statesman, and attorney general of the United States. These sons went to Cedar Rapids before 1860.

"Michael Bryan married Harriet Dwight, a sister of my mother, Rebecca Dwight.

"It happened strangely enough, that my father, George S. Bryan, who married Rebecca Dwight, was no relation to Michael Bryan, who married Harriet Dwight. (In other words, the two Bryans being no relation, married two sisters.)

"Michael Bryan had several children, the survivors are Emily Bryan, married ______ Andrews, now living in Abbeville county, South Carolina, with a number of children, her husband being a planter; and William Bryan, whose residence is unknown to the writer.

"Michael Bryan's nephew, Edward Bryan, is also living on one of our Sea Islands, in the vicinity of Charleston, and is a planter. As far as we can ascertain, B. S. Bryan of whom you speak, was engaged in banking in Cedar Rapids, and Michael Bryan was engaged in real estate, having built up a portion of Cedar Rapids. He died in Cedar Rapids before 1860, and his family removed back to South Carolina. They were not Quakers, but Presbyterians, and attended the Circular church, Meeting street, in Charleston, S. C., which was a branch of the Presbyterian church."

In addition to the above mentioned, a large number of cultured and educated people came from Maryland, Kentucky, Tennessee, and Virginia. Who does not remember the aristocratic and learned A. Sidney Belt, the robust, courtly old gentleman, Colonel S. W. Durham, the versatile and polite Judge Israel Mitchell, the genial Oxley brothers, and scores of other southern men and women?

The members of the Legare, Bryan, McIntosh, Durham, Oxley, Belt, Mitchell, and other southern families who located in Linn county did much in changing the manners of this somewhat cosmopolitan community. These families pursued education. The members had traveled much. They were descended from some of the most cultured families in this country. They were social, interesting, and entertained much, and it is needless to add that the citizens of the county were not slow in receiving the southern settlers into their homes. The presence of such an influence in the formative period of the county's history wielded an influence which has not been entirely effaced after a period of half a century. ...

pp 317, 319:

Dr. Seymour D. Carpenter, who came to Cedar Rapids in 1849, contributed the below quoted memoirs to a History of Crescent Lodge, J. E. Morcombe, author, and published by the lodge in 1906. It is of value in the consideration of the history of early times in the city and county: ...

"In 1850 Miss Mary S. Legare, sister of the Hon. Hugh S. Legare of South Carolina, came to Cedar Rapids. She was a woman of the highest culture, who had moved much in the official circles of Washington, and had considerable wealth. With her came numerous relatives named Bryan, Storey, and McIntosh, the latter a well known lawyer of the early days...."

FRANK LEIDIGH, owning and operating a well improved farm of one hundred and ninety-four acres in Monroe township, was born in Linn county on the 1st of January, 1860, his parents being George and Susanna (Boyd) Leidigh, who were natives of Cumberland county, Pennsylvania, and Ashland county, Ohio, respectively. At an early day the father left the Keystone state and took up his abode in Ohio, where he was married in 1856. In the fall of that year he came to Linn county, Iowa, and purchased the farm in Monroe township which has remained his place of residence continuously since. He lived in a log cabin for several years but later erected a more modern and commodious dwelling and has been an interested witness of the many wonderful changes which time and man have wrought in this section of the state during the past half century. His wife is deceased, her death having occurred in December, 1869. Their children were five in number, as follows: Rebecca, who is the wife of Allen Robinett, and resides in Jewell, Kansas; Frank, of this review; Dora, who has passed away; John, living in Monroe township; and Scott, who is a resident of Marion, Iowa.

In his youthful years Frank Leidigh enjoyed the educational advantages afforded by the common schools and also became familiar with the duties and labors that fall to the lot of the agriculturist as he assisted his father in the work of the home farm. Following his marriage he was actively engaged in the operation of a rented farm for six years, on the expiration of which period, in 1890, he bought his present place of one hundred and ninety-four acres in Monroe township, to the further cultivation and improvement of which he has since devoted his time and energies. The fields annually yield golden harvests in return for the care and labor which he bestows upon them, and he is well known as a most progressive and enterprising agriculturist. He is also serving as president of the Monroe Telephone Company.

On the 22d of December, 1884, Mr. Leidigh was united in marriage to Miss Jennie Wilson, whose birth occurred in Monroe township, this county. She is a daughter of James P. and Mary (Waters) Wilson. Her father died in March, 1907, but her mother still survives and makes her home with our subject. Mr. and Mrs. Leidigh now have three children, namely: Earl, who married Irene Snyder and is a resident of Monroe township; Gailene; and Wilson.

Since age conferred upon him the right of franchise Mr. Leidigh has supported the men and measures of the republican party but the honors and emoluments of office have never had any attraction for him, though he served one term as school director. Both he and his wife have many friends in the county where they have always resided, having at all times displayed those sterling traits of character which in every land and clime awaken admiration and regard.

John Lockhart submitted by Pat Sheldon

John Lockhart, one of the prominent and representative farmers of Washington township, his home being on section 8, just west of Center Point, has spent his entire life here, his birth occurring March 6, 1851, upon the farm where he still resides. His father, Thomas G. Lockhart, was born in Adams county, Ohio, May 28, 1814, and was a son of Thomas and Mary (Brown) Lockhart, both natives of Pennsylvania, the former born in 1789 and the latter in 1788. They were of Scotch descent and at an early day became residents of Adams county, Pennsylvania, where the grandfather owned and operated a distillery, becoming one of the prominent men of his community. He was a soldier of the war of 1812.

Thomas G. Lockhart the father of our subject spent his boyhood & youth in the county of his nativity and in 1837 removed to Sangamon County, Illinois where he resided for a few years. There he was married December 10, 1837 to Miss Lettie Osborn, a native of Indiana and a daughter of Jonathan and Susan Osborn. In 1838 they came to Iowa and two years later settled in Linn County being among the pioneers of this region. Here the father entered the land on which our subject now resides and to its improvement and cultivation devoted his energy throughout the remainder of his life. As time passed he converted the place into a most productive and valuable tract and made many excellent improvements including the erection of three sets of farm buildings. He prospered in his work becoming the owner of 303 A of very valuable land and was numbered among the most substantial farmers of Washington township. He was also prominent and influential in public affairs and served for twelve consecutive years as J.P. and also as township treasurer for some years. His political support was given to the Democratic party and he was an active and faithful member of the Church of Christ of Center Point with which he was originally connected. He died on the home farm January 24, 1891 and his wife passed away July 5, 1899 both being laid to rest in Davis Cemetery, Grant township. They were the parents of eleven children but only three are now living, Craton who is a resident of the state of Washington, Mrs. Amanda Bunker of Urbana, Iowa and John of this review.

Reared upon the home farm John Lockhart early acquired an excellent knowledge of every department of farm work and his literary education was attained in the public schools which he attended to a limited extent but at the age of 13 years began plowing corn and from that time on his attention was principally devoted to agricultural pursuits pursuing his studies in the schoolroom only whenever there was no work to be done on the farm. After reaching man's estate he remained at home and cooperated with his father in the operation of the farm which they successfully operated together until his father's death in 1891 when the place passed into the possession of our subject. He has since sold 20 A of the tract but still has very valuable farm of 283 A which is under a high state of cultivation and is applied with all the modern accessories found upon the model farm of the 20th century.

Mr. Lockhart was married October 12, 1882, in Benton county, Iowa, to Miss Belle Cross of Vinton, that county. Her father, Solomon Cross, was a native of Tennessee, but just prior to coming to Iowa made his home in Indiana. He was one of the pioneer settlers of Benton county, but is now residing near Hobart, Oklahoma. Mr. and Mrs. Lockhart have three children, namely: Inez May, now the wife of J. W. Warmer who is engaged in the grain and elevator business at Center Point, Iowa; Ross W. and Paul C., twins.

In connection with general farming Mr. Lockhart has devoted considerable attention to the handling and raising of thoroughbred Hereford cattle and keeps on hand high grade stock. Since age conferred upon him the right of franchise he has been an earnest supporter of the democratic party and in November, 1908, was elected to the board of township trustees, in which position he is now serving. He also filled the position of township treasurer for six years and his official duties have always been most promptly and ably discharged. Fraternally he is an honored member of Vienna Lodge, No. 142, A. F. & A. M., and a demitted member of the Order of the Eastern Star. Both he and his wife take an active and prominent part in church work, holding membership in the Church of Christ, of which he is now an elder. They are regarded as among the leading and prominent citizens of Washington township and they have a wide circle of friends and acquaintances throughout Linn county.

Luther G. Long submitted by Becky Teubner

Luther G. Long is a native son of Linn county who has gained success in life single-handed and without other aid than that which a natural aptitude for agricultural pursuits, coupled with a strong constitution, gives to a man. He is, in every sense of the term, a self-made man and a representative citizen of the county.

He was born March 18, 1868 , and is a son of James W. and Samantha (Button) Long. His father was born and reared in the Buckeye state and was a blacksmith by trade and a good one. His mother was from Indiana . They came to Linn county, Iowa , shortly before their marriage. Mr. Long arrived in 1842 and at once set up his forge, doing blacksmithing for the countryside. Late in his life he rented a farm for a few years but soon retired after purchasing a twelve-acre plot of ground, upon which he passed his closing days. Luther G. Long remained with his parents until twenty-seven years old, working upon his father's farm. Then he was married, February 19, 1895, to Miss Sarah Eastman, a daughter of Oliver and Sarah S. (Fairchilds) Eastman, both natives of Ohio, having located in Linn county, Iowa, in 1853. Mrs. Long was born in Spring Grove township, her home being the house at present occupied by herself, husband and family. There have been six children born to them, namely: Neva L., aged fourteen years; Evelyn D., aged twelve; Ora E., aged ten; the twins, Leland W, and Lelah A., aged eight; and Irma V., aged two years.

Mr. and Mrs. Long began married life by renting one hundred and twenty acres of land, occupying that place for about a year. Then they secured possession of the old Eastman property by purchase and have lived there since 1896. This place Mr. Long has improved to a great extent, yet contemplates still further improvements which he has mapped out. Both Mr. and Mrs. Long affiliate with the Methodist Protestant church, as do their children. He votes the republican ticket and has held the office of school director for six years, at the present time being an incumbent of the office. At the June primaries of 1910, he received the republican nomination for assessor of Spring Grove township, which demonstrated the sentiment of the community toward him. He is a member of the Masonic Lodge of Coggon, and leads a life worthy of a member of such a fraternal organization.