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Pocahontas County >> 1904 Index The Pioneer History of Pocahontas County,
Iowa C Unless otherwise noted, biographies submitted by Dick Barton. CHASE, ELIJAH, his wife, Elizabeth and five children, Marquis, Alfretta, Converse, Frederick and Thomas, the last about two and the first about seventeen years of age, located on Sec. 6, Cedar township Aug. 9, 1868. They came from Buchanan county with an outfit that consisted of four loaded wagons drawn by fourteen yoke of oxen, and ten head of cattle. They were accompanied from the same place by Geo. Spragg, a brother of Mrs. Chase, whose outfit consisted of two wagons drawn by four yoke of oxen, and four head of cattle. There were the first settlers in Cedar township and they located on the same section. Their experience in making the trip from Independence to Sunk Grove was one that was not uncommon in those days, especially in wet seasons. At this date the railroad extended only to Iowa Falls and the trails west of Fort Dodge extended only to the settlements along Lizard creek. The sloughs were full of water and so soft that frequently the mud would be seen shoving in front of the wagon. All of the oxen, eighteen yoke, were sometimes required to draw a single wagon across a bad slough and, in such cases, half day would be consumed in crossing it. During the first two years of their residence at Sunk Grove all their supplies were obtained from Carroll, Jefferson and Fort Dodge . In the spring of 1869 Marquis Chase made a trip to Fort Dodge for a load of supplies, and while there was overtaken by a heavy rain. The wagon was drawn by four yoke of oxen, and on his return, in the effort to cross the head of Purgatory slough a short distance northeast of the place where Pomeroy is now located, the front yoke of oxen mired in the mud and the others, moving on them, the entire eight head of cattle were lost by drowning. The youthful driver, then only eighteen years of age, was compelled to stay over night with the load and the next day walked home, a distance of eighteen miles, to obtain a larger number of oxen and assistance to extricate the wagon with its load. Elijah and his family in 1878 moved to Buena Vista county, but returned in 1881. He died in 1895 and his wife, Jan. 15, 1898 , the latter at the home of her son William, near Wadena , Minnesota . His family consisted of ten children, namely: Marquis, in Dover township; Alfretta, wife of Joseph Logan; Converse, Frederick , Thomas, Eunice, wife of Thompson Gilman; Frank, Joseph, Adrian and William. Clark,
Mrs. Sarah A., (b. 1832),Fonda, is a native of Washington Co., Pa., the daughter
of John and Margaret Williams.
In 1843 she became the wife of John W. Clark and located in the vicinity
of Cincinnati, O.
In 1853 they moved to Stark Co., Ill., and in 1875 to Warren Co., where
he died a few years afterwards.
In 1889 Mrs. Clark became a resident of Fonda, where her daughter, Mrs.
Emmet Kay had previously located.
Dec. 14, 1900, at the end of ten years' service as president of the
Ladies' Aid Society of the M. e. church, she was very pleasantly surprised at a
meeting held in her honor, by the presentation and adoption of the following
resolutions: "In
view of the fact that sister Sarah A. Clark, who has reached the advanced age of
79 years, has for more than ten years performed efficiently the arduous duties
of president of this society, and has been a faithful member and an untiring
worker in the M. E. church for more than half a century, therefore, Resolved,
that she be made an honorary member of our aid society, have a voice and vote
therein, be free from the payment of all dues and receive a complimentary
invitation to all suppers served by the society. Attests:
Her
family consisted of five daughters.
Euphemia E. married Albert Hillard and died soon afterwards.
Mary B. married Emmet Kay, (see Kay)
Alice married James B. Knotts and lives in Lucas county.
Emma died in her youth, and Georgia A., an assistant in The Times office
many years, resides with her mother. CLASON, JOSEPH, one of the early pioneers of Pocahontas county, in the spring of 1863, located on a farm of 80 acres on section 1, Clinton township, with a family consisting of his wife (Rebecca Kinyon) and ten children. Upon an unbroken prairie, covered with tall grass and inhabited by mosquitoes, he built a log house and occupied it until June, 1874, when he sold the farm and moved to Kansas . He died in 1880 and his wife in 1888. In Clinton township he served as a trustee, 1865-71; as the first president of the school board, '69 70; as justice of the peace, '71-73. Ann Clason, his eldest daughter, in 1864 married Richard Chatfield and located in Wisconsin, where she died Sept. 26, 1884, leaving a family of six children, of whom Dora married James Thompson and located in southern Iowa; Rose married Wm. Blain and located in Kansas; George entered the regular army; Edward located in Lizard township; Cora and Alfred are at home. Sarah Clason on Dec. 25, 1869 , married Geo. W. Heald. (See Heald). The wedding occurred at her father's home and was the first one in the township. Mary Clason on March 30, 1872 , married Carl John Carlson, who for a number of years was proprietor of the quarries on section 25, and later located on a farm near Havelock . Their family consists of eight children - Carl J., Florence R., Emma H., Worden J., Minnie M., James A., William A. and Wilfred Bert. COX, WILLETT S. (b. 1862), merchant, Havelock, is a native of Oquawka, Henderson county, Ill., the son of Chapman and Rebecca Cox, with whom at eleven, he moved to Wapello , Iowa . After completing his studies in the high school in 1878, he learned the tinner's trade. In 1882, he engaged in the hardware business at Humboldt and remained until 1889, when he located at Havelock . Here he established a large hardware store and soon afterwards began to maintain branch stores at Plover and Mallard. In 1896,he disposed of all his interest in the hardware business and in 1897, resumed business at Havelock as dealer in general merchandise. In the fall of 1900, he erected the first building and opened a store in the new town of Ware. He was appointed and served as the first postmaster at Ware, from Oct. 7, 1900 , to Dec. 1, 1901 , when he relinquished his interests there and built a large brick store room at Havelock to meet the demands of his growing business at that place. This new building is one of the best store rooms in the county; it contains 8,200 feet of floor space, is finished in oak and heated with steam. The stock includes drygoods, groceries, shoes, hardware, furniture and undertaker's supplies. He is the owner of considerable land in Iowa and Minnesota , and a leading stockholder in the Havelock Telephone Company. He is an enterprising and successful business man and stands ready to promote any enterprise that will prove a permanent benefit to the town of his adoption. In 1886 he married Cora M. Potter, of Rolfe, and his family consists of four children, Eva, Warren P, Samuel W. and Eldon.
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