Jones County, Iowa BiographiesE. B. Alderman ALDERMAN, E. B., dealer in farm machinery and seeds. Marion; born in West Springfield, Mass., April 5, 1826; removed to Chenango, Broome Co., N. Y., with his parents, in 1828; in 1843, went to Suffield, Hartford Co., Conn.; lived there until 1848, and then returned to Chenango, N. Y.; remained there until 1850, when he came to Brown Tp., Linn Co., Iowa, and located land in that township; lived in Anamosa, until the Spring of 1851, when he went on his farm in Brown Tp., and resided there until February, 1856; then went East and spent a few months, and returned to Iowa and located near Anamosa, in Jones Co.; engaged in farming there until the Spring of 1860, when he commenced mercantile business at Anamosa. In August, 1862, he enlisted in Co. E, 31st I. V. I.; he raised that company of 106 men in three days, and was commissioned Captain of the company when it was first organized; on account of ill health, he resigned Feb. 13, 1863. Returned to Anamosa, where his partner had continued their mercantile business during his absence; although broken down in health for several years, he continued his business, and in 1869 he engaged in farm machinery trade exclusively; carried on that business at Anamosa until 1875; was engaged in the lumber business in 1876; Jan. 1, 1877, he engaged in his present business at Marion. Married Lydia A. Osborn in January, 1848; she was born in Westfield. Mass., April 25, 1826; they have had eight children—Louis E., died aged 2 years 4 months and 8 days; Amaret L., died aged 19 years ; the living are Mary Imogene, Fannie E., Ada M., Edwin G., Ettie and Jennie V. Mr. and Mrs. Alderman and their four oldest children are members of the Baptist Church. [The History of Linn County Iowa; Western Historical Company; 1878] [Transcribed by Andaleen Whitney] GEORGE W. ANKNEY George W. Ankney, a resident of Custer county since 1882, has been variously identified with the interests of this region since the time of his arrival, and, principally as an agriculturalist, has accumulated a competence that permits him to pass the evening of life in comfortable circumstances, at his pleasant home at Sargent. He is a native of Coshocton, Ohio, and was born September 10, 1830, being a son of Joseph and Abbie (Brown) Ankney. Joseph Ankney was born in Pennsylvania, but in young manhood pushed toward the west, locating first in Ohio, where he met and married Miss Abbie Brown, a native of that state, and where he was engaged in farming, in Coshocton county, until 1851. In that year he removed to Jones county, Iowa, which was his home for many years, and thence he went to Mitchell county, Kansas, which was his place of residence for five years. In 1888 he came to Nebraska, and from that time until his death, at the age of eighty-two years, he made his home among his children. He was an industrious man, always alive to opportunity and able to make the most of his chances. He succeeded as an agriculturalist, and as a public spirited and useful citizen of the various communities in which he resided, he was always held in high esteem by his associates. He was a staunch and unwavering Democrat in politics, and he and Mrs. Ankney were faithful members of the Methodist Episcopal church. They were the parents of ten children, of whom three survive: Joseph, who married Susan Vananberg, is a retired farmer of Scottsbluff, Nebraska; George W. is the subject of this sketch; and Edward, who married Eliza Pierce, is a retired farmer of Grand Island, Nebraska. The common schools of Jones county, Iowa, furnished George W. Ankney with his educational training, and his boyhood was passed on his father's farm where, under the elder man's direction, he was taught all the arts and methods pertaining to the vocation of agriculture. At Taylor, Nebraska, he was united in marriage, July 5, 1886 to Mrs. Harriet (Northey) Cummings, widow of James Cummings and daughter of Robert and Ruth (Hall) Northey, natives of Vermont. Mrs. Ankney's parents were farming people who came to Nebraska in 1879 and took up a homestead at Cummings Park, at a time when there were but five families in the vicinity, the nearest postoffice being at Loup City, about forty-five miles away. There Miss Northey met and married James Cummings, a well to do yourng farmer, and he met his death by a fall into a well, this being the only well for miles around. Mr. Ankney had come to Custer county in 1882 and settled at Cummings Park, where he took up a homestead and where he resided until 1893. At that time, because of failing health, he moved to Burwell, which continued to be his home for thirteen years, removal being made to Sargent in 1906. He is accounted one of the well to do and substantial men of his locality, a reliable, dependable citizen who always supports beneficial movements with his influence, means, and energies. he has not cared for public life and is not actively concerned in politics. While still a resident of Vermont, Mrs. Ankney adopted a child of three years, Idella Cummings, whom she reared to young womanhood. This foster daughter then married and moved to Maine. Mr. and Mrs. Ankney adopted a nephew, James Ankney, who was five years old, and reared him until he was sixteen, when he left their home to work for himself; at the time of this writing James Ankney is a member of the national army and is stationed in New Mexico. [History of Custer Co. Neb. by G.L. Gaston and A.R. Humphrey, Lincoln Neb. Western Publishing and Engraving Co. 1919, submitted by M. Beery] Mrs. Eveline (Walston) Prosser Mrs. Eveline (Walston) Prosser, who is well known and highly esteemed throughout the community in which she resides, owns and manages an excellent farm of eighty acres on section 19, Monmouth township. Her birth occurred in Ross county, Ohio, about twenty miles from Columbus, on the 16th of August, 1838, her parents being Leven and Julia A. (Miller) Walston. The father, a native of Vermont, was still but a boy when he accompanied his parents on their removal to Ohio prior to the war of 1812. When a young man of eighteen he enlisted for service in that conflict, fighting valiantly for his country in its second war with England. He owned a fine farm in the Buckeye state and there devoted his time and energies to general agricultural pursuits until 1848, when he sold his land and made his way across the country to Iowa with a team of horses and a wagon, the journey consuming sixty days. He located on the present site of Oxford station, entering one hundred and sixty acres of prairie land and also a quarter section of timber land from the government. There he energetically and successfully carried on his farming interests until the time of his death, his well directed labors eventually bringing him a gratifying measure of prosperity. This part of the state was still largely wild and undeveloped at the time of his arrival, and during one entire winter a band of eighty Indians were encamped in the vicinity of his home. He became a prominent and leading citizen of his community and his labors were an important factor in the work of early development and upbuilding. He furnished the land for the cemetery and laid it out and also did much to promote educational and moral advancement, being a valued member of the Methodist Episcopal church. His political allegiance was unfalteringly given to the men and measures of the republican party. Eveline Walston was reared to womanhood amid the scenes and environment of pioneer life and obtained a good practical education in the common schools. On account of the dangers incident to life in an unsettled region Mr. Walston taught his daughters the use of firearms and our subject early became quite a proficient "shot," accompanying her father on his hunting expeditions. She has killed a number of prairie chickens and, although now well advanced in years, still retains her skill with the rifle. She remained under the parental roof until 1864, when she gave her hand in marriage to Carlos B. Prosser, whose birth occurred in Warren county, New York, in 1841. During the period of hostilities between the north and the south Mr. Prosser loyally defended the interests of the union as a member of Company F, Forty-fourth Iowa Volunteer Infantry, with which he served for three months, participating in the engagements at Vicksburg and Memphis and also in other battles. Throughout his business career he was actively engaged in general agricultural pursuits and at the time of his death owned eighty acres of valuable land on section 19, Monmouth township, which is now in possession of his widow and to the management of which she devotes her attention. Unto Mr. and Mrs. Prosser were born three children, namely: Julia, the wife of Milton Ahrens, who is a prosperous stockman, banker and leading citizen of Sidney, Nebraska; Elmer E., an agriculturist of Anamosa; and Amy M., the wife of Lonnie Watters, who follows farming in Jones county, Iowa. Mr. Prosser was a stanch supporter of the republican party, believing its principles most conducive to good government. He belonged to the G. A. R. post and was widely recognized as a substantial and respected citizen of his community. His demise occurred in July, 1906, and on the fourth day of that month his remains were interred in the Oxford cemetery, which had been laid out by his father-in-law. Although Mrs. Prosser has not the right of franchise she is deeply interested in politics, always keeps well informed on the questions and issues of the day and advocates republican principles. Reared on a farm, she early became accustomed to riding and driving horses and is a lover of a good horse, always keeping on hand one or two specimens of the noble steed. She has lived in this part of the state for more than six decades and has witnessed a most wonderful transformation as pioneer conditions have given way before the onward march of civilization. She is a gentle, kindly woman, charitable in her estimate of every one and her many excellent traits of heart and mind have won for her the esteem and admiration of a host of warm friends. [History of Jackson County, Iowa, James W. Ellis, 1910, submitted by Ken Wright] William Z. Todd William Z. Todd editor of the Burwell Tribune, was born in Jones county, Iowa, September 28, 1866. When he was but four years old the Todd family moved to Cedar county where William remained till he was twenty years old, attending school and working in his father's law office. Mr. Todd came to Neligh, Nebraska, in 1883, and took a homestead in Wheeler county the next year. In 1888 he was induced by business men of Willow Springs to start the Willow Springs Enterprise in that town, to counteract the influence of growing Burwell. But when two years later the exodus to the latter town began Mr. Todd moved his printing establishment thither and founded the Garfield Enterprise. His public activity is from this time on chronicled in the chapter on "the Newspaper in the Valley." In August, 1892, he married Mollie McKenzie. They have two children, a boy and a girl. [The Trail of the Loup, 1906, submitted by CD=FOFG]
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