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WILLIAM M. ABRAHAM is a farmer and stock-raiser residing on section 17, Dutch Creek Township. He is a native of Ohio, born in Jefferson County, april 6, 1820, and is the son of William and Ellen (Kinkade) Abraham, the former a native of Pennsylvania, and the latter of West Virginia. His early life was spent on a farm in Washington County, Pa., until 1842, when he accompanied his father and mother to Union County, Ohio. At the time they moved to Union County the woods were filled with wild game of all kinds. On the 1st of April, 1845, he married Miss Nancy V. Sanders, in Delaware County, Ohio. She was a native of Bath County, Ky., a daughter of Henry and Patsey (Ralston) Sanders, her father a native of Virginia, and her mother of Kentucky.
From 1845 to 1850 the subject of this sketch remained in Ohio. In the fall of the latter year he moved with his family to Washington County, Iowa, coming through with a team, and being three weeks on the road. On arriving here, he rented a farm for one year in Dutch Creek Township, and then moved to the city of Washington, where he purchased a stock of groceries of M. C. Mitchell, on the south side of the square, and continued in that business for two years. In 1853 he sold out his store and made a visit to his old home in Union County, Ohio, where he spent two months and then returned to this county. He made three different trips to Ohio with teams. On his last visit he looked upon the face of his father for the last time. This was in 1853. His mother died some years previous to this. both his father and mother were members of the Associate Presbyterian Church, and were devoted Christians.
In 1858 Mr. Abraham purchased 100 acres of land of W. W. Wells, at $5 per acre, and began to improve the same. He now owns 125 acres, finely improved, with valuable farm buildings. When he settled upon his farm there was no road from it leading to Washington, the county seat. Taking a yoke of oxen he ran a furrow straight to the city, and over this route traveled until other roads were laid out. On the 16th day of August, 1864, his wife was called to her last rest, leaving him with a family of six children, four sons and two daughters: William N. enlisted in the service of his country at the age of eighteen, faithfully served his time, and was honorably discharged; he is now a farmer in Greene County, Iowa. Ellen is the wife of Thomas Morgan, a farmer in Richland Township, Keokuk Co., Iowa; E.K. is now an assistant in the management of the home farm; J. F. is in the harness and saddlery trade in Richland, Keokuk county; Martha A. is the wife of Samuel A. Black, a farmer in Keith County, Neb.; V. S. married Rose Imes, and is also living in Keith County, engaged in farming. Mrs. Abraham at the time of her death was a member of the United Presbyterian Church; she was a devoted wife and mother. On the 5th of April, 1865, Mr. Abraham contracted a second marriage, with Miss Rebecca Harris, of Talleyrand, Iowa, a native of Richland County, Ohio, born May 5, 1826, and the daughter of Moses and Susanna (Johnson) Harris. Her parents moved from Richland County, Ohio, in 1844. Her father was a native of Maryland, and her mother of Ohio, both of Irish descent.
Mr. and Mrs. Abraham are members of the United Presbyterian Church, and in the work of the Church take special delight. Mr. Abraham was appointed Postmaster of Dutch Creek Postoffice by Franklin Pierce, and held the office until Buchanan's time, when he resigned. Since that time he has been Justice of the Peace for about twenty years. He has held all the township offices,
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and is at present one of the Trustees. He has held all the offices of the School Board, and is at present Treasurer of the same, having held the position for the last six years. He is also Secretary of the Church Board. Politically, he is a Democrat.
Mr. Abraham has been a citizen of Washington County for thirty-seven years, and it can be readily understood that many changes have taken place since that time. In the improvement of the country he has done his part. When discovered by the writer of this sketch, he was seated upon a self-binder, one of the latest improved machines. He remarked that he had just been thinking of the great improvements that have been made in machinery since his boyhood days. Fifty years ago that day, he said, he was employed in the cutting of his grain with an old-fashioned cradle. Since that time he has used each of the different machines for cutting grain, until at present he is, as already stated, using the latest improved self-binder. It is hard for him to realize what has been accomplished in the sixty-seven years of his life, and especially since he has grown to manhood; but time is ever going on, improvements are the order of the day, and he does not expect to be surprised at any invention that may be made. He remembers well the completion of the first railroad in the State of Iowa, and was one of the number who made the first excursion from Washington to Muscatine on the completion of the railroad to the former place. Mr. Abraham is a well-preserved man, one who enjoys the respect of his neighbors, and who in all things endeavors to practice the precepts of the Golden Rule. His life has not been in vain.
THOMAS MACHOVEC, a retired farmer, was born in Kalovitz, Crigplezen, Bohemia, in 1822, and is the son of Peter and Mary (Cepek) Machovec, who were reared and married in Bohemia. By profession Peter Machovec was a farmer, and had a nice farm in his native country. He was also a Justice of the Peace for many years. both himself and wife were devout Catholics, and their children were reared in that faith. They reared four children: Joseph, who married Mary Jansky, who was the mother of several children; he was a carpenter and lived and died in Paddovoron, his native village. Mary married James Bouline, a farmer, and became the mother of a large family; she is now deceased. Anna married James Bushek, a farmer, and also died after rearing a large family of children; Thomas, our subject, wedded Mary Pisha, a daughter of Andrew and Sophrina (Chlupisa) Pisha, who lived on their own land in the same neighborhood where Thomas Machovec was born. She was also born in 1822, and their marriage was celebrated Dec. 2, 1842.
A small farm was the marriage portion, coming from the Machovec estate, and upon this the young couple began their married life, and here also their children were born. Barbara, the eldest child, died in infancy; Josephine also died in childhood; James, a carpenter, is a resident of Iowa City, and the husband of Barbara Urba; Sophronia died in infancy; Mary is the wife of Anthony Dietz, a farmer of Johnson County, Iowa; Barbara is the wife of Nicholas Stark, a farmer near Cedar Rapids, Iowa; Josephine, the second, also died in infancy; Sophronia, the second, is deceased, and Anna is the only child now with the parents.
In his native country, Thomas, like his father, was a Justice for several years, also a member of the School Board, and had for that day and country quite a liberal education. In 1860, his only son, James, came to America, and located for some time in Chicago, and in 1868 came to Iowa City. He wrote glowing letters to his parents about the Great West, and they decided to sell their farm in Bohemia and come to the State of Iowa. In April, 1870, the family left their native land, and after a safe voyage of thirteen days landed in New York on the 13th of May. They came direct to Iowa City, Iowa, where a house was rented for eighteen months, and after looking over the country, they decided upon the purchase of a nice little farm of fifty acres in English River Township, to which they removed and are still residents.
Mr. Machovec has been quite prosperous, and their three eldest children are married and comfortably settled for life. Anna, the youngest, has
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secured, almost unaided, an excellent education, and has only attended school two weeks since coming to America, at which time she was eleven years old, and spoke not a word of the English language. She is the life and joy of the household, and takes the burden of domestic duties off her aged mother. Mr. and Mrs. Machovec surely deserve a place in the history of the county they love, and of which they are residents. Thomas Machovec became a naturalized citizen of the United States Jun 2, 1885. Politically, he is a Democrat. The family are all members of the Riverside Catholic Church.
D. M. SHEARER, County Surveyor, resides at Washington. He is a native of Montgomery County, Ohio, and was born Aug. 11, 1821. His father, Valentine Shearer, a native of Trumbull County, Ohio, born in 1790, married Miss Mary Kellenberger a native of Maryland, born in 1795. They first settled in Montgomery County, Ohio, where they remained until about 1836, when they moved to Shelby County, the same State. In the spring of 1846 the family came to Iowa, and located near Brighton, but across the line in Jefferson County, where a fine farm was improved. Mr. and Mrs. Shearer were the parents of ten children, five of whom are yet living: D. M., of Washington, Iowa; Ann Mariah, the wife of John Brier, of Brighton; Luther, a farmer in Cass County, Neb.; Sarah, the wife of William B. Roland, of Cass County, Neb.; Valentine, also residing in the same county.
Valentine Shearer was a man well posted in the affairs of State and Nation, and politically, was a Jackson Democrat. He was a member of the Presbyterian Church, of which body his wife was also a member. Abut 1882, when ninety-two years of age, he moved to Cass County, Neb., where he died in 1884, at the ripe old age of ninety-four years. Mrs. Shearer is still living in that county, and is now ninety-two years of age. They lived together as man and wife sixty-four years.
The subject of this sketch was the oldest of ten children, and was reared as farmers' boys were generally in that early day, to hard work, thankful for the opportunity of attending school during the winter when it was too cold to work. In 1845 he was married, in Shelby County, Ohio, to Miss Elizabeth Whitmore, a daughter of Daniel and Frances Whitmore. She was a native of that county. Before reaching his majority Mr. Shearer was apprenticed to learn the trade of a carpenter and joiner, which occupation he has followed the greater part of his life. In 1852 he came to Washington County, Iowa, locating at Brighton, where he followed his trade in connection with millwrighting. As a millwright he worked in a number of places in Iowa and Illinois. On the 9th of April, 1880, Mrs. Shearer died, leaving a kind husband and four children to mourn their loss: Frances M., the wife of A. M. Friend, of Iowa City; Olive A., the wife of M. C. Israel, a prominent merchant of Des Moines; Daniel W., agent of the C., R.I. & P.R.R. at Gallatin, Mo.; Clara B., the wife of F.E. Lamphere, United States Express Agent, at Washington. Mrs. Shearer was a member of the United Presbyterian Church, and was highly esteemed for her many Christian graces.
In 1881, Mr. Shearer came to Washington, where he has since made his home with his daughter, Mrs. Lamphere. In the fall of 1885 he was elected Surveyor of Washington County, and has since discharged the duties of the office in a faithful manner. In politics, in early life, he was a Democrat, but when the party was hopelessly divided on the slavery question, he became a Republican, with which party he has since acted. Religiously, he holds membership with the United Presbyterian Church of Brighton. Few men enjoy the confidence and esteem of those with whom they are acquainted more than D. M. shearer, Surveyor of Washington County.
D. F. FUNSTON is a farmer and stock-raiser, residing upon section 26, Clay Township. He was born in Ohio, Mary 25, 1841, and is the son of William and Ann (Barr) Funston, the former a native of Ireland, and the latter of Kentucky. William Funston emigrated to America when quite young and settled in Kentucy, but subsequently removed to Ohio, where
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he died March 30, 1865. He was taken sick in 1860, and was an invalid during the remainder of his life. His great desire was to see the war closed and the Nation at peace. While he did not live to see the fullfillment of his desire, yet the war was virtually closed at the time of his death. His wife survived him some years, dying Nov. 24, 1872. She was a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church. They were the parents of nine children, of whom five are living. John emigrated to Kansas and died about 1876; Margaret died many years ago; two died in infancy; Eliza resides in Brighton; Frederick is a farmer in Keokuk County, Iowa; Robert B. resides in Brighton; D. F. is the subject of this sketch; W. R. is a grain-dealer residing in Brighton. William Funston, the father, was a carpenter and cabinet-maker by trade, and followed that occupation for many years. He owned a farm in Stark County, Ohio, and was one of the early pioneers of that State. An aunt of our subject, Fannie Burr, married William Ward, a companion of the celebrated Daniel Boone. The family lived in Ohio until the year 1845, and then emigrated to Washington County, Iowa, where William Funston bought 200 acres of land on section 36, Clay Township, though he lived the first six months in Brighton Township. He removed to his farm in Clay Township in the spring of 1846, and with the assistance of his family, improved the place. He was a man of influence, and highly respected by all. While a believer in the Christian religion, he never identified himself with any church. His wife was a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church.
D. F. Funston, the subject of this sketch, was reared upon a farm and educated in the district schools. He was but four years of age when he came to Iowa, and since eighteen years of age has had charge of the home farm. He was married, Oct. 24, 1866, to Miss Julia Sisson, a native of Oswego County, N.Y., born Dec. 27, 1842, and daughter of G. W. and Mary (Howe) Sisson, who were also natives of New York, and the parents of eleven children: Lucy; Julia, deceased; Elbert; Julia, the wife of our subject; Melville, deceased; Mary, George, Henry, Ellen, Fannie and John. Her father died Dec. 19, 1866. Her mother is yet living at the age of seventy-three, and resides in Los Angeles, Cal. She is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Mr. Funston is one of the heaviest stock shippers and stock-raisers in Washington County. He has been engaged in shipping stock for the last eight years, in connection with his farming interests, and for two years past has acted as an expert on the Walter A. Wood Harvester. No man in Clay Township is better known or more highly respected that Mr. Funston. He has held various township offices, and politically, he is a Republican.
A.D. ACHESON. Among the representative farmers of Oregon Township is the subject of this sketch, who resides on section 4, where he owns 200 acres of excellent land, all of which is under a high state of cultivation. He is a native of Guernsey County, Ohio, born in 1843, and is the son of David and Elizabeth Acheson, who were among the earliest settlers of Muscatine County, Iowa. The former died in that county some years ago, while the latter is still living in Louisa County, this State. He was reared upon his father's farm, and during all his life has been used to hard work.
When several of the Southern States rebelled against the General Government, Mr. Acheson was among the first to respond to the call of President Lincoln, and enlisted in Co. C, 11th Iowa Vol. Inf., and faithfully served his country for over four years, or until the last rebel had laid down his arms. He was in the Atalanta campaign, and with Sherman on his famous march to the sea. From the sea he marched to Washington, and was in the grand review in that city. He was honorably discharged at Louisville, Ky.
Returning home, our subject at once resumed his place upon the farm, and in 1868 was united in marriage with Miss Esther J. Duncan, a native of
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Tennessee, born Nov. 16, 1846, and daughter of Andrew and Nancy Duncan, who were also natives of Tennessee. By this union there are four children—Lizzie E., William E., Nellie L. and Robert A. Mr. Acheson may well be called a self-made man. Starting in life with nothing but his strong arm, and a will to use it, by his own efforts, aided by his good wife, he has secured a competency. They settled upon their present farm in 1868, and now have one of the best in Oregon Township, all the improvements being of the better class. He is classed to-day among the solid and influential citizens of the township. Both himself and wife are respected members of the United Presbyterian Church. Politically, he is a Republican.
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