Biographies: Deep Creek Twp, Clinton County, Iowa Contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by Annette Lucas ClintonRoots@aol.com ************************************************************************ USGENWEB ARCHIVES NOTICE: These electronic pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit or presentation by any other organization or persons. Persons or organizations desiring to use this material, must obtain the written consent of the contributor, or the legal representative of the submitter, and contact the listed USGenWeb archivist with proof of this consent. The submitter has given permission to the USGenWeb Archives to store the file permanently for free access. http://www.usgwarchives.net *********************************************************************** DEEP CREEK TOWNSHIP. These are from the 1879 History of Clinton Co., by L. P. Allen SAMUEL ALBRIGHT, farmer; P. 0. Goose Lake; hives on Sec. 21, and owns 200 acres of hand; he was born in Columbia Co., Penn., May 10, 1833, where he lived until he was 9 years old, when his father removed to Clinton Co., Iowa, where he has lived since. He married Mary Ann Killam, a native of Lincolnshire, England, in Clinton County, Dec. 17, 1861, and had two children, one is living— Albert Burdet. His family were all raised in the Evangelical Lutheran faith, while his wife was raised in the belief of the Church of England; he is a Republican; he has served his county and township faithfully as Township Trustee and Road Supervisor. When he first came to Clinton Co. he was a poor boy, without any capital; now he has a good and comfortable homestead and a fortune of from $10,000 to $12,000. JOHN S. BASCOM, farmer, Sec. 5; P. 0. Preston; owns 370 acres of hand. He was born in Windsor Co., Vt., August 12, 1834; his parents removed, in 1835, to Montgomery Co., N. Y., in 1850 removed to Racine Co., Wis., and, in 1854, he removed to Clayton Co.. Iowa, where he lived till the spring of 1845, when he permanently located in Clinton Co., Iowa, where he has hived since. He has served as Collector, Trustee, School Director and Road Supervisor. He furnished considerable money during there rebellion, to aid the Government in crushing it; he is a Republican. He married Phebe A. Spencer, a native of Racine Co., Wis., February 23, 1858, and had five children—Allison Walter, John Luman, Fayette Spencer, Homer Lincoln and Abbie Orilla; his wife died December 20, 1873, and was buried in Clinton Co. He married his second wife, Martha Brown, a native of Pennsylvania; in Clinton Co, Iowa, September 24, 1874. He started in Clinton a comparatively poor man, but through industry and economy he has built a homestead and a fortune of from $25,000 to $30,000. He and his family are members of the Congregational Church. He is a son of Luman and Abigail Bascom; his father is dead, and he cares for his aged mother, who lives with him. Mr. Bascom is a man of considerable influence in his township, and universally respected and admired. DANIEL CONRAD, local minister of the M. E. Church and farmer, Sec. 35; P. 0. Bryant; owns 200 acres of land in Clinton Co. and 200 acres in Sac Co., Iowa. He was born in Center Co., Penn., May 8,1820, where he received an ordinary common-school education ; he is entirely a self-made minister, never having received a theological education. He emigrated to Iowa in 1844, and located in Scott County, where he lived for fourteen years, then removed to Clinton County, where he has lived since. When he first came to Clinton County he was without capital, but by industry and economy he has obtained a fine homestead and a fortune of $15,000 to $20,000. He has been a minister for thirty years; he has for several years been Justice of the Peace, County Supervisor and Secretary of the School Board; he is a Republican. He married Nancy Harpster, a native of Center Co., Penn.; they were married November, 12. 1840, and had twelve children, eight of whom are living—Elizabeth, who married Alfred Bedford, and resides in Hamilton County; Mary, who married Amos Hunt, and resides in Storey County; Martin L., who married Marcia I. Coting, and resides in Jackson County; Margaret Jane, who married R. W. Northrup, and resides in Hamilton County; Samuel H., who lives in Colorado; Anna E., who married G. W. Curtis, railway agent at Bryant; Wilbur F. and Alice C., the latter being twins; he also has a boy by the name of August Meyer, whom he has raised and tenderly cared for as if really his own, since a babe of five months old; Mr. Conrad had a son named John, who went out at the beginning of the war. and was killed while doing brave service on the battlefield at Iuka Springs, Miss. JOHN DICKEY, merchant and farmer, Sec. 21; P. 0. Goose Lake; owns 300 acres of land; he was born in Butler Co., Penn., Dec. 6, 1827, where he was educated; while very young, his parents removed to Trumbull Co., Ohio, where he lived till 1846, when he came to Iowa and settled in Clinton Co., where he has resided since• He married Miss Anna Morrill, a native of Vermont, in Clinton Co., in 1858, and had five children; four are living—Frank L., Clara A., Minnie and Nellie. In 1872, he had the misfortune to lose his with; in his church views he is liberal; he is a stanch Republican; he was, for many years, Postmaster at Goose Lake, and has faithfully served his township as School Director and Road Supervisor; when he came to Iowa, he was poor and dependent upon his own labors for support; but, possesses of great energy and determination, he put his shoulder to the wheel, and, as a result of his well-spent life, has a homestead and a fortune of from $25,000 to $30,000. ROBERT C. DICKEY, farmer, Sec. 16; P. 0. Goose Lake; owns 220 acres of land; he was born in Butler Co., Penn., June 26, 1834, where he hived until 10 years of age, when his parents moved to Trumbull Co., Oh%; in 1847, they moved to Clinton Co., Iowa, where he has lived since. He married, in this county, Julia Clark, a native of Vermont, Nov. 7, 1861, and had seven children; six are living— Alice C., Hattie, Fred, Mary, Emma and Lydia; he and his family attend the Methodist Episcopal Church; he has held the offices of' Township Trustee, School Director and Road Supervisor; he is a stanch Republican; he came with no means to Iowa, and is now worth from $15,000 to $20,000; he enlisted in Co. K., 26th I. V. I., where he did active service for three years. In 1859, Mr. Dickey was seized with the California excitement, and, with wagon, made the overland route to the "gold regions,' returning to his home by vessel, via the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans, handing at New York, and from thence by rail. N. P. FARLEY, druggist; firm of C. Fancy & Co., Goose Lake; he was born in Jackson Co., Iowa, July 24, 1853, and is a son of James and Margaret Farley, of the same county; he received his education in Davenport, Iowa; he was Township Clerk at Preston, Jackson Co., for three years; he commenced in the drug business at Goose Lake in 1878, and has a very fine business established. He is a steady Green-backer, ever maintaining and defending the principles of that party. G. W. FIELD, RI. P., physician, Bryant, Deep Creek Township; he was born in Utica, N. Y., May 8,1849; during his infancy, his family removed to Madison, Wis.; Nov. 14, 1878, he removed to Bryant, and started in the practice of medicine, which be has followed since; he engaged in practice first at Mineral Point, Wis., for three years; he is a graduate of the Chicago Medical College; he is a stanch Jacksonian Democrat; he was raised in the Episcopal Church. HERMAN GLAHN, farmer, Sec. 30; P. 0. Goose Lake; own 160 acres of land; he was born in Holstein, Germany, June 4, 1836, where he was educated; in 1854, he emigrated to the United States, and immediately settled in this township, where he has hived since. He is a Republican; he has served as School Director, Township Trustee and Road Supervisor. He married Magdaline Dammon, a native of Germany, in Scott Co., Iowa, Feb. 26, 1862, and has eight children—Anna Margaret, Caroline Rebecca, Paul John, George William, Emma Donna, Herman, Henry Rudolph and Ida Kathrina; all members of the German Lutheran Church, of Charlotte, in Waterford Township. When he came to Iowa he was very poor, but, by industry, has made a nice home and a fortune of from $10,000 to $12,000. In his passage from Germany, he was eight weeks at sea; the only thing of interest which happened was the birth of an infant. JACOB HICKS, farmer, Sec. 17; P. 0. Goose Lake; owns 130 acres of land in Clinton Co., and eighty acres in Calhoun Co.; he was burn in Schoharie Co., N. Y., May 21, 1815, where he was educated; in 1856, he removed to Clinton Co., Iowa, where he has lived since. During his residence he has been County Supervisor, Township Trustee, School Director and Road Supervisor; during the war, he sent one son, Madison, who was a member of Co. L, 2d Iowa V. Cay., and did gallant service from the beginning to the end of the war. He is a stanch Republican. he married Angeline Rodman a native of Schoharie Co., N. Y., Oct. 18, 1836; had nine children, six still living,Joseph Asa, Madison, Andrew, Philetus, Sara Ann and John.He and his family are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church; he came to Iowa without capital, and, after a life of hard work, economy and .enterprise, has built a good homestead and accumulated a fortune of from $8,000 to $10,000. He lives surrounded by his children, all of whom are successful farmers, as well as live and energetic men. CHRISTIAN HASS, hotel keeper, Bryant; owns two town lots; he was born in Holstein, Germany, Jan. 8,1839; in 1858, he emigrated to the United States and located in Scott Co., Iowa, where he lived for two years; then removed to Clinton Co., where he has since lived. He had the honor of building the first house in Bryant, where he has kept the hotel from the beginning of his residence there. He has served as Constable and Road Supervisor for several years; has always been a stanch Democrat. He married Louise Guth, in De Witt. Jan. 8, 1862, and had eleven children, ten now living—Rosa, Edward, John, Christian, William, Charles, Louisa, Louis, Henrietta and Alfred. He was ..raised in the belief of the German Lutheran Church. When he first started in Clinton Co. he was very poor, and worked as a farm laborer, and now he has a delightful home and a fortune estimated at from $15,000 to $20,000. ALPHEUS HUNTER, farmer, Sec. 5; P. 0. Preston; owns 175 acres of land; he was born in Cortland Co., N. Y., Dec. 20, 18~'0, where he was educated; in the fall of 1842, he removed to Clinton County, Iowa, and located where he has resided since. He has served his township for several years as School Director, School Treasurer, Township Assessor, Township Trustee, Constable and Road Supervisor. During the war of the rebellion, he paid out considerable money in securing substitutes to serve as Union soldiers, not for himself, however, but purely from patriotic principles. He is a strong Republican. He married Margaret Ramsey, a native of Virginia, in Clinton County, Oct. 9,1853, and had six children; all are living—Almer Sylvester, Julia Alice, Fanny Adelia, Martha Eliza, Marion Lorena and Frank Alonzo. In his religious belief, he was raised in the Congregational Church. He was wholly without means when be came to Clinton County; now has, after a life of industry, perseverance and energy, a homestead and a fortune valued at from $10,000 to $12,000. SYLVESTER HUNTER, farmer, Sec. 5; P. 0. Preston; Mr. Hunter was born in Cortland Co., N. Y., in 1826 he came to Deep Creek Township with his parents, Robert and Eliza Hunter, in July, 1843; his father had come to the county the previous year (1842), and being pleased with the country, had decided to remove his family; the family consisted at that time of his parents and seven children; the children are still living, except one daughter; three of them reside in Iowa; one sister of Mr. Hunter's resides in Dakota and two brothers in Kansas. Mr. Hunter went to California in 1852 and returned in 1857. He owns the farm where his father's family located in 1846. He was married to Miss Ann E. Reed, born in Pennsylvania; died Dec. 20, 1866; they had five children—Robert P., died Aug. 28,1877, Blanche, Jessie M., Annetta B. and Sylvester R. JOHN E. AND NICHOLAS A. JURGENSEN, merchants; comprising the firm of Jurgensen Bros., Goose Lake; they own two town lots in addition to their rapidly increasing and flourishing general merchandise business. John E. Jurgensen was born in Schleswig, Germany, June 14, 1848, where he was educated; he emigrated to the United States in 1868. He married Miss J. B. C. Neilson, a native of Denmark, in Clinton County, Sept. 17, 1872, and has two children—J. H. C. and Josie. Nicholas A. Jurgensen was also born in Schleswig, Germany, Dec. 27, 1853, where he was educated; he followed the example of his brother and emigrated to the United States in 1871. He married Miss Edel Neilson, a sister to his brother's wife, in Clinton County, Sept. 15, 1875, and has two children—Herman and Edwin. The two brothers were raised in the German Lutheran Church, although they term themselves "freethinkers." They are conservative Republicans. They were both traveling salesmen from their arrival in the United States till 1875, when they permanently located themselves in Clinton County, at Goose Lake, in the merchandise business, which they have successfully carried on since. PETER KRUSE, farmer, Section 15; P. 0. Goose Lake; owns 170 acres of land; he was born in Holstein, in Germany, Dec. 25, 1842, where he was educated; in 1852, he emigrated to the United States and located in Scott Co., Iowa, where he lived one year, when he removed to Deep Creek Township, in Clinton Co., where he has lived since. He married Lena Geise in Clinton Co., Iowa, in 1867; had six children, four living—Paul, Amanda, Bertha and Lena. He was raised in the German Lutheran faith. He is a Republican. He has held the positions of School Director and Road Supervisor. He was a very poor man when he started, and is now worth from $8,000 to $10,000. CLAUS H. KRUTZFELDT, mechanic and wagon manufacturer, Bryant; lives in Section 35, and owns two acres, besides his places of business; he was born in Holstein, Germany, May 29, 1847, where he received a common-school education; in 1865, he emigrated to the United States, and immediately coming to Clinton Co., settled, and has resided there ever since; he has built up a good and lucrative business, and has hosts of friends throughout the county.; his property is estimated at $2,000 to $2,500. Since he took out his naturalization papers, he has been a Democrat. JAMES McLAUGHLIN, farmer, Section 16; P. 0. Goose Lake; owns 360 acres; he was born in Kenosha, Wis., March 28, 1838, whence, after a residence of thirteen years, he removed to Clinton Co., Iowa, where he has lived since, excepting four years, which he spent in Jackson Co., Iowa, within six miles of where he lives at the present time. He has served his township faithfully for years as Township Clerk, Township Trustee, School Director and Road Supervisor. He is a stanch Jacksonian Democrat. He married Jane Collins, a native of Jackson Co., Iowa, daughter of Dennis and Mary Collins, in that county, April 8,1860, and had eight children, seven still living—John, Mary Ann, Susan Jane, Dennis, Julia, James Bernard and Eliza Jane. All are members of the Roman Catholic Church. Started totally without capital; now has a comfortable homestead, and a fortune estimated at from $20,000 to$25,000. B. M. PETERSEN, hardware and tinnery, Goose Lake, where he owns one town lot on which he does business; he was born in Holstein, Germany, Sept. 11, 1858, where he was educated; he emigrated to the United States in 1873, and located in Lyons, Iowa, where he lived one year, then went to Fulton, Ill., and learned his business, then came to Goose Lake and started in the hardware and tinnery business, which he has followed since; he has built up a good and paying business, always buying and selling strictly for cash; he is a son of Momme and Marie Petersen, who reside in Germany, never having emigrated to the United States. He is a Republican; is a member of the German Lutheran Church. CHARLES R. SHULTS, farmer, Sec. 4; P. 0. Preston. Owns 191 acres of land in Clinton County, and twenty acres in Jackson Co., Iowa. He was born in Seneca Co., N. V.. May 4,1843, where he was educated. In 1859, he removed to Clinton Co. and located, and has lived there since. He has served his township faithfully for years as Constable, Trustee, School Director and Road Inspector. He paid considerable money during the war in securing soldiers to fight for the preservation of the Union. He is a stanch Republican. He married Cynthia A. Ransom, a native of Lake Co., Ill., where they were united Feb. 17, 1859, and has one child—Emma J. He and his family attend the Methodist Episcopal Church. he was a poor man when he first started in Clinton Co., and, by industry and economy, he has a fine homestead and a fortune valued at $15,000 to $20,000. Included in the valuation of his property is one good dwelling-house and two town lots in Preston, Jackson Co., Iowa. J. F. THIESSEN, hotel-keeper, Goose Lake. He owns five town lots in Goose Lake, where his hotel is known as the "Railroad Hotel." He was born in Holstein, Germany, Aug. 22, 1830. After serving one year in the German army, in 1853, he emigrated to the United States, and, landing in Chicago, made his way on foot to Davenport, where he remained for six months; then in Rock Island about two years, and, in 1856, he took up his permanent residence in Center Township, Clinton Co., where he bought land and lived until 1875, when he moved to Goose Lake and commenced the hotel business. He married Menie Plaht, a native of Germany, in Center. Township, in 1862, and has seven children—Frederick W., Eliza Katherina, Johannes Herman, Jacob Ferdinand, Wilhelmina Theresa, Emma Amanda, Adolph Edward. He and his family are attendants of the German Lutheran Church. He is a Democrat. His fortune is estimated at about $10,000. THOMAS WATTS, farmer, Sec. 18; P. 0. Charlotte; owns 627 acres of land in Clinton Co., and 670 acres in Marshall Co., Iowa. He was born in Caledonia Co., Vt., Nov. 7,1816, where he was educated; in 1835, he emigrated to Stark Co., Ill., where he resided till April, 1838, when he removed to Clinton Co., and settled upon the property he now occupies. He has filled many positions of trust and ability: Representative to the Seventh General Assembly, County Supervisor under the old administration, Justice of the Peace, County Surveyor, School Director, Township Trustee and Road Supervisor. He was a Whig, since a stanch Republican. He married in this county on Jan. 8,1844, Emeline Hunter, a native of Cortland Co., N. V., and had nine children, six are living—Isaac, who resides in Marshall Co.; Thomas, married and resides in Marshall Co.; Jane, married Andrew Howatt, attorney at law, De Witt; Mary, married Edward Hull, a farmer of Ida Co.; Emma and Fremont. He and his family are attendants of the Congregational Church. When Mr. Watts first came to Iowa, he was very poor, but after a life of strict attention to business, industry and perseverance, he has a comfortable homestead, and a fortune estimated at from $45,000 to $50,000. The greatest misfortune which has befallen him since he has lived in Clinton Co. was the terrible tornado of March 10, 1876, which swept over his place, totally demolishing his barn, part of his dwelling and his entire orchard, causing a loss of about $5,000. M. E. WILCOX, hotel keeper, propr. of Western Hotel, Bryant; he was born in Tompkins Co., N. V., Aug. 25, 1853, where he lived until 1863, when his family removed to Clinton Co., where they have lived since. Mr. Wilcox is a stirring, energetic man, who has devoted much of his life to literary pursuits and outdoor employments; he once went to Nebraska, settled on pre- empted Government land, and was engaged in hunting and trapping; he is a son of Jairus and Mary Jane Wilcox, of Clinton Co. He married Anna C. Rounfehdt, of Center Township, March 2, 1879; his wife is a member of the German Lutheran Church; he is a strong supporter of Republican principles. He has rented the property on which he is located for about one year. and contemplates making a purchase of it; before taking charge of the hotel, he was for a number of years Principal of a large school in Clinton Township. JAMES WILSON, farmer, Sec. 15; P. 0. Bryant; owns 280 acres of land; he was born in Ball, McClellan, Scotland, Oct. 3,1813, where he was educated; in the fall of 1860, he emigrated to the United States, and located in Clinton Co., Iowa. where he has resided ever since. He married Jane Campbell, a native of South Scotland, in that country Oct. 9,1843, and had eleven children—eight still living—Virginia, John Campbell, Ebenezer, Alexander, James Pearson, Joseph, Robert George and Sarah Ann. He and his family were raised in the Congregational Church. He is a stanch Republican. During his residence, he has served as Township School Director and Road Supervisor. He came to the United States without capital and has the satisfaction of possessing a homestead and a fortune of from $12,000 to $15,000. His daughter Virginia was born on the sailing vessel "Virginia," from which she takes her name, while making the passage to Canada, in 1844, where he lived with his family for sixteen years before coming to the United States. A sad misfortune befell his family in 1872, which resulted in the death of his son David, who gallantly went to the assistance of a neighbor named Henry Kruse, who was lying at the bottom of a well which he was digging, dying from suffocation, caused by foul air. Young Wilson descended into the well and lost his life in the vain endeavor to save that of his friend. PERRY G. WRIGHT, planter of broom-corn and maker of brooms, Sec. 9; P. 0. Goose Lake; owns 160 acres in Clinton Co. and 640 in Osceola Co.1 Iowa; he was born in Schoharie Co., N. V., July 4,1830, where he was educated; in 1849, he emigrated to Delavan, Wis., where he remained until 1864, when he removed to Clinton Co., Iowa, and located upon the property where he now resides. He has served his township as School Director and Road Supervisor; during the war, he raised two companies in Walworth Co., Wis., who enlisted and did gallant service through the entire war; he is a stanch Republican. He married Charlotte Underhill, a native of Schoharie Co., N. Y., in that county, April 29, 1846; had six children—Charles P., Frank G., George D., David, Melbourne and Lottie. He and his family were raised in the M. E. Church faith. He emigrated to Iowa very poor and totally without capital; by perseverance, industry, economy and enterprise he has a homestead, a good paying business, and a fortune of from $25,000 to $30,000; he is a member of the Broom Corn Grower and Manufacturer's Association of the United States, and is one of its oldest members, and is also one of the largest growers of broom-corn west of the Mississippi River; his gross sales for simply broom-corn and brooms alone, from April 15, 1864, to April 10, 1879, amounted to the astonishing sum of $123,000; this does not include a loss of from $8,000 to $10,000 in the great Chicago fire of 1871, which was covered by insurance, but completely lost by the failures of the insurance companies. During the present year, 1879, he has one of the finest crops of broom-corn ever grown by him.