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Shelby County
>> 1889 Index Biographical
History of Shelby and Audubon Counties, Iowa S Unless noted, biographies submitted by Dick Barton. G. W. M. SARVIS, of Fairview Township, section 23, is an ex-soldier of the late war. He was born in Dade County, Missouri, September 7, 1841. He is a son of Maldon and Mary (Flesher) Sarvis. He was fifteen years old when he came to Pottawattamie County, Iowa. He worked on a farm until he enlisted in the army, March 11, 1862. He joined the Seventeenth Iowa Infantry, Company H. He was first under fire at Hamburg Landing. He was in the battles of Corinth, Ball's Bluff, Raymond, Mississippi, Champion Hills, Jackson, Vicksburg, Chattanooga, Missionary Ridge, Buzzard's Roost, Duck Creek Gap, and Tilton, Georgia, where he was taken prisoner. He was confined at Millin, Georgia, for two months, then at Cahawba, Alabama, one month, and was then taken to Andersonville, where he was held three months. When captured he weighed 175 pounds; when released 113 was as high as he could tip the beam. He was first taken to Goldsborough, North Carolina, and then to Washington, D C. He was also in the Red River expedition. He served three years, one month and twenty-five days. He returned to Pottawattamie County, Iowa, and was married July 6, 1869, to Miss Susan Donnelson. She was born in Scott County, Iowa, and is a daughter of Levi and Mary (Stafford) Donnelson. The father is a native of New York, and the mother of Indiana. Mr. Sarvis came to Shelby County in 1871. In 1887 he bought his present farm, which contains eighty-one acres of fine land and one of the best springs of water in tile county; it is situated near the residence. There is a good barn, and a fine grove of timber. Mr. Sarvis and wife have three children living - Hattie B., Harry and George. Mr. Sarvis is a Republican, and a member of the G. A. R., U. S. Grant Post, Avoca. He is genial in his disposition, honest and upright in business. Caleb
Smith is
one of the prominent and well-known citizens of Fairview Township; he arrived
in the county May 23, 1870.
He was born in Snyder County, Pennsylvania,
April 17, 1847, and is a son of John P. Smith and Elizabeth
(Troxell) Smith, both natives of Pennsylvania.
Caleb passed his
early youth on a farm and in attending school; his education was received
at the Freebury Academy, of Snyder County, Pennsylvania, and at the
Union Seminary, of Union County, Pennsylvania.
At the age of seventeen
he began teaching school, and was very successful.
In 1870 he acted
on Horace Greeley's advice to young men, and went west; he traveled
over a portion of Ohio, Indiana, Michigan and Illinois; he finally
reached Shelby County, Iowa, where he decided to remain.
The first
season he engaged in teaching in Monroe Township; in the spring of 1871
he was appointed county superintendent of the schools; in the autumn
of the same year he was elected to this office, serving two years with
credit to himself and the best interests of the public schools.
In February,
1872, he bought 152 acres of land, partly improved; here he has
since lived, and made many improvements, adding to the first purchase
until he now owns 220 acres of the best soil, consisting largely
of rich bottom lands of the east branch of the Nishnabotna River.
He has a good frame house, a barn and buildings for stock, and a modern
windmill, supplying the water for the different yards; all the surroundings
betray the thrift and energy of the owner.
Mr. Smith has not
sold any corn in twelve years, as he finds it more profitable to feed
it to stock at home; he has been very successful in this enterprise.
He was married January 4, 1874, to Miss Hattie Pieffer, a daughter
of Benjamin Pieffer, a prominent pioneer, whose history will be found
elsewhere in this volume.
Mr. and Mrs. Smith have two children - Lester
and Laura E. Mr.
Smith is a Democrat, and is one of the wheel- horses of the Democracy in the
county; he has filled several offices of trust,
with honor to himself.
He is a member of the Anti-horse-thief Association
of Fairview Township.
He is a man well informed on general topics;
is decided in his views, friendly to all, and is numbered with the
first citizens of the county. Harrison
Smith, of
Shelby Township, section 22, is one of the prominent citizens.
He bought
land in the township in 1872, and settled there in 1873.
He was born
in Morgan County, Ohio, October 29, 1849, a son of Solomon and Lethinda
(Newman) Smith, natives of Ohio.
When he was fourteen years old
he went to Illinois with an older brother.
Here he spent his time in
farming and attending the public schools.
In 1868 he removed to Poweshiek
County, Iowa.
He was married September 10, 1872, to Miss Mary Harrod,
a daughter of John and Rachel Harrod, who was born in Knox County,
Ohio. Mr.
Smith was engaged in farming in Poweshiek County until
1873, when he came to Shelby Township and located on his present farm.
He first bought eighty acres, but has since bought more till he now
owns 320 acres.
His farm is one of the best improved in the township.
His house, built in 1882, is a large frame building of modern style,
well situated on a natural building site, surrounded by a fine grove.
His barn is commodious, and he has ohter good buildings for grain
and stock. Everything
is neat and snug, and well arranged for convenience
and comfort. He
has Hambletonian horses, as fine as can be found
in the county.
He is a Republican, a member of the Masonic order, Shelby
Lodge No. 371, and one of the successful early settlers.
He has done
his share in the improvement of the county.
He is cordial to all, honorable
in business, and has the esteem and regard of all who know him.
John
W. Smith, a
native of the Buckeye State, was born near Cincinnati, November 29, 1851.
He is a son of William and Elizabeth (Lawrence) Smith, and one of a
family of seven children.
When he was two years of age his parents removed
to Jasper County, Iowa, where he passed his early life.
He was trained
in agricultural pursuits, and received a limited education in the
common schools, but is qualified to transact any business that may devolve
upon him. Mr.
Smith was united in marriage, October 21, 1874, to
Miss Esther Wollard, daughter of James and Amanda Wollard.
She was born
in Delaware County, Ohio, September 17, 1856, and was eight years old
when her parents came to Iowa and settled in Jasper County on a farm,
where they still reside.
After his marriage Mr. smith continued farming,
and in 1878 he came to Shelby County and settled on a farm of eighty
acres of partially improved land.
Here he built a small frame house,
which he has since replaced by a fine, large residence.
He has erected
buildings for stock and grain, and planted a grove of one acre. His farm is situated in section 2, Jefferson Township, and is a
credit to
the surrounding country, as everything looks thrifty and prosperous. Mr. Smith is occupied exclusively with agriculture and
stock-raising, and
stands in the front ranks of Shelby County's well-to-do citizens. Politically he affiliates with the Republican party.
Mr. and Mrs. Smith have
four children - Frederick, Riley (deceased), Oliver and William. They are consistent members of the Methodist Episcopal church. Thomas
H. Smith, of
the law firm of Smith & Cullison, Harlan, Iowa, was born in Appanoose County,
Iowa, September 30, 1854, and is a son of Paris S. and Nancy J. Smith,
of Davis County, Iowa.
Paris S. Smith was a native of Ohio, and a
son of Noah and Elizabeth Smith, also natives of Ohio, who removed from
that State and settled in Van Buren County, Iowa, in 1848.
Nancy J.
Smith, wife of Paris S. Smith, was a Virginian by birth, and a daughter
of Joseph and Mary Jones, natives of Virginia.
When she was quite
small her father removed from Virginia, and settled in Ross County,
Iowa, remaining there until she was sixteen years old; her father
then came to Iowa and settled on a farm in Davis County, within one-half
mile of the place where Mrs. Smith now resides.
She was married
to Paris S. Smith April 1, 1852, and they now reside upon the farm
that has been their home for the last thirty years.
They are the parents
of thirteen children, ten of whom are living; all of the children
received a liberal education, and with one exception were teachers.
Thomas H. Smith lived upon the farm with his parents until his
eighteenth year, assisting with the farm work, and attended the district
school. At
the age of eighteen years he taught his first school,
and continued to teach each winter thereafter, until his admission
to the bar in the spring of 1878.
All the education he received,
aside from that obtained in the common schools, was in the Troy
Academy and the Southern Iowa Normal, at Bloomfield, Ohio, in 1875- '76.
His present partner, G. W. Cullison, was one of his instructors. In the spring of 1876 he began the study of law in the office of M.
H. Jones,
of Bloomfield, Iowa, and was admitted to the bar in 1878, in Bloomfield.
Immediately thereafter he located in Harlan, and commenced the
practice of his profession.
In a few weeks after coming to Harlan he
formed a partnership with P. C. Truman, under the firm name of Truman & Smith; this firm continued until January, 1881, when G. W. Cullison succeeded
to the interests of P. C. Truman, under the present firm name. Smith & Cullison have an extensive and lucrative practice, and
a large and
well-selected library.
Mr. Smith has a fine farm of 295 acres adjoining
Irwin, Iowa, and owns one of the finest residences in Harlan. Mr. Smith was married June 3, 1880, to Miss Josephine Wonn, a
daughter of
Hon. H. A. Wonn, of Davis County, Iowa.
They have three children - Mabel,
aged eight years; Orpha, aged six years; and Lois, aged eighteen months.
Mr. Smith was elected county attorney of Shelby County, Iowa, in
the fall of 1886, and filled this position with much credit for two years;
he refused a re-nomination by acclamation at the expiration of his
term. Mr.
Smith is a close student, an untiring worker, and a self- made man in the true
sense of the work.
All that he is and has was acquired
by his own efforts. W. J. Smith was born in Canada, June 19, 1864, and is the son of George and Jane (Wadsworth) Smith, natives of Ireland. When he was two years old his parents removed to Mercer County, Illinois, where he was reared and spent his early life. He was trained to agricultural pursuits and educated in the common schools. When he was in his twentieth year he began life upon his own responsibility; he came to Shelby County and purchased a farm of eighty acres of improved land in Jefferson Township; here he remained and cultivated his farm until three years had passed away. He then traded his farm for another place in the same township, where he lived until 1889. He then exchanged his land for property, and established mercantile trade in partnership with D. W. Clarke, in Botna. They carry a stock of general merchandise worth $7,000. They are live, energetic young men, and are destined to make their mark in the business circles of Shelby County, and the county is to be congratulated upon the acquisition of this firm. Mr. Smith was united in marriage March 5, 1884, to Miss Alice R., daughter of David and Alice (Blakely) Clarke; she was born in Rock Island County, Illinois, October 18, 1865. They are the parents of two children - Alice M. and Florence M. Politically Mr. Smith is an active Republican. D. W. Clarke was born in Rock Island County, Illinois, June 2, 1868, and is the son of David and Alice (Blakely) Clarke, natives of Ireland. He was reared in his native county of a farm, and was educated in the public schools of his county and Cornell College, Mt. Vernon, Iowa. After leaving college he went to Botna and engaged as clerk for S. B. Fritz, with whom he remained three months, and then entered into partnership with his brother-in-law, W. J. Smith, they buying the stock of Mr. Clarke's employer. Messrs. Smith & Clarke are dealers in coal, grain and live-stock. J. L. Stanley, proprietor of the pioneer meat market of Harlan, started the business in that place in the spring of 1871, and continued in the trade until 1881. He then sold the business and engaged in farming in Jackson Township until 1887, when he returned to Harlan and re-engaged in this occupation. This market affords an excellent assortment of all kinds of meat, fish and vegetables in their season. Mr. Stanley has a good trade which he has won by fir and upright dealing. The subject of this notice was born in Louisa County, Iowa, June 12, 1837, and is the son of T. J. and Rachel (Hoskins) Stanley, natives of Virginia and Ohio respectively. The parents were among the first settlers of Louisa County, and when J. L. was five years old they removed to Whiteside County, Illinois, in which place he was reared and educated. In 1860 he returned to Jefferson County, Iowa, and there resided until he came to Harlan. Mr. Stanley was married in 1864 to Miss Lucinda Hodgen. They are the parents of nine children - Henrietta, Lemuel, James, Isaac, Charles, Elizabeth, John, Elsie and a baby girl. In politics Mr. Stanley affiliates with the Democratic party. He and his wife are members of the Christian church. |