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SAMUEL THOMPSON, farmer and stock-raiser on section 23, Washington Township, was born in Logan County, Ohio, July 28, 1844, and is the son of Jason and Nancy A. (Watson) Thompson, who were also natives of Logan County, Ohio. He was reared upon a farm and received a liberal education. In October, 1855, he came with his parents to Washington County, Iowa, where he helped to open up a farm. In the fall of 1862 he enlisted in Co. I, 25th Iowa Vol. Inf., and mustered in at Mt. Pleasant. The first expedition in which the regiment was engaged was that of Helena, Ark., after Price. Mr. Thompson accompanied this expedition and was taken sick at Helena, where he remained in a hospital for three months, and was then sent to St. Louis, where he also remained for some months, and in October, 1863, was discharged from the service on account of disability. He has never since fully recovered his health.
Returning to his home in Crawford Township, on the 22nd of December, 1864, Mr. Thompson was married to Miss Eleanor Maxwell, a daughter of Robert Maxwell, of Crawford Township, Washington County, one of the prominent and early settlers.
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She was born in Crawford Township, Dec. 22, 1847. By this union there were six children, four living. Cora B. died at the age of fifteen years, and one child in infancy. The living are Nancy C., Robert M., Martha A. and Nelson W. Mr. Thompson is the owner of 200 acres of land which is under a high state of cultivation, and is well improved in every respect. His possessions were not inherited, but were acquired through his own labor assisted in a great measure by that of his wife. He is now numbered among the well-to-do farmers of Washington Township.
Politically, Mr. Thompson is a Republican of the stalwart kind, and has affiliated with that part since its organization. Religiously, he is a Presbyterian, and a member of that church in Washington. Mrs. Thompson is also a member of the Presbyterian Church. In educational matters, Mr. Thompson has alway manifested considerable interest, and in fact, in all things tending to advance the interests of the county, he has taken an active part, and is ever ready to contribute of his means not only for himself, but for his fellowmen.
THOMAS COLTHURST, of Oregon Township, is a stone-cutter by trade, and is numbered among the pioneers of Washington County, He was born in Lancaster County, England, in 1806, and came to America in 1842, settling in Washington County. He married Fannie Reistine, a native of Kentucky, by whom he had two children: William, deceased, and Isabel, the wife of Theodore Neal, of this county. she died in 1848, and Mr. Colthurst in 1850 wedded Ann Lawson, in Louisa County. She was born in 1822. There were four children in the family: Thomas, the subject of this sketch; Isaac; Mattie, the wife of Cal. Pearson, of this township, and Ettie, the wife of James Stewart, also of this township. Mary died many years ago.
Mr. Colthurst came to this county in 1844, and first purchased 120 acres of timber and forty of prairie land. He added by subsequent purchases until he had about 600 acres of well-improved land, the result of a life of hard labor and good management. His son, Isaac L. Colthurst, was married in Des Moines County, Iowa, in 1882, to Bertha Rogers, the daughter of John T. and Melinda Rogers. She was born in the Rocky Mountains in Colorado, in 1860. They have one child, Carrie. He has had the management of his father's farm for six years, in connection with 200 acres of his own land.
Mr. Colthurst is a member of the Baptist, and Mrs. Colthurst of the Unitarian Church. In politics, he is a Republican. Isaac C. Colthurst is following in the footsteps of his father, and is making one of the best farmers in Oregon township. He is a young man of good habits, and is highly respected wherever he is known. A pioneer among pioneers, Mr. Colthurst is well known to almost all the old settlers of Washington County, and enjoys the respect and confidence of all ho know him, this not from the fact that he is an old settler, but because he is worthy in every respect.
M. G. CAMPBELL, farmer and stock-raiser, resides on section 10, Oregon Township. He is a native of Mercer County, Pa., born in 1837, and is the son of Mark and Anna (Adams) Campbell, both natives of Pennsylvania, the former of Scotch and the latter of Irish descent. The father died in 1862, while the mother is still living in Pennsylvania at the age of eighty-seven. They reared a family of five children, all of whom are living, and two residing in this county.
The subject of this sketch was reared on a farm and has followed that occupation thus far through life. He came to this county in 1861, and settled at Ainsworth, where he remained two years, then went to a farm near Crawfordsville, where he remained one year, and in 1864 came to his present farm, where he purchased eight acres of raw prairie at $4 per acre. He has since added to his original purchase until he now owns 140 acres in the home farm and thirty acres on another section. The land which at that time, as already stated, was raw prairie, he has improved, until he has now one of the finest farms in Oregon Township, with a neat residence, good barns, and all other necessary out-
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buildings. Everything around him denotes thrift and enterprise. In 1858 he married Mary L. Vaughn, a native of Mercer County, Pa., born in 1841, and the daughter of John Vaughn. Her parents died when she was a small child. Mr. and Mrs. Campbell are the parents of seven children, all living: John W., the eldest, married Etta Carson, and has one child, Harry; W. L. resides in Missouri; Anna is the wife of A. Cocklin, of this county; Frank resides at home; E. Belle, Mark and James L. are also at home.
Politically, Mr. Campbell is a Republican, though at the same time a strong Prohibitionist. He and his wife are both members of the Presbyterian Church, and in the work and services of the Church take great delight. On their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Campbell were in limited circumstances, but they have toiled early land late, have been economical in their expenditures, and have thus acquired a comfortable property. They both enjoy the respect and confidence of all who know them.
FRANK X. SCHERRER, merchant, at Riverside, Iowa, was born in Alsace, Frnce, in 1837. He is the youngest son of John and Anna (Eihangel) Scherrer, of whom a sketch is given in that of John Scherrer, their eldest son, which appears elsewhere in this volume. Our subject received a liberal education in his native country prior to the emigration of the family to America in 1852, but after coming to Iowa, like other lads of his age, had to work on the farm in the summer, and the winter evenings were spent in studying the English language, in which he became quite proficient, and has developed into a thorough-going business man. He remained with his father several years before he mastered the language, to learn which he hired a man in his stead to work for his father, and himself hired to W. B. Ford, Esq., paying his wages to his father.
After working three years for Mr. Ford, and having by that time become of legal age, the young German found himself in possession of one year's wages, and fully accustomed to the habits of the American people. At that time everything was in a fever of excitement regarding the gold discoveries in California, and in company with his brother Louis, their cousin Jacob Scherrer, and Harmann Swankey, he purchased two yoke of cattle, and in a covered wagon started for the land of promise. They crossed the plains safely, the journey occupying almost three months. Pike's Peak was really their objective point, but meeting every day men on foot carrying in their hands a carpet sack, and also many wagons returning with scores of disgusted fortune hunters, when Laramie City was reached, they changed their route, having heard Rev. Henry Ward Beecher lecture there upon the great advantages of Colorado, and becoming infatuated with his ideas of its resources, retraced their steps for 200 miles along the mountains, and reached Boulder City July 20 of that year. Two of the boys attended the stock, and the others began mining, but met with poor success.
After testing it to their satisfaction, they all took a claim of a quarter section, and made arrangements to go into the stock business and engage in farming. Louis was detailed to return on horseback to Omaha, and with what money the boys could raise, to buy a farm, and load the wagon with merchantable goods, and get back as soon as possible. He mounted a pony, and alone, in the winter, traveled the entire distance, and made his return to the ranch in May, 1960. He also took with him a breaking-plow, and in a short time ground was ready for the seed, and to the Scherrer boys belongs the distinction of planting and raising the first crop of potatoes in Colorado. The product was sold during the autumn for twenty-five cents per pound. The boys did so well that the next winter Louis was sent back to Omaha, and he brought with him to the ranch two loads of flour and bacon. Before he reached them, however, all their supplies had given out, and they were obliged to subsist entirely upon game, not even having salt to use with it. That fall Frank and his cousin bought the interest of Louis in everything but the land. Louis went to freighting on his own account, and Frank remained in charge of the Colorado ranch, while Jacob came to Iowa and purchased cattle and more stores and returned, accompanied by two of his sisters. The bachelor quarters were
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soon improved, and after another year's partnership, Frank purchased his cousin Jacob's interest in the stock, and married Jacob's sister Mary, who had accompanied him to the West, the ceremony being performed by Rev. Father Mischbauf, in September, 1862.
At this time Frank Scherrer was the owner of quite a large dairy, and made large quantities of butter which commanded a high price. At that business the young couple prospered, and in 1865 concluded to sell out and return to Iowa, and in a wagon came back to the home of their fathers. The Colorado ranch had been traded for a farm in Lucas County, but this was later disposed of, and Mr. Scherrer bought a farm southeast of Richmond. They afterward moved to Washington, Iowa, and took charge of the "Washington House," in partnership with Joseph Critz, which was conducted for one year, when Mr. Scherrer returned to Richmond and engaged in the mercantile trade for ten years. In 1876 he sold that stock and began the mercantile trade in the new town of Riverside, where he has continued to this time. Their two eldest children, Josephine and Fanny, were born in Colorado; Edward, Oscar, Norman and Amelia, were born in the State of Iowa; Fanny is now the wife of Edward Woodward, of Denver, Col.; Josephine formerly conducted a millinery business in Riverside, but is now a resident of Denver, Col. The children are all in that State at present, while the father is engaged in the grocery trade at Riverside.
ALLEN SINGMASTER came to this county in 1854 in company with his parents, and settled in Dutch Creek Township. He now resides on section 12, Franklin Township, and is engaged in general farming and milling. He is a native of Clark County, Mo., born in 1841, and is the son of Charles and Eliza (Heist) Singmaster, who were natives of Pennsylvania.
Allen Singmaster was reared upon his father's farm, and received but a limited education in the common schools. He married, in 1865, Katie Carnahan, a native of Philadelphia, Pa., and daughter of Richmond Carnahan. Nine children have been born to them: Harry, engaged in farming in Clay Township; Orvis, a graduate of the Business College in Davenport, in 1886, now at home; Ernest aged fifteen, is engaged in running the stationary engine in his father's mill; Minnie, Bessie, Ethel, Allen, Carl and Stanley, all at home.
Mr. Singmaster is the owner of 106 acres of land, twenty of which is timber, the rest improved. In addition to general farming, he is engaged in breeding stock, both horses and cattle. He has the only thoroughbred Jersey cattle in the county. He is also engaged in running a custom mill, manufacturing corn meal, Graham flour and feed for stock. A sawmill is also attached, which is used five days in the week in sawing native lumber. A power furnished from a 15-horse power engine, manufactured to order by Thomas Seevers, of Oskaloosa. Mr. Singmaster is a natural mechanic, and an industrious, persevering man, one enjoying the respect and confidence of all who know him. He is a member of the Legion of Honor, of Washington.
DANIEL ANDERSON, farmer and stock-raiser, on section 20, Franklin Township, has been a resident of Washington County since 1855. He was born in Miami County, Ohio, in 1832, and is the son of Peter and Jane (Gilkison) Anderson, both of whom were natives of Pennsylvania. He was reared upon a farm, and remained at home until twenty-one years of age, when he left Ohio and went to Marshall County, Ind., where he remained two years, engaged in working at the carpenter trade. He then came to Washington County, where he worked at his trade twelve years, and then removed to his present farm, which consists of 280 acres of fine land, all of which is under cultivation. His first purchase was 100 acres,to which he has since added 180 acres. On the 15th of January, 1864, Mr. Anderson was united in marriage with Nancy Davis, a native of Indiana, and daughter of Samuel Davis. By this union there were two children—W. A., now in the State of Kansas, and Alonzo, residing at home. Mrs. Anderson died Nov. 30, 1869, aged about thirty
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years. On the 28th of December, 1871, Mr. Anderson was again married, choosing as a wife Miss Sarah B. Todd, a native of Indiana, and daughter of Abel Todd. By this union there are three children—John, Frank, and Charles E., all of whom are residing at home.
Politically Mr. Anderson is a Democrat, but does not take an active part in politics. He has served several terms as Road Supervisor, much against his will. The father of Mr. Anderson died in 1860, aged sixty-five, and the mother in 1881, at the age of seventy-four years. As may be inferred from what has already been said, Mr. Anderson commenced life in very limited circumstances. for many years working at his trade of carpenter, laying by from time to time a small sum until he had acquired sufficient to make his first purchase of land. Good fortune has attended him since he commenced his life as a farmer, and he is now numbered among the thrifty farmers of Franklin Township, and is entitled to the respect entertained for him by his friends and neighbors generally.
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