Calhoun County, Iowa
Biographies Thomas Clarkin Thomas Clarkin, who passed away on the 16th of July, 1898, was for a number of years actively identified with general agricultural pursuits in Calhoun comity, owning and operating an excellent farm of one hundred and twenty acres on section 31, Elm Grove township. His birth occurred in Fayette, Lafayette county, Wisconsin, on the 1st of August, 1858, his parents being Peter and Bridget (Gavin) Clarkin, both of whom were natives of Ireland. Emigrating to the United States, they took up their abode in Wisconsin, where the mother passed away. In 1875 the father came to Calhoun county, Iowa, with his son Thomas, the youngest in a family of nine children. Thomas Clarkin was a youth of seventeen years when he came to this county and spent the remainder of his life within its borders. In 1884 he started out as an agriculturist on his own account, cultivating rented land for three years. Subsequently he lived on other farms until in 1898, when he took up his abode on section 31, Elm Grove township, and there he passed away soon afterward. The property was sold by the widow in 1904, and she bought her present farm on section 32, the same township which embraces one hundred and twenty acres of rich and productive land. In the operation of his farms Mr. Clarkin won a gratifying measure of success, cultivating the cereals best adapted to soil and climate and also raising cattle, hogs and other stock. His widow and son William now manage the farm and are also stockholders in the Farmers Grain Company of Yetter. They erected a commodious and modern residence in 1913 and their home is attractive in all its appointments and surroundings. On the 10th of February, 1885, in Sac county, Iowa, Mr. Clarkin was joined in wedlock to Miss Mary Howard, who was born in Lafayette county, Wisconsin, in June, 1861, her parents being Thomas and Ellen (Grant) Howard. The father, who emigrated from Ireland to the United States when eighteen years of age, first took up his abode in New York and subsequently removed to Wisconsin, while in 1878 he came with his family to Calhoun county, Iowa. To Mr. and Mrs. Clarkin were born four children, namely: Francis P., William T., Leafy I. and John Howard. Mr. Clarkin was a stanch democrat in politics and served for several terms in the capacity of school director, the cause of education ever finding in him a stalwart champion. He was a devout Catholic in religious faith, belonging to the church of that denomination at Auburn, Iowa, and in his demise the community lost one of its substantial agriculturists and highly esteemed citizens. His son William is identified with the Modern Woodmen of America at Yetter and the Knights of Columbus at Auburn. Mrs. Clarkin, who still survives her husband, has now lived in this county for a period of thirty-seven years and has a host of warm friends here. [Past and Present of Calhoun County, Iowa, Vol. 2, submitted by CD=FOFG] Lewis Warren Moody Lewis Warren Moody was one of the earlier settlers of Calhoun county and there was no resident of the county who played a more important part in its material development than he. As a member of the real-estate firm of Moody & Davy he opened up immense tracts of land in the county for settlement and it was in a great measure due to his influence that the law was passed making possible the assessment of taxes to provide funds for the drainage of the extensive swamp areas of the county. Although many people in the county at first objected to the drainage proposition, all were at length forced to admit that it did more than any other one thing to increase land values. Mr. Moody was likewise prominent in financial circles as president of the First National Bank of Pomeroy and he had other extensive interests, as he owned a great deal of land in various western states. Mr. Moody was born on the 9th of August, 1856, in the mountains of Virginia and there he spent his early boyhood and acquired the rudiments of an education. In 1867 he removed to Medina county, Ohio, with his parents, George and Mary B. (Harvey) Moody, who were natives respectively of Connecticut and of Nova Scotia. The father was born in 1815 and was descended from an old Puritan family. He received his education in New York and in early manhood became a minister of the Church of Christ. Not long after his marriage he removed to Carroll county, Virginia, on account of ill health and from 1856 until 1867 devoted his time to farming and preaching the gospel. As he was a northern sympathizer and as the people around him were bitter against the north, he was twice arrested and was at one time confined in jail for six weeks, the charge for which he was incarcerated being that a domestic had reported that in family prayers he had prayed for the north to succeed. At his hearing he testified that he had merely prayed that the right might prevail, and on cross examination the servant admitted that that was probably what he had said, but added that she had heard him say that slavery was wrong and that the north was in the right. He was acquitted and returned home. In 1867 he emigrated with his family to Medina County, Ohio, making the trip of about four hundred and fifty miles in a covered wagon. The following year he journeyed westward by wagon to Calhoun county, Iowa, and early in 1869 he filed on eighty acres of land in Sherman township. In the spring of 1870 his family arrived in this county and at once took up their residence in a shack on the homestead. The father continued to cultivate his land until his demise, which occurred in 1876. His widow resided upon the home farm until 1883, when she removed to Spokane, Washington, where some of her sons were then living. In their family were six children: Lewis Warren, of this review; Georgina, who died in infancy and was buried in Virginia; Harvey L., a resident of Wendall, Idaho; Ida M., who married J. W. Osborne; W. G.; and O. D., who died of a gunshot wound in 1897 near Spokane, Washington. Harvey L. is the only one of the family now living. Lewis Warren Moody attended the public schools in his neighborhood when his time was not taken up by work upon the homestead, which was just west of Twin Lakes. When he was eighteen years of age, however, his father died and he was compelled to become the head of the family. It was necessary to make a living for not only himself but also for his mother and the younger children and there were still many of the hardships of pioneer life to be endured. The tract of land which the family owned had not been brought to its highest state of cultivation and prices for farm products were often low. He took a man's place in carrying on the work of the farm and during the winter months added to the family income by trapping. In those days various fur-bearing animals abounded in the marshes and he often realized a considerable sum by the sale of skins. Later he was able to continue his education, although under a disadvantage. During the daytime he attended school at Lake City and during the evenings set type for the Graphic, thus earning money to pay his expenses. Later he taught school for some time and in 1881 located in Pomeroy, where he established himself in the real-estate business. For a considerable period he devoted his leisure hours to the study of law and for a part of that time his reading was directed by J. A. Gould, of Pomeroy, whose library he had the privilege of using. In his preparation for the bar he manifested the qualities of concentration and determination that characterized his life and succeeded in gaining an accurate and broad knowledge of law. He was admitted to the bar by Judge E. R. Duffie at Pocahontas, February 13, 1882, and not long afterward opened an office for the practice of his profession at Pomeroy. In the fall of that year, in connection with J. A, Gould, he established the Exchange Bank of Pomeroy, which they organized with less than three thousand dollars total assets. The following year our subject sold his interest in the institution to R. C. Brownell and the business was conducted by Brownell & Gould for a number of years, after which Mr. Gould sold his interest to A. A. Horton. Brownell & Horton owned and conducted the bank until Mr. Brownell sold out to F. L. Kenyon on the 1st of January, 1890. The financial affairs of the bank being in a bad condition, Mr. Moody and J. A. Davy purchased the institution and conducted it until January 1, 1899, when Mr. Moody became the sole owner of the bank. From the time that he and Mr. Davy took over its management it prospered and gained a larger and larger place in the confidence of the community. In 1902 the Exchange Bank was reorganized as the First National Bank of Pomeroy, with Mr. Moody as president of the new institution. He continued to hold that office until his demise and was recognized as an astute and conservative bank head, while at the same time he was ready to promote the legitimate expansion of business by a wise extension of credit. His advice was often sought on matters of investment and his opinion on any matter relating to banking was listened to with respect. He was also president of the State Bank of Selby, South Dakota. After disposing of his interests in the Exchange Bank in 1883, Mr. Moody opened a law, loan, land and collection office in Pomeroy and in the following year he succeeded in getting a sub-agency under George R. Pearsons, who was agent for railroad land. The railroad had been granted every odd section in the county and held the land at ten dollars per acre. Practically all of the other land in the county was in the possession of the American Emigrant Company, who had made Edmund Briggs and Henry Sifford their agents. Up to 1884 but little land had been sold in the county and there seemed little prospect of much business for a real-estate agent. However, as before stated, Mr. Moody secured a sub-agency from George R. Pearsons and within the next two years sold practically all of the land around Pomeroy belonging to the railroad. In the fall of 1886 J. A. Davy became connected with Mr. Moody and two or three years later he was admitted to a partnership in the business, which was conducted under the firm name of the Moody & Davy Land Company. Not long after Mr. Davy became a member of the firm they purchased about three sections of land that were sold at a referee's sale and within a month they had disposed of the entire tract at a handsome profit. The following year they purchased about five sections of land south of Pocahontas and within eight months had disposed of that extensive tract. A year later they bought more land in that locality, which they had little trouble in selling, and later bought the Wellington ranch southwest of Pocahontas, which comprised about twenty-two hundred acres and to which they immediately added two hundred and forty acres adjoining on the north. They sold the greater part of it but retained eight hundred acres, which they conducted as an experimental farm, proving to skeptical eastern buyers that land in this county was adapted to raising good crops and also to stock-raising by actually raising excellent crops and thoroughbred cattle and hogs. Some time in the late '80s Mr. Moody and Mr. Davy decided to secure a ditch law, as it was evident that the county could not be developed properly until there was some adequate system of drainage. Mr. Moody drafted such a law and it was finally passed without much change. Although there was considerable opposition at first, ditches were dug and in time all of the marsh land in the county was reclaimed for cultivation and it is now recognized that Mr. Moody was working for the best interests of the county in securing the drainage law. Although the Moody & Davy Land Company was dissolved in 1897, Mr. Moody continued to deal in land on an extensive scale until his demise. He owned large tracts in Iowa, the Dakotas, Nebraska, Minnesota, Washington and Oregon and also in Old Mexico, and he was probably the wealthiest man in Calhoun county. During his life he was also interested in a number of other enterprises aside from those mentioned and in all that he did he displayed unusual insight and acumen. Mr. Moody was married September 3, 1882, at Lake City to Miss Mary R. Fleece, a daughter of James and Louisa (Yeates) Fleece, the former born in Danville, Kentucky, May 10, 1825, and the latter February 18, 1837, also in the Blue Grass State. Their marriage occurred on the 26th of May, 1859, at Bainbridge, Indiana, and four years later they removed to Calhoun county, Iowa, locating at Lake City on the 30th of April, 1863. There they resided until November, 1907, when they visited at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Moody. The mother was in failing health at the time but it was hoped that her life would be prolonged by rest and loving care, but it was not so ordered, for on the 11th of December, 1907, she passed to her reward. The father spent the following several months visiting his children, really making his home at Pomeroy until shortly before he died, his demise occurring on the 8th of February, 1909 at Pipestone, Minnesota. He early united with the Christian church and soon after locating in Lake City he and his wife and three other persons organized the church of that denomination there. Both were greatly interested in all phases of church work and in their lives exemplified the teachings of Christianity. Mr. Fleece was a member of the Masonic order. To him and his wife were born the following children: Mrs. Moody; Mrs. Amanda Ridgway, of Pipestone, Minnesota; and Elizabeth Heptonstall, of Sac City, Iowa. Mr. and Mrs. Moody became the parents of five children: Charles and Ray, who died in childhood: Walker, who resides on a farm near Bentonsport, Iowa; Lou, who is now Mrs. H. J. Colburn, of Pomeroy; and Marcella, who lives with her mother. Mr. Moody was a devoted husband and father and gave to his children the educational advantages which were denied him in his youth. For many years Mr. Moody was an active figure in politics and did much to secure the success of his party and the election of his friends. He never cared to hold office himself and, although he might have been state representative or state senator, refused to become a candidate. As a boy he found much pleasure in hunting, fishing and trapping, and throughout his life he continued to take a great interest in all forms of athletics and outdoor sports, making many extended fishing and hunting excursions to the mountains and elsewhere. He was also a great lover of books, especially poetical works, and as the years passed added to his library, which was one of the best in his city. Although he did not admit many to terms of intimacy, he found a great deal of pleasure in the society of those whom he honored with his friendship. It was characteristic of him that in aiding people he sought always to help them to help themselves and there are many in the county who owe their present prosperity to his timely assistance and wise counsel. Whenever he determined to accomplish a certain thing he made a careful study of conditions, laid his plans carefully and after due deliberation, and then worked energetically and unfalteringly until his object was accomplished. In his youth it was necessary for him to struggle to secure a livelihood and education, later he met the competition of the business world, and the last years of his life were a constant conflict between his will and disease, and by following a careful regimen in his daily life he lived and was active in business for twelve years after his physicians had told him that death would come in six months. The end came on the 9th of October, 1914, at the Hotel Leamington, in Minneapolis, as he was on his way home from the Pacific coast, where he had gone to visit his brother and to take medical treatment. His youngest daughter, Marcella, who was attending a Minneapolis school of music at the time, was the only one of the family with him when the end came. The place which he held in the respect and esteem of his fellow citizens can perhaps be best expressed in the words of a local paper: "Pomeroy has never suffered a greater loss in the death of an individual than that which came to her when Lewis Warren Moody died." Mrs. Mary R. Moody was made president of the First National Bank at the time of the demise of her husband, and is still serving in that capacity. She has spent practically her entire life in this county and has always taken a great interest in its development, and the esteem in which she is generally held is well deserved. She has the distinction of being the first white girl born in Calhoun county. [Past and Present of Calhoun County, Iowa, Vol. 2, 1915, submitted by CD=FOFG] Evan C. Stevenson Evan C. Stevenson, the mayor of Rockwell City, is giving the municipality an administration characterized by efficiency and devotion to the public welfare and has won the commendation and support of the people of the city. He is by profession a lawyer and has won high rank at the bar of Calhoun county. His birth occurred in Georgetown, Kentucky, on the 30th of November, 1858, and his parents were Milton and Nancy (Griffith) Stevenson, also natives of that state. The father was born in Germantown in 1814 and the mother was born on the 28th of August, 1823, in Scott county. The paternal grandfather, Reuben Stevenson, was a native of Maryland but emigrated to Kentucky in 1814, at which time the Indians were still numerous. He was a harness manufacturer and was very successful in that business. He served during the War of 1812 and during the Mexican war as well. The Stevenson family is of English descent. On his mother's side our subject is a grandson of Clement Griffith, who was born November 2, 1785, in Maryland, whence he emigrated to Kentucky when that state was still a pioneer district. He passed away September 9, 1870. He was an Indian fighter of note and knew Daniel Boone and Simon Kenton well. Milton Stevenson was educated in Georgetown College in his native state and for fifty years engaged in the practice of law at Georgetown. He was recognized as one of the leaders of the bar of that city and for one term after the Civil war served as judge. He was a candidate for the state legislature on the abolition ticket in 1856. During the Civil war he was a strong Union man and from that time until his demise he supported the republican party. His religious faith was that of the Methodist Episcopal church. He was married on the 28th of August, 1829. His wife lived to the advanced age of almost eighty-one years, as her demise occurred on the 4th of August, 1904. To them were born four children: Mary, who is the widow of Henry Stevenson, and resides in Marysville, Ohio; T. F., an attorney of Des Moines, who was formerly judge of the district court; John M., who is in the government revenue service at Lexington, Kentucky; and Evan C. The last named was graduated from the Georgetown College in 1879 and subsequently studied law under his father, being admitted to the bar in 1881. He removed to Page County, Iowa, and there began the practice of his profession, but after a time returned to Georgetown, Kentucky, where he remained until his removal to Rockwell City, Iowa. He arrived here on the 31st of August, 1883, and immediately opened an office for the general practice of law. He soon gained a good clientage and has met with gratifying success in his chosen profession. He is careful in the preparation of his cases and convincing in argument and the court records show that he has won a large percentage of the cases in which he has appeared as counsel. For three terms he was county attorney and is now serving his third term as mayor of Rockwell City, his continuance in office proving that his fellow citizens have complete confidence in his ability and uprightness. He is vice president of the local telephone company and director of the Savings Bank and of the First National Bank. Mr. Stevenson was married on the 31st of August, 1880, to Miss Sarah Manly, of Louisville, Kentucky, a daughter of Basil Manly, who was for years a professor in the Baptist Theological Seminary at Louisville and at one time was president of the Georgetown College. To Mr. and Mrs. Stevenson were born seven children: Nancy L., the wife of John S. Buttner, who is engaged in the abstract business in Rockwell City; Charlotte, who is her father’s stenographer; Sarah, the wife of Earl E. Cooper, superintendent of the Central Telephone Company of Rockwell City; Evan C, Jr., who is a mechanical engineer located in Rockwell City; Basil, who is studying veterinary surgery at the State College at Ames; David S., who graduated from the local high school with the class of 1915; and William W., who is still in school. Mrs. Stevenson passed away on the 8th of June, 1912, and on the 2d of July, 1913, Mr. Stevenson married Mrs. Jennie G. Reidy, of Wyoming, Pennsylvania. Mr. Stevenson is a republican in politics and works loyally for the success of his party at the polls. Fraternally he is a member of the Masonic blue lodge, of which he is past master; of the Royal Arch chapter; of the Knights Templar commandery; and of the Mystic Shrine; and both he and his wife belong to the Order of Eastern Star, in which he is past worthy patron. His religious faith is that of the Methodist Episcopal church. Although his professional work has required the greater part of his time and attention, he has never failed to cooperate with movements seeking the advancement of his city, and when holding public office his first concern has invariably been to discharge the duties devolving upon him in a capable manner. [Past and Present of Calhoun County, Iowa, Vol. 2, 1915, submitted by CD=FOFG] Daniel J. Townsend, M. D. There are in every community men of great force of character and exceptional ability, who by reason of their capacity for leadership become recognized as foremost citizens, and bear a most important part in the development and progress of the locality with which they are connected. Such a man is Dr. Townsend, who is prominently identified with the interests of Lohrville and surrounding country, having made his home here since the establishment of the town. The Doctor was born in Bureau county, Illinois, December 9, 1856, and is a son of John and Sarah J. (Valentine) Townsend, now living at Gowrie, Iowa. The father was born in Vermont, January 18, 1826, and the mother in New York state, October 5, 1835. The former spent his early life in the Green Mountain state, and when he was twelve years of age his parents moved to Erie county, New York. He was married, May 15, 1855. In the spring of 1856 he went west and located at Pond Creek, Bureau county, Illinois. He purchased a piece of land in Manlius township, of the same county, from the government, at two dollars and a half per acre, where he lived until the fall of 1866, when he sold his Illinois possessions and came to Iowa. He rented a farm twelve miles south of Fort Dodge, near Tysons Mills, now known as Lehigh. One year later he entered a tract of river land on section 9, Sumner township, where he made his home for five years, and then purchased a farm near the village of Gowrie in the same county. He gave his time and attention to the improvement and cultivation of this place until his retirement from active labor, when he and his wife moved to the village where they now live. Although past the allotted span of life, they are still hale and hearty, and bid fair to live for many years yet, enjoying the esteem and respect of those who know them. The father served in Company K, Fifty-seventh Regiment, Illinois Volunteers, in the war of the Rebellion. In his political views he has always been an ardent Republican, having cast his vote for Fremont in 1856, and has voted for every Republican candidate for president since that time. Four children were born to this family, the subject of our sketch being the oldest. The others were: George E., a physician residing at Austin, Colorado; Emmett E., a contractor at Fort Dodge, Iowa; and Ellen E., who died at the age of thirty years, at Gowrie, Iowa. Reared in Bureau county, Illinois, Dr. Townsend acquired his early education in its public schools, and after coming to Iowa he attended the public schools of Webster county. He earned his first money when fourteen years old, driving a breaking team consisting of five yoke of oxen hitched to a twenty-eighth-inch breaking plow, in Lost Grove township, Webster county, his compensation for this work being eight dollars per month. The winter he was eighteen years of age he began teaching school. His first school was in a district where another teacher had failed and the school was considered a hard one to handle, but he succeeded in controlling the incorrigibles so successfully that the school board retained him at an advance in salary of ten dollars a month above the usual contract price, and at the end of the term the board re-employed him for the following year. He taught in all sixteen terms of school, including the principalship of the Dayton schools. During the time he was teaching he began the study of medicine under the direction of O. E. Evans, M. D., of Gowrie, Iowa. To the efficiency of the instruction and good advice of Dr. Evans, Dr. Townsend gives great credit for his success in his chosen profession. He attended a course of lectures at the College of Physicians, at Keokuk, during 1879-80, and afterward attending at Chicago and graduating at the College of Physicians and Surgeons, at Des Moines, March 4, 1887. Since graduating he has taken three courses in clinical medicine and surgery. In the fall of 1887 he became a member of the Central District Medical Association, and in 1888 a member of the Iowa State Society. In 1890 he was a delegate from the State Medical Society to the American Medical Association, which met at Nashville, Tennessee; was a delegate a second time to the American Association, at Atlanta, Georgia, in 1896; and again a third time, in 1901, the American Association meeting that year being held at St. Paul, Minnesota. He was one of the .delegates appointed by Governor Leslie M. Shaw to represent Iowa in the International Association, for the investigation of tuberculosis, at London, England, in July, 1901. On the 15th of May, 1884, Dr. Townsend was married to Myra M. Hawthorne, a native of Upper Kent, Carlton county, New Brunswick, and the daughter of George H. Hawthorne and wife. Dr. and Mrs. Townsend have four children, all living. Their names and dates of birth are as follows: Blanche, December 8, 1885; Orville J., January 18, 1888; Irwin, February 3, 1895; and Dewitt, July 14, 1899. Dr. Townsend has been identified with almost the entire growth and development of Lohrville; there was but one building, and that a farm house, on the farm which is now the site of a live, thrifty town, when he located here. On Thanksgiving day of 1881 he was one of a party of eight—all strangers —who met at Gowrie and were anxious to come to Lohrville. As there were no trains running they secured permission to use a handcar, on which they all crowded and worked their passage westward. This little party consisted of two physicians, two merchants, two harness-makers, one lawyer and one blacksmith, all of whom located at Lohrville, except one of the harness-makers, and four of them still make their homes here. They are Drs. Townsend and Craig and Attorneys Towers and J. M. Stephens. J. J. Flanigan erected the first building in Lohrville and occupied it as a saloon. It is now owned by Mrs. Quinn and is occupied as a restaurant by M. O. Wheatley. Enos Ralston soon after built the City Hotel and John Morrison built a saloon where the Wilson House now stands. The first fire in Lohrville was the burning of Morrison's saloon in the fall of 1882. The buildings erected the first fall and winter the town was in existence in addition to those mentioned were as follows: A hardware store and drug store, erected by L. W. Johnson; a general store, by O. M. Hollingshead; a meat market, by John Back; a general store, hardware store and hotel, by A. W. Safely; a general store, by Hopkins & Wilkinson; a restaurant, by J. H. Griffin; a drug store, by J. W. Allison; a general store, by Adams & Dryden; a livery, by A. O. Garlock; a saloon, by William Baldwin; and a bank, by S. G. Crawford & Company. One of the queer combinations that sometimes occur in the building up and organizing of business in new towns in the west was shown here during the winter of 1881-2. J. M. Stephens and J. J. Flanigan conducting a saloon and shoe store in the same room. The town was incorporated during the winter of 1883 and S. G. Crawford was elected mayor. The following spring Dr. Townsend was elected as a member of the council, a position to which he was re-elected several terms. He was elected mayor in 1897 and again in 1898, and served until March, 1900. He was a member of the school board from 1890 to 1900, being president of the board for several years. He entered the campaign of 1899 as a candidate for state representative with J. C. Lowry, of Pomeroy, and R. A. Horton, of Manson, as candidates for nomination against him. About the middle of the campaign Mr. Horton withdrew and the contest was a spirited one from that time until the primaries, when the votes were counted and it was found that Dr. Townsend had three hundred and one more than Mr. Lowry, and consequently received the nomination, which in that strong Republican district meant election. In 1901 he was again a candidate for the same office and received the nomination of his party without contest, and was re-elected, thus serving in the twenty-eighth and twenty-ninth general assemblies of the legislature, where he made a record for careful, conservative work, of which he may justly feel proud. As a Republican he has always taken a lively interest in promoting the welfare of the party, and his official duties have been creditably and satisfactorily discharged. He is a member of the Republican Grant club of Des Moines, Iowa. Dr. Townsend also belongs to the following civic societies: Zerrubbabel Lodge, No. 240, A. F. & A. M.; Cypress Chapter, No. 99, R. A. M.; Rose Croix Commandery, No. 38, K. T.; Lohrville Lodge, No. 469, I. O. O. F. The last named lodge was organized at Lohrville, August 3, 1882, with the charter members as follows: D. J. Townsend, H. R. Howell, James Herring, B. F. Howell and Daniel Lowe. The Doctor is a public-spirited and progressive citizen and gives his support to all measures for the public good and welfare of the community in which he lives. [Biographical Record of Calhoun County, Iowa, 1902, submitted by CD=FOFG]
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