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THE "TEAR-DOWN" MURDERS

It is now become our duty to chronicle the bloodiest offense ever committed on the soil of Warren county and one of the worst ever perpetrated in the West. We have read of the "vendetta" of Sicily, and other countries, where law and order had long since ceased to be observed, but here we find it in practical operation in the State of Iowa, and even on the soil of Warren county. It was not only all this, not only the open murder of three human beings, but it was a profanation of the service of God to the malice of man.

It occurred on Saturday February 19, 1876, on the way home from a revival meeting, at the so-called "Tear-down" church, of the Christian denomination, near the center of Greenfield township.

It was a neighborhood brawl, one which had existed for many years, and had become hot and intense, in which many citizens of the neighborhood had taken sides, while but few, as will be seen, had taken part in it. We have to do more with the causes which produced a state of affairs from which such a result could possibly grow than we have with the mere details of the trial, because, in the latter, the public has lost sight of these facts, and have hastened to know merely, and only, the facts connected with the fatal might and what followed it, when these really have little to do with its history.

In order that the public may understand the causes of that dark ruin which has came over that neighborhood, it will be necessary to look back a few years to its beginning. A few years ago, and repeatedly, David Howry made the charge to his neighbors that Reuben Westfall had been found in his corn-crib, at night, in an attempt to raise corn in an easier way than in obeying the old commandment by tilling a field and producing it. Concerning the truth of the charge, nothing further is known than that Howry stoutly affirmed its truth, and Westfall as stoutly denied. No legal proceedings were taken by the one for theft or by the other for slander, and Westfall had never resented the imputation, after the fisticuff manner of his class, but had borne it, and only increased his malice against his neighbor each day as he brooded over it, and thus the matter was permitted to smoulder, in time to produce the destruction, not only of the peace of these two families, but to a large extent, that of the neighborhood as well. As was perfectly natural, the breach was made wider and wider each year until the two families were thoroughly possessed of the idea that there was something which made enemies of them. There were young lads in each, which, as usual, were ever ready to defend the injured name and honor of their families. The breach was made more apparent when, some years since, a difficulty grew out of that always present source of trouble, with men inclined to be quarrelsome, viz: a partition fence. The results of these further differences produced quarrels and fights between the children at school, and fights also between the heads of the families. The trouble was further hastened two or three years before by a difficulty about the establishment of a new road, another potent influence for neighborhood quarrels and wranglings. Into this, as usual, the neighbors were drawn, and thus the family of George Dillard, one of the wealthiest men in the township, was allied with the quarrel on the side of the Westfall family. Fiercer quarrels and fights resulted by this accumulated fighting force, and the families were involved in a common broil. However, nothing very serious had ever resulted from the troubles of the family except contused and injured bodies and increased uproar in the neighborhood.

Dillard was always considered one of the most reliable and prosperous men in the township, but, considering his wealth and position, he had permitted his family to grow up in a sort of moral darkness, and he himself had lent all his energies to the accumulation of money, meanwhile neglecting to give that training to his family which would have kept them from such broils, either on their own account or that of others. But his family consisted largely of boys who sought for adventure and amusement, and with their training and development, nothing was more natural than that fights and quarrels should come to be in their line. And they did so become.

The Westfalls had little position in society, and little cared to have any. The old man, Reuben Westfall, was of that character of men who generally keep on the outskirts of civilization. He was not deemed a bad man, and left to himself was not, but he permitted his boys, of whom he had three almost grown, at the time of the vendetta, to enter into his quarrels and to make new ones of their own without discouragement from himself, and even with encouragement when he himself thought they might come out in good condition and defend what such men generally regard as the honor of themselves and their families. The old man was one of those very positive men who, without culture or training other than that of the rudest order, was yet, always positive and assertive in his opinions, and shrunk from nothing which might draw him into a discussion, and if need be, a fight. It is little wonder, then, that his family grew up to take his quarrels off his hands and to imitate him in all essential actions. He was generally an industrious man although he was not a successful one, having accumulated but little property aside from a homestead of forty acres with fairly comfortable accommodations upon it.

David Howry was a man of an entirely different character. He was not a man of great culture or many attainments, but he was an honest, industrious, hard-working, straightforward man, who, as a general thing, attended to his own business. He had been successful in accumulating a competence, having a fine farm of 240 acres in the heart of Greenfield township, and had gathered around him such of those comforts as generally go with such a farm. He was not a man to seek a quarrel, but being in, he was not a man to give it up from any sentimental considerations, or from fear, because he knew neither. His children were much more promising than either the Westfalls or the Dillards, attended school with greater regularity, advanced more rapidly in their studies, engaged less in quarrels and fisticuffs, and generally stood much better in the society of the community. They were industrious, and like the Dillard boys, expended their energies on their father's farm, while the Westfalls were compelled to go out for service because of the lack of work at home. But they, like their father, never failed to take up the glove when it was thrown down to them, and had been impelled, in company with other boys in the neighborhood, whom they enlisted on their side, to take up their quarrel with the Westfalls and Dillards, and the usual school-boy taunts and jibes, were passed with the usual backwoods result, that somebody got licked, but nobody hurt, other than in his feelings. The neighborhood had been a bad one for many years, indeed, ever since its settlement, and, as a consequence, has always been known as "Arab." This church, as county churches sometimes will be, had been the rendezvous for many a pitched battle, and more broils, and much mischief of a miscellaneous character, and was generally regarded, because of these surroundings, as more of a reproach than an honor to the cause to which it had been dedicated.

This, then, was the character of the various actors in the tragedy, and also the condition of the neighborhood, and it will be seen that it was a ground well watered for a most bloody harvest.

Two ministers of the Christian church, the Rev. Mr. Lamb and the Rev. Mr. Gardner, seeing such a condition of affairs, sought to sow in its midst the good seed of the Cross, and had been for some days holding a protracted meeting there. Service had been continued and ended on Saturday evening, February 19th, 1876, without any more than usually overt acts on the part of the contestants in this neighborhood quarrel. The service of God closed about nine o'clock, and they started on their way homeward, all compelled to pass along the same road. When they had proceeded about forty rods north from the church, David Howry, the father and leader of the Howry faction, became involved in a quarrel with one of the boys of the opposite party. From this blows followed between those two until all the members of both parties were involved in a fierce hand to hand conflict, which had not proceeded far until fire arms began to come into use, making the air more than musical with these implements of warfare. Very little execution or harm was done with these, however, as no one but David Howry was injured by a ball, and his injuries were only slight.

This party consisted of Benjamin Westfall, about twenty-two years old, Lewis Westfall, sixteen years old, and Levi Westfall, about twenty years old, sons of Reuben Westfall; Thomas Dillard, about twenty-three years old, Fremont Dillard, about twenty years old, and Jack Dillard, about twenty-one years old, sons of George Dillard; Frank Battles, a young man, the adopted son of B. Battles, one of the best men in the township; and Thomas Flannagan, a hired man of Mr. Dillard's, eight persons in all.

The Howry party consisted of David Howry, the father, his son George, about twenty-two years old, and his son John, about nineteen years old; and a young Irishman named James Grum, who took the Howry side in the quarrel and subsequent fight. No others became mixed up in the matter, although it was charged, but never proven to be a certainty, that Reuben Westfall was in a field near by waiting to take a hand in the conflict. But the persons mentioned were supposed to be in the thick of the fray.

The fight only lasted a few minutes, but when the field was examined it was found that George Howry had fallen dead in his tracks, caused by a wound under the shoulder blade, made with a knife, which had entered the left lung, and another knife wound below the shoulder joint. John Howry, stabbed in the left side of the spinal column and a second wound near the first, walked about forty feet when he fell against a tree and died in a few minutes. Neither of the boys were wounded by the shots from the revolvers, but the fatal work had been done all too well with knives with which the Westfall party was seemingly armed to the teeth. The father, David Howry, was shot in the upper lip, the ball passing through the upper jaw. Another flesh wound from a shot was his left ear, an ugly gash made by a knife, over his left eye, and a deep gash over his right eye, as if made by a boot-heel or some dull instrument. It seemed, for some time, that he could not possibly recover, but a strong and vigorous constitution, united with pluck, combined to bring him through. His strength, however, was much impaired, and he will probably never recover the health that was his before that fatal Saturday night. James Grum was found to be stabbed above, and to the right of the breast bone, the knife having entered his right lung, and a stab in the back which had entered the left lung, besides an ugly flesh wound. He lingered for a day or two when he, too, died, as the third and last victim to be offered up on that fatal altar of blood. In his declaration made just before his death, when he knew he must go into the beyond, he said that both his wounds were given him by Benjamin Westfall, who closed with him in combat, only to plunge the fatal knife into his vitals, and that after he fell to the ground a helpless victim to fiendishness he stabbed him again.

The bodies of the two murdered boys were taken to the house of Mr. George Bishop, about twenty rods distant from the scene of conflict, there to await the verdict of the coroner's jury and to be prepared for Christian burial. It was an awful scene. There, in the clear sunlight of that Christian Sabbath, lay the bodies of two young men, cold and stark, in the embrace of the awful messenger - death, called into the presence of their Creator without a moment's warning, having committed no crime and sent into that Awful Presence by their fellow-men. It seemed, then, scarcely right, in view of this fell calamity, to boast, as a people, of civilization and our Christianity, when the laws of both God and man were set at defiance. Such a scene would seem bad enough when done with all the paraphernalia and pomp of war, when horrors are expected, but when they occurred here in Christian Iowa, on the way home from the service of God, its horrors were thereby rendered more horrible.

It will be seen that the murdering was all done by one set of men, and that the other were the only victims of the prey. Such a result is stronger proof of the real situation of affairs than could be gathered from the publication of pages of evidence. It shows that both sides were prepared for a fight, perhaps, of the old kind, which had often happened between them before, but only one side was prepared for murder, and did murder. And no matter what the manipulations of the courts may have developed, no matter what time and an unfaltering determination from the first to wear out the public in these cases, this one "damned spot," that three victims on one side met death, and a third injuries which he will carry to his grave, while not a person on the other side had even the slightest injury, this will not "out" any more than that which haunted the soul of Macbeth.

After the battle the victors returned to Mr. Dillard's house, where Sheriff Meek arrested them about noon the next day, Sunday. The arrests made were as follows: Benjamin and Levi Westfall, Thomas, Jack and Fremont Dillard, Frank Battles and Thomas Flanagan. They made no resistance, but went with the sheriff and his deputies, accompanied by George Dillard and Reuben Westfall, and were lodged in the lower part of the jail.

The preliminary examination was soon begun before Justice A. L. Kimball, and continued from day to day until closed.

The case selected for trial was for the murder of John Howry; and Lewis Westfall was discharged, as no sufficient evidence seemed to appear against him to warrant holding him, but Reuben Westfall was included with the others, and suffered the same fate of going to jail or giving bail. The prisoners then waived examination for the murder of George Howry and James Grum, and the justice fixed the bonds of Ben Westfall and Levi Westfall at $25,000 each, and of Reuben Westfall at $15,000; of Fremont (Col.) Dillard, $25,000, of John Thomas Dillard and S. Jackson Dillard at $15,000 each, and Thomas Flanagan, $5,000. All gave bonds with the exception of Benjamin and Levi Westfall, who were taken to Ft. Madison for safe keeping until the August term of the District Court.

The counsel for the defendants were Williamson & Parrott, and H. McNeil for Battles; for the prosecution, Bryan & Seevers.

Pending the examination before the justice and its continuance, there were serious apprehensions that violence could be offered to the prisoners, and they were very much alarmed. The feeling against them was strong, the sheriff was watchful, and the indignation began to cool and better counsels prevailed.

At this term they were all indicted, including Lewis Westfall also, first each one for the murder of George Howry; second, each one for the murder John Howry; third, each one for the murder of James Grum, and fourth, each one for an assault with intent to murder David Howry. They were again admitted to bail in about the same sum as fixed by the justice on the preliminary examination.

... The first trial was at the January, 1877, term of the district court, when Benjamin C. Westfall was put upon trial on the indictment which charged him with the murder of George Howry. The attorneys engaged in the case, at this trial were as follows: Williamson & Parrott, Judge C. C. Cole, of Des Moines, and H. McNeil, Esq., for the defendant. For the prosecution, district attorney Hiram Y. Smith, and Bryan & Seevers. The case was carefully tried and occupied nearly three weeks and the verdict was guilty, of murder in the second degree, and Westfall was sentenced by Judge Leonard, to the penitentiary for twelve years. The case was appealed to the supreme court of the State, which reversed the judgment below, on the ground of the admission of improper testimony, and the failure to admit other testimony, and remanded the case to the district court, in which it was tried at the January term of 1879, and the defendant pronounced "not guilty."

The next case was the trial of Colonel Fremont Dillard, on the same indictment, i.e., for the murder of George Howry, at the August term, 1877. The same attorneys appeared also in this trial, as in the previous case, and the prisoner was found guilty of murder in the second degree, and was sentenced to twelve years imprisonment in the pententiary. This case was also appealed to the supreme court, where it is now pending.

The next case was on this same indictment, the trial of Thomas Dillard, Simeon Jackson Dillard and Thomas Flanagan, for the murder of George Howry, at the February term of the Madison county district court, in 1877. Before the beginning of this case, a settlement was made with Bryan & Seevers, and they withdrew from the case. The verdict was guilty as to Thomas Dillard and Simeon J. Dillard, and not guilty as to Thomas Flanagan; and the Dillards were each sentenced to twelve years in the penitentiary. This case is also pending in the supreme court.

At the last trial of the case of Benjamin Westfall, Geo. W. Seevers, who had been connected with the prosecution from the beginning, was engaged by permission of the county, as one of the attorneys for the defense, and Mr. William Conner, the district attorney, in the prosecution.

None of the other cases have been reached, and at the last, the August term of the Warren county district court, Mr. George Collings, as attorney for the county, and under the direction of the board of supervisors, moved to dismiss all the remaining cases from the docket. The Judge took the matter under consideration, but rendered no decision in it during the term of court....

WHEELER, JAS., farmer, Sec. 3; P. O. Lothrop; born in Morgan county, Ohio, Aug. 21, 1833, and lived there till he came to this county, in 1853. He married Miss Matilda Davis, a native of Morgan county, Ohio, July 12th, 1873; she was born Sept. 18, 1848; they have a family of two sons and two daughters: Wilber, born July 24th, 1872; Mary L., born Nov. 17th, 1874; Eva M., born Dec. 18, 1876, and John W., born Sept. 19, 1878.

WHITMAN, C. C., farmer, Sec. 32; P. O. Indianola; was born in Illinois in 1832, and made it his home till he came to this county, in the spring of 1868. He was married in Illinois in 1867, January 24th, to Miss Matie McGrowen, of Ohio; they have two sons: Wm. B., and Otis C. He owns an improved farm of 120 acres; he was raised on a farm and has followed it as an occupation through life.

WHITNEY, J. H., merchant, of the firm of Thayer & Whitney; was born in Waldo county, Maine, in 1843, and lived there until 1863; he received academical education, and had three years in mercantile pursuits in Boston; he came to this county in 1859 and engaged in his present business, and is one of Indianola's representative business men; he married Mrs. Mary Tarleton) whose maiden name was Babb) in 1872; she was born in Indiana; they have two children: Adda L. and Howard N.; Mrs. Whitney has three children by a former marriage: Fay and Don and May Tarleton.

WILBUR, JOSIAH, farmer and stock raiser, Sec. 33; P. O. Sandyville; born Sep. 4, 1823, in Jackson county, Ohio, where he was raised to manhood. He came to Marion county, Iowa, in 1848, and remained there till 1864, when he came to this county, locating where he now lives; he owns 415 acres of land. He has in past years made his principal business stock raising, but now has turned his attention almost entirely to breeding and raising of fine stock. He is a man of unblemished reputation, and one who believes in and practices the Golden Rule: "Do unto others as you would have others do to you." He was married April 10, 1847, in Jackson county, Ohio, to Miss Louisa Carr, a native of Pennsylvania; they have a family of ten children: Anna e. (wife of J. J. Winning, of Cal.), Abraham, Nancy E. (now Mrs. Willis S. Hubbard, of this township), Sylvia (now Mrs. P. F. Howell, of this State), Joseph S., Emma J., Wm. S., Flora D. and Eva May, all living; and three deceased: Josiah, Louisa, and an infant unnamed.

WILLIAMSON, R. W., farmer and veterinary surgeon, Sec. 20; P. O. Bevington; born in Caroline county, Maryland, august 27, 1828; when about two years of age his parents emigrated to Fayette county, Indiana, and remained six years, then to Madison county, Indiana, and from there he came to this county in October, 1857; has been twice married - first in Madison county, Indiana, to Miss Elizabeth C. Pierce, of Kentucky, who died, leaving a family of one son and two daughters: John L. J., Susan C. (now Mrs. B.f. Carter), and Elizabeth S. (now Mrs. Henderson Keller; was married a second time to Sarah J. Bryan, January 17, 1872, who was born in Greene county, Illinois, in 1830; owns an improved farm of 120 acres, but makes his profession a specialty. Mr. Williamson's father was born in Caroline county, Maryland, December 17, 1790, and died September 13, 1878; was married to Sarah Whitely, a native of Maryland, who was born September 6, 1791, and died September 20, 1866, leaving grandchildren and great-grandchildren numbering 130, and three great-great-grand- children. Submitted by: Dick Barton <dbarton@hotmail.com>

WILLIAMSON, J. E., attorney; was born in Florence, Boone county, Kentucky, August 8, 1827; in 1832 removed with his parents to Covington, Kentucky, and lived there until his removal to Vermillion, Illinois, in 1834; he remained here until twenty years of age, and then commenced reading law in Bowling Green, Clay county, Indiana, and was admitted to the bar in April, 1849; he returned to Illinois, and assisted his father in building a saw-mill; he then engaged in teaching school in Indiana, in order to obtain money to purchase law books and come West; he purchased a horse, and putting his law library, consisting of six volumes, on one side and his wardrobe on the other side of his horse, rode on horseback 500 miles, arriving here the 6th of June, 1852, and engaged in the practice of his profession, and is the oldest practitioner at the bar in Warren county; in 1853 he was elected prosecuting attorney; in 1858 filled the office of county superintendent of public schools, and was the first in the county; in 1859 he was elected to the lower house of the State legislature; he married Miss Sarah L. Drabelle, in September, 1855; she was born in Morgantown, West Virginia, and died March 18, 1878, leaving four children: Charles S., Virginia A., Ruth and Delana E.

WILLIAMSON, R. W., farmer and veterinary surgeon, Sec. 20; P. O. Bevington; born in Caroline county, Maryland, august 27, 1828; when about two years of age his parents emigrated to Fayette county, Indiana, and remained six years, then to Madison county, Indiana, and from there he came to this county in October, 1857; has been twice married - first in Madison county, Indiana, to Miss Elizabeth C. Pierce, of Kentucky, who died, leaving a family of one son and two daughters: John L. J., Susan C. (now Mrs. B.f. Carter), and Elizabeth S. (now Mrs. Henderson Keller; was married a second time to Sarah J. Bryan, January 17, 1872, who was born in Greene county, Illinois, in 1830; owns an improved farm of 120 acres, but makes his profession a specialty. Mr. Williamson's father was born in Caroline county, Maryland, December 17, 1790, and died September 13, 1878; was married to Sarah Whitely, a native of Maryland, who was born September 6, 1791, and died September 20, 1866, leaving grandchildren and great-grandchildren numbering 130, and three great-great-grand- children.

WILLIS, JOHN, postmaster; born September 29, 1816, and is a native of Kentucky; parents moved to Howard county, Missouri, in 1822, and to Monroe county, Missouri, in 1829; he moved to Schuyler county, Missouri, in 1842; came to Iowa and settled in White Breast township in 1846; helped to organize the township; he was elected the first justice of the peace of the township, and held that office for the next sixteen years, and was also town clerk at the same time, for eight years; he moved to Marion county, Iowa, in 1866, and has held the office of justice of the peace for the last ten years; has been notary public for nine years, and holds a commission for three more; he was postmaster in Warren county for three years, and has been postmaster at Newbern for the last eight years, an office he now holds; he was married February 21, 1841, to Mary Hoskins, of Monroe county, Missouri; they have had nine children: an infant, Henry Z., Emily, Nancy, Lucinda, Lafayette, Edward and two infants; three infants, Lafayette and Edward died in infancy.

WILLIS, WM., farmer, Sec. 29; P. O. Laconia; born March 9, 1815, in Clark county, Missouri; parents moved to Howard county, Missouri, in 1820, and to Monroe county in 1831; came to Davis county, Iowa, in 1840, and to Warren county, and settled on Sec. 25 of this township in 1846; he and his brother Fielding are the oldest settlers in the township; he helped to organize the township, and voted at its first election; he was elected the first Township Clerk and Assessor; he has been twice married: first, March 18, 1841, to Mary Richardson; they had six children: James F., William A., Elizabeth J., Henry H., Green B., Lafayette; Henry H. died May 7, 1869; wife died Dec. 5, 1852; he was married again Nov. 14, 1853, to Margaret ______; they had eight children: Mary F., Susan E., Eliza V., John W., Sarah N., Laura A., Minnie and an infant; all dead except Susan, Eliza, John W. and Sarah N.

WILSON, A., farmer, Sec. 4; P. O. Hartford; born in Rulaski county, Kentucky, December 14, 1820; his parents moved to Owen county, Indiana, in 1822, where the subject of this sketch was raised; in 1858 he came to Appanoose county, Iowa, and from there to this county, in 1875, and has since resided on his present homestead, which consits of eighty acres of good land; was married January 15, 1850, to Miss Margaret Whitaker, a native of Jefferson county, Kentucky; they have four children living: Sarah E., John K., William E. and E. P. M.; he was left an orphan at five years of age, and had to battle with the world for all that he has.

WILSON, J. L., Auditor of Warren county, was born in Belmont county, Ohio, in 1842, and lived there until thirteen years of age; his parents removed to this county in 1855, and settled in Belmont township; his father was one of the organizers of the township; the subject of this sketch was raised on a farm, until twenty years of age; he then enlisted in the 34th Iowa Infantry and served over two years; he was in the engagement at Fort Morgan, Alabama, and lost his right arm; he was elected auditor in 1871, and excepting an interval of one term has held the office since that time; he married Miss Maggie V. Davis in 1878; she was born in St. Louis; they have one child: Lee V.

WILSON, J. N., farmer, Sec. 24; P. O. Felix; born October 6, 1823, in Loudon county, Virginia; here he grew to manhood; came to Ohio in 1830, where he lived till 1854, when he came to this county and settled where he now lives; helped to organize the township, and voted at the first election; he and John Duncan gave the township its name; has held several township offices and been largely identified with the school interests of the town; when he came here there was but one house in sight, and only the one lone tree, which many of the old settlers will remember was cut down by one Hilton for firewood during a storm in which he was unable to get to the timber; Mr. Wilson gathered up in early times about 1,000 acres of land, which he has given to members of his family as they have grown up, only reserving for himself a competency during his old age; owns a fine farm of 200 acres; was married October 9, 1830 to Miss Lydia E. Dunkin, a native of Virginia; have had nine children: John W., Moses H., Tamer L., Lydia V., Angelia, James M., Stephen, Mary E. and Joseph L.; Tamer L. and John W. are deceased.

WILSON, JACOB P., farmer, Sec. 27; P. O. Summerset; born in Washington county, Ohio, March 7, 1840, and was raised there; he came to this State in 1865, and located in Linn county; awhile there he married Miss Mary M. Bolton, January 1, 1870, a native of that county; they have a family of two sons: Allen L. and Albert P.; he enlisted in the late war of the rebellion in August, 1861, in Co. F, 36th Ohio infantry, and was mustered out in the fall of 1864; was in the battles of Lewisburg, Virginia, Second Bull Run, South Mountain, Antetam, Chickamauga, Tennessee, Mission Ridge, Winchester, Virginia, and various skirmishes; he owns a farm of 125 acres.

WILSON, T. D., farmer, Sec. 32; P. O. Lacona; born January 10, 1836, in Preble county, Ohio; his father died when he was nine years of age; his mother came to Iowa in 1848 and settled in Louisa county; came to this county in 1869, and bought the farm the railroad depot at Lacona now stands on; settled on his present farm in fall of 1878; enlisted Aug. 13, 1862, in Co. C, First Iowa Cavalry; was on detached duty as blacksmith most of the time; was discharged June 18, 1865, at the close of the war; married November 12, 1857, to Susan Raushenberger, a native of Harrison county, Ohio; have five children: Mary C., James A., William H., Edna and Riley M., all living; owns a farm of 80 acres.

WOOD, D. J. M., farmer, Sec. 27; P. O. Liberty Center; born March 1, 1840, in Marion county, Ohio; came to this county in 1868, and settled where he now lives in 1877; he owns eighty acres of land; he was married Sept. 23, 1860, to E. M., daughter of Johnathan Johnson, of Marion county, Ohio; has had five children: Willie O., Samuel N., Lula M., Cory B. and john B.; of these, Lula is the only one now living; enlisted August 15, 1862, in Co. D, 33d Iowa Infantry, as private; he was transferred by promotion to Second Lieutenant, Co. B, 15th Kansas Cavalry, in fall of 1863; served to close of war, and was honorably discharged October 20, 1865; he was in the battles of Nutonia, Big Blue, Little Blue, Lexington and Middle Creek.

WOOD, JOHN, farmer and stock-dealer, Sec. 18, P. O. Summerset; was born in Berwickshire, Scotland, August 19, 1824, and lived there till 1850, when he emigrated to America, and settled in Columbiana county, Ohio, for two and a-half years, then came to this county, in the fall of 1852, and located where he now lives; owns a farm of 120 acres; he married Miss Mary Runciman, April 1, 1850, a native of that place; has held various township offices, and in 1872, he returned to his old home, and was absent for three months.

WOODYARD, LEVI, farmer, Sec. 15; P. O. Liberty Center; born April 25, 1831, in Athens county, Ohio; was educated in the common schools; came to this county in 1853; settled on present farm in 1867; he owns eighty acres of land; he has been elected constable three terms, and has been school director; he was married August 18, 1853, to Barbara, daughter of Joseph Michael, of Athens county, Ohio; they have nine children: Joseph T., Amos F., John Lincoln, Sarah E. J., Camzetta, Jas. A., Ella A., Orrilla, Clarrissa A. - all living.

WORTH, A. R., boot and shoe dealer; was born in Indiana, in 1829, and raised there, and learned the trade of wool carder; and had a mercantile experience; during the war he was employed for about two years in the Quarter- master's Department; he came to Warren county, and in 1863 engaged in his present business; and is the oldest merchant in his line in the city; as a merchant he has been very successful, and is thoroughly posted in all branches of his business; he married Miss Jane Kerr, April 17, 1857; she was born in Urbana, Ohio, and died April 1, 1863; he married for his second wife, Miss Candace Wood, in December, 1865; she was a daughter of Rev. Enoch Wood, and was born in Tippecanoe county, Ind.; they have one son: Frank E., aged twelve years.

WORTH, GORHAM A., cashier of the First National Bank; was born in Hendricks county, Indiana, and was raised there; he came to this county and engaged in the boot and shoe business; he was appointed postmaster, and held the position some years; and in 1874 was made cashier of the First National Bank; in 1866 he was united in marriage with Miss Minta J. Crossthwait, a native of Fulton county, Illinois; their family consists of one son: Craig.

WRIGHT, HENRY, farmer, Sec. 16; P. O. Madora; born October 7, 1829, in Randolph county, Indiana; parents moved to Vermilion county, Illinois, in 1833; came to this county in 1847 and settled at the old Watt's Mill; being of a roaming disposition, he went back to Illinois, and, after a lapse of time, again came to Iowa and tried Boone and Dallas counties, and finally settled near Hartford in this county, where he remained until 1869, when he came to his present home, where he has 95 acres of land; was married March 28, 1850, to Hannah, daughter of Samuel Stanfield, Vermilion county, Illinois; has had thirteen children: Hannah J., Thomas F., Sarah and George (twins), Samuel, Cynthia O., James, John W. and Maria L. (twins), Phoebe O., Emily, Charles W., William R.; of these, John, George and Sarah are dead; was one of the earliest settlers in Warren county, having come before Indianola was even laid out, and there was but one house in the now city of Des Moines.

WRIGHT, ISAAC C., farmer, Sec. 35; P. O. Summerset; is a native of County Down, Ireland, born Sept. 30th, 1831, and when only a child his parents emigrated to this country and settled for a short time in Pittsburgh, and then came to Carroll county, O., where he remained till the spring of 1855, when he came to Washington county, this State, where he lived to the time of his coming to this county, in April, 1857. He was raised a farmer up to about 21 years of age, when he learned the carpenter's trade and followed it as a business until 1862, when he bought a portion of what now constitutes his present homestead of 320 acres. He was married in this county, May 13th, 1862, to Miss Ella Graham, a native of Ohio, born Nov. 23d, 1836; they have two sons and two daughters: Eddie P., born Dec. 23d, 1863; Anna M., born Oct. 23d, 1865; Albert, born Feb. 13, 1869, and Nellie, born May 3, 1874. Mr. Wright was elected to the office of County Auditor in 1873, and served for one term.

WRIGHT, S. A., of Wright and Davis, proprietors of Summerset Flouring Mills; was born in East Tennessee, August 18, 1834, and was raised there till seventeen years of age, when he, with his parents, came to this county and located two and one-half miles east of Indianola. He married in this county, December 30, 1858, to Miss Rachel Stitt, a native of Ohio; they have three sons and four daughters; James F., Mary I., Charles A., Lemon, Luretta, Nellie and Maggie; he was raised a farmer, and has been in the above business since February, 1879.

WRIGHT, SAMUEL, farmer and stock-raiser, Sec. 24; P. O. Liberty Center; born April 13, 1821, in Belmont county, Ohio; married in December, 1844, Miss Malinda Howe, of Belmont county; had two children: Isaac and an infant that died; wife died August 8, 1846; was again married Oct. 28, 1848, to Mary, daughter of Archibald Job, of Harrison county, Ohio; by this union they had three children: Malinda A., Sarah E., Mary A., all living; moved family to Huntington county, Ind., in 1847, and to this county in 1854, and settled on present farm, where he has 240 acres of land, in 1856; has been elected town trustee three terms.

WRIGHT, WM. A., farmer, Sec. 12; P. O. Felix; born November 17, 1823, in Shelby county, Kentucky; parents moved to Park county, Indiana, in 1828; his mother died here, and his father moved back to Kentucky in 1837; came to this county in 1849, and to this township in 1878; owns 600 acres of Warren county's best land; has been town trustee; was married March 31, 1853, to Amy M., daughter of Abel Hicks, of Union township; have had sixteen children: O. L. D., Cynthia A., John C., Sarah E., Joseph A., Elizabeth E:, Jane, H. Francis, William A. Jr., Richard E., Lemuel W., Walter R., Daisy, Gracie, Fred. L. and Dove; of these John C. and Jane are deceased - John in infancy and Jane at fourteen years of age.

WYNN, R. C., son of W. H. Wynn, Professor of English Literature State Agricultural College, Ames, Iowa; was born in Butler county, Ohio, July 11, 1855; in 1865 his father came to Cedar county, this State, and brought the subject of this sketch, a lad of ten summers, with him; two years later he removed to Geneva, Wisconsin, where he was principal of the public school of that place for one year; then returned to Des Moines in 1868, and was deputy State Superintendent of Public Instruction for two years, when he received the appointment as Professor of English Literature, which he now holds; young Wynn began railroading as train boy in 1870, where he remained for three years, and then was made brakeman on a passenger train for three years; baggageman for one year; then promoted to passenger conductor of the Indianola Division, which he has filled with credit to himself and satisfaction to his employers, and has made many friends among the traveling public; he was married December 26, 1877, to Miss Emma F. Mitchell, of Newton, this State; she was born in Springfield, Ohio; they have one daughter: Mary Alice.