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 MICHAEL HAYES, a farmer and stock-raiser residing on section 7, Washington Township, is a pioneer among pioneers, locating in this county as early as 1840. He was born in Madison County, Ill., Dec. 21, 1809, and is supposed to be the oldest white person born in that State. His father, Henry Hayes, was born near Brandywine, Pa., and was a boy at the time of the Revolutionary War. His mother, Rebecca (Huffaker) Hayes, was born in Tennessee. They were married in Tennessee, where two children were born, Catherine and John. In the spring or summer of 1809, the family settled in Madison County, Ill., at which time there were but few scattering houses, where Mr. Hayes made a claim and opened up a farm. He subsequently removed to the American bottom, opposite St. Louis, at which time there there was but one American in that vicinity, and he was an Indian trader. The country was then one vast wilderness, and was full of Indians. At the time of the War of 1812, the Indians in that vicinity became very troublesome, and block-houses were erected by the settlers for their protection. St. Louis was the trading point for the family and for all settlers in that country. The only means of crossing the river was in canoes. At that time the women made all the cloth used for clothing the family. There were seven children born in Illinois, of whom Michael, the subject of this sketch, is the only surviving one. Mr. and Mrs. Hayes both died and were buried on their old homestead where they lived for so many years.
Michael Hayes, the subject of this sketch, was reared upon a farm, and received but a limited education in the subscription schools of his native State. The old log school-house in which he received the rudiments of an English education, is well remembered by him. Its puncheon floors, clapboard roof, puncheon seats, and greased window-lights come to his mind day by day. While not to be compared with the more modern structures, from the old log school-houses of pioneer times have graduated many of the most noted men of the entire country. Michale Hayes and Miss Eliza Kinder were united in marriage in Madison County, Ill., in 1833. She was also a native of that county, born in 1820. Nine children were born unto them: Nancy married Frank Martin, and resides in this count; Patience is the wife of J. G. Stewart, now of Vinton, Benton Co., Iowa; Mary is the wife of J. P. Randall, of Keokuk County, Iowa; George, John, Caroline, Rebecca, Albert and Perry all reside in this county. Mrs. Hayes died some years ago.
In 1839 Mr. Hayes first visited Washington County, Iowa, and being well pleased with the country, determined to locate here. Returning to his home in Illinois, he in the spring of 1840, moved with his family and located on the spot where he now lives, and which has been his home for forty-seven years. The trip to this county was made by a boat to Burlington, Iowa, and from thence by team. At the time of his settlement there were but eighty votes cast in the entire county, about all of which were in the eastern part. The line of the first Indian purchase was about one-half mile west of his residence. During the first five years of his residence in Washington County he could scarcely obtain money enough to pay his taxes. Wheat was only worth twenty-five cents per bushel. At the time he came to this county he purchased 300 acres of land, to which he has since added other purchases from time to time, until he now owns over 1,000 acres, all of which is under cultivation, and the greater part lying in the vicinity of Washington.
In early life, Mr. Hayes was politically a Whig, but on the death of the Whig party, he became a Democrat, with which party he has since continued to act. Always opposed to slavery, he desired it to be wiped out by other means than that of blood. As already stated, Mr. Hayes has been a citizen of Washington County for nearly half a century. Today there are but few persons living in the county that can boast of so long a residence, and but few
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are better known or more universally respected than Michael Hayes.
The fine portraits of Mr. and Mrs. Hayes which are here given, will be appreciated by every old settler in Washington County, where they are so well known.
EZRA BRADFORD, farmer and stock-raiser, residing on section 28, Lime Creek Township, was born in Greenwood County, Me., April 16, 1836. He is the son of Luther and Mary (Wentworth) Bradford. They were also natives of Maine, and were the parents of four children: Virgil, a farmer of Lime Creek Township; Melville G., deceased; Ezra, our subject, and Emeline,deceased. The family remained in their native State until 1856, where Mr. Bradford was engaged in farming, and where all the children grew to be adults. In that year the father came to Lime Creek Township, this county, settling upon a farm where he made his home until his death. The last ten years of his life were spent in the home of the subject of this sketch. He died May 8, 1866, at the age of seventy-six years. He was a good man, one well informed on all matters of interest, and whose influence was felt for good in the community in which he lived. The mother died Oct. 17, 1886, and was buried in Kennebec County, Me.; she was a devoted member of the Methodist Episcopal Church.
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The early life of our subject was spent upon the farm, helping his father and attending the common schools. When fourteen years old, he left his native State and went to Massachusetts, and found employment clerking in the city of Boston for about two years, and then followed the life of a sailor until 1854, at which time he quit the sea and came to Iowa, where he remained one year, then went to Illinois, in which State he made his home until the breaking out of the Civil War. He then enlisted in the United States service, Co. D, 26th Ill. Vol. Inf., Aug. 17, 1861, for three years. He enlisted at Springfield, Ill., and from there the regiment was sent to Quincy, then to Hannibal, Mo., thence to Island No. 10, or New Madrid, and participated in that engagement; from there to Pittsburg Landing,through the siege of Corinth, the second battle of Iuka, then the second battle of Corinth, and then to Vicksburg. From Vicksburg they went to Jackson, Miss., then back to Memphis, from there across to Chattanooga, thence to Missionary Ridge, and then to Scottsboro, Ala. At the last place the regiment re-enlisted, when our subject returned home to Illinois on a thirty-days' furlough.
At the expiration of his leave of absence, Mr. Bradford rejoined the regiment at Scottsboro, and from there went to Resaca, where he participated with the command in the engagement, and then went with Sherman on his famous march to the sea, then through South Carolina, North Carolina and Virginia, to Washington, D. C., where the 26th Illinois took part in the grand review of the veterans of the war, a march which will long be remembered by all the brave boys in blue that faced the Southern battle-fire. From Washington the regiment was transferred to Louisville, Ky., and was discharged July 2, 1865. Mr. Bradford served over four years in defense of the starts and stripes that float so proudly over the Nation made free by those who sacrificed their lives to save unbroken the Union which their fathers formed.
The regiment was discharged at Springfield, Ill., and from there our subject came direct to Lime Creek Township, and engaged in farming, and in 1867, bought forty acres of land on section 26. He also rented eighty acres, and operated both farms, and in 1881 bought 120 acres on section 28, of the same township, where he now resides, engaged in general farming and stock-raising. Oct. 4, 1865, Mr. Bradford was united in marriage with Miss Amanda Carr, who was born Jan. 1, 1846, in LIme Creek Township, Washington County, and is the daughter of Isaac and Harriett M. (Pinkerton) Carr. Three children have blessed their union: Luther D., born July 13, 1866; Lyman S., April 1, 1870, and Isaac E., Aug. 29, 1881.
Mr. Bradford is a member of Ed Hamlin Post No. 112, Wellman, of which he was a charter member, and Mrs. Bradford is a member of the Women's Relief Corps No. 88, Wellman. Our subject takes an active interest in all public matters, and is a highly respected citizen of Lime Creek Township.
JESSE ASHBY, deceased, was numbered among the true pioneers of Washington County, having located one mile south of the present city of Washington in 1839. At that time there was not a building on the town site, and Mr. Ashby assisted Jonathan Wilson in hauling the logs for the first building erected in the town. Indians were frequent visitors to his cabin as they passed to and fro, and before they were formally removed. Burlington was the trading point of all the citizens when they designed to buy any particular amount of supplies.
Jesse Ashby was born in Alleghany County, Md., Aug. 31, 1788, and in about 1811, was there united in marriage with Miss Elizabeth Wilson, a daughter of Thomas and Elizabeth Wilson, and subsequently settled in what is now West Virginia, where they remained until about 1834, when they moved to Perry County, Ohio. In 1839 they came to Washington County, where they resided until their death. They were the parents of six children, five of whom are yet living: Mary W., of Washington County; Julia F., the wife of Morgan Hart, of Wilson County, Kan.; Priscilla B. the wife of Reb. E. W. Twining, of Corning, Iowa; Hester W., the widow of Alpheus B. Dickens, of Washington; Elizabeth, who married William Bickford, and is now deceased, as is also her husband;
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Eusebius W. H. of this county. Mrs. Ashby died about 1851, and Mr. Ashby subsequently married Mrs. Fannie Ritchie, by whom he had one son, Jesse A., of Keota, Keokuk Co., Iowa.
REV. JOHN FRANCIS KEMPKER was born at Pleasant Ridge, Lee Co., Iowa, May 18, 1848. He is the son of Gerhard H. and Theresa (Achwelms) Kempker, of Hanover, Germany, where they were born, reared and married. Two children were born in Germany, Henry and Theresa, both of whom came with their parents to America in the spring of 1848. In April of that year Gerhard Kempker made a claim to a tract of land which he afterward entered at a Government land sale in Burlington. Upon this land he erected a log house, and into this the family moved, beginning soon afterward a pioneer life in its fullest sense. After arriving in Lee County the family remained some time with J. H. Kempker, a relative of the family, who had preceded them and had located in Iowa in 1836. He was an ardent Catholic, and while prospecting for a home in the Territory, found his way to Sugar Creek, Lee County, where a few families had already located. He, with H. Holtkamp, organized a Catholic Church as the settlers came in, and the first service held by a priest, Rev. Aug. Brickwedde, of Quincy, occurred May 11, 1838, in a new barn just completed, belonging to J. H. Kempker. At that time about ten families became members, and this small congregation grew until, in 1867, a resident priest, Rev. M. Michels, was called. It is now a large and prosperous charge, and to the Kempker families the honor may be ascribed of being the first in that neighborhood to organize a Catholic Church.
After the family of Gerhard Kempker settled on the Lee County farm, other children were born, as follows: John F., Mary and Margaret. Here the family remained until 1857, when they removed to West Point, in the same county, where three more children were born—Catherine Bernard, Joseph and George. The father engaged in farming on his own lands from the time he first came to Iowa, except one year, and is yet living a retired life upon the farm, where his last are his happiest years. When he came to Iowa he spoke only the German language, and conversed with his neighbors by signs; neither did he bring with him a wealth of silver and gold, for a few dollars comprised his entire fortune. His start was really made without capital, and he was known in the early days as "the plucky Dutchman;" but throughout his whole life fair dealing and the strictest integrity were preserved in, until he accumulated quite a little fortune.
The death of Mrs. Kempker occurred Jan. 31, 1880, in her fifty-seventh year. She passed away leaving a family of children well settled in life, and a husband who is an honored resident of West Point and a valued citizen of Lee County. Her death was deeply mourned, and her funeral was one of the largest ever occurring in that neighborhood. Rev. Father Jacobz, her beloved pastor, officiated at the services, and from the church where for many years she had devoutly worshiped, her remains were carried to their last resting-place. All the children but four are married and have families. Henry wedded Josephine Sallen and is a resident farmer of St. Stephen, Neb.; Mary wedded Bernard Lampe, who is now deceased, but during his lifetime was extensively engaged in farming and brewing at West Point; Margaret became the wife of Joseph Nacke, a merchant tailor of West Point; Bernard H. wedded Miss Kate Strothmann, and resides somewhere in the West; Joseph became the husband of Miss Martin, of Carroll County, Iowa, and is a merchant at Breda, in that County; Theresa is an invalid, and remains with her father on the old homestead; George is in the West, and Miss Kate is housekeeper for our subject.
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John Francis Kempker received his classical education at Milwaukee, graduating there. His health failed prior to that time, and physicians advised him to go to a more congenial climate; consequently, in 1868 he went to Bardstown, Ky., where he took a classical course, and then a course in theology and philosophy at Cape Girardeau, in 1870-71, completing his theological studies at Milwaukee in 1872. During his term at Bardstown, Ky., our subject was professor of the German language. After his vacation, Rev. Kempker was appointed assistant priest to Father McMenomy at Council Bluffs, whre he principally attended the out-missions through Pottawattamie, Mills, Fremont, Montgomery, Shelby, Harrison and Crawford Counties. From there he was appointed pastor at Mt. Carmel, Carroll Co., Iowa, where he remained two years. This was a new and rapidly-growing county, and through his efforts was made a very strong Catholic colony, and our subject organized congregations and erected four churches in the county. He also organized a parochial school and erected a building at Mt. Carmel. The churches were erected at Carroll, Roselle and Arcadia, and the church at Mt. Carmel was completely remodeled. Lyons and Sugar Creek comprised the next charges assigned to him, Nov. 1, 1875, which were faithfully attended until November, 1877, when he was assigned to Garnavillo, Clayton County, where he reduced a large Church debt and erected another parochial residence. From there he was called to the house of Bishop Hennessy, of Dubuque, where he remained seven months, and was then appointed pastor at Ft. Madison, where he remained three years, from whence he was sent to Neola, Pottawattamie County, of which he was the first priest. While there Rev. Kempker built an addition to the church. He then went to Brooklyn, Poweshiek Co., Iowa, where he erected two churches, one in Brooklyn and one in Grinnell, leaving the first free from debt and the second with only a small amount due,which has since been liquidated. This was done in six months when he was transferred to Keokuk, where he remained until 1885, during which time he erected a fine parochial residence and organized a school. Riverside, Washington County, was his next appointment, to which he came in May, 1886. His first experience in this village was a most unpleasant one, as robbers made him a midnight visit and despoiled him of a nice gold watch and $280 in cash. Since taking charge of this congregation he has secured a $350 bell, two alters and an organ, and the Church is now in a flourishing condition, with the members acting in the utmost harmony. The membership is fully 600 souls, besides many who are not regular attendants.
Rev. Father Kempker is a member of the State Historical Society at Iowa City, a member of the American Catholic Historical Society of Philadelphia, and since January, 1887, has written and published each week in The Iowa, of Dubuque, an article upon the history of the Catholic Church in Iowa, and since July has contributed to the Davenport Messenger an article upon the same topic. He is also a graduate in medicine of the Keokuk Medical College, of the class of 1885. Some important positions have been held temporarily by our subject: the one, pastor of St. Matthias Church, of Muscatine, during the absence of the pastor while upon a trip to Europe, and a similar position at St. Mary's Church at Iowa City, during the absence of Father Emmonds. Full of promise, and already having an enviable position in the Church of which he is the resident priest, in this village, the sketch of Rev. John F. Kempker adds luster to the records of the Catholic Church, and we note the above facts with a pardonable degree of pride. They were collected from an authentic source and are presented to the thousands who will peruse this volume at a later period.
JOHN P. BABCOCK, a retired farmer, living in Washington, has been a resident of Washington County since 1855, the year in which the first railroad locomotive was ever placed on Iowa soil. In the thirty-two years in which he has lived here he has witnessed the building of thousands of miles of railroad, and lived to see the county seat of each of the ninety-nine counties of the State, penetrated by the iron horse. The changes that have been wrought are marvelous,
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indeed, and can scarcely be realized even by those who actively participated in the stirring events of the past third of a century. Mr. Babcock is a native of Rensselaer County, N.Y., born Nov. 24, 1829, and is the son of Staunton and Theresa Babcock. HIs parents at an early day emigrated to Knox County, Ohio, where they lived until 1856, when they came to this county, where both have since died, the former in 1867, and the latter in 1869. They were both members of the Missionary Baptist Church, and died in the faith. Wherever known, they were highly respected, and were honest and upright in all their dealings with their fellowmen. In politics the father was originally a Whig, but when the Republican party was organized he affiliated with it until his death.
John P. Babcock was a farmer's boy, reared to farm life in a day when all work was done by hand, when riding cultivators, self-binding reapers, and other later day inventions were unknown. The educational advantages he received were such as were common to boys situated as he was, his education being received in the common schools of his native State. He accompanied his parents to Knox County, Ohio, and there became acquainted with and married Miss Hannah H. Corbin, a native of that county and State, born Sept. 10, 1829, and daughter of Lyman and Lucretia Corbin. Her father was a native of Massachusetts, and her mother of Vermont. They were among the pioneers of Knox County, Ohio. Mr. and Mrs. Babcock have three children living—Lyman B., William C. and Charles.
In 1855, as already stated, Mr. Babcock came to Washington County, Iowa, and purchased a partially improved farm on section 16, Jackson Township. This farm he worked, making it one of the best in the township, and upon it he lived till 1884, when he rented it out and moved to Washington, where he has since been living a retired life. The farm consists of 240 acres of land, all of which is under cultivation. In his farming operations Mr. Babcock was quite successful, but, while generally prosperous, he has met with some reverses. On the 22d of May, 1873, a tornado passed over, destroying his residence, valued at $2,000, and doing other damage to the amount of $3,000. This loss did not dishearten him. Setting about the work he in time had his residence rebuilt, and is entire property in as good, if not better shape, than it had previously been. Religiously, Mr. Babcock is a Baptist, and form many years was a leading member and a Deacon in the Church at Richmond. For the cause of Christianity, he gave liberally of his means. His wife is also a member of the Baptist Church at Richmond.
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