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JACOB FESLER, grain-dealer, Iowa Township, was born in Rockingham County, Va., in 1827, and is the son of John and Elizabeth (Hoover) Fesler. John Fesler was a native of Lebanon County, Pa., and prior to his marriage had emigrated to Virginia. His father, George Fesler, was a stonemason by trade, and for many years followed that vocation. After the death of his wife, he removed to Madison County, Ind., about 1837, and died in that State about 1844. George Fesler was the father of a large family, of whom seven went to Indiana. Of these, John, the father of our subject, emigrated from Virginia in 1832, and settled in Henry County, Ind. Six children were born in Virginia—George, John, Jacob, Catherine, Mary and Peter. After removing to Indiana, Sarah, Frederick and Samuel were born, and after the family came to Iowa, Hannah and William were born. John cleared up a farm in Indiana, and had it nicely improved before leaving.
Desiring more room, and wishing to retire from the mercantile trade, in which he was engaged at Middletown, John Fesler in 1839, came to Johnson County, Iowa, purchased a claim of 300 acres, and returned to Indiana for his family, who in the autumn of 1840 became citizens of Iowa, and he relationship is large in that county, mostly children of John and Jacob. Coming before land was opened for actual purchase, of course neighbors were few. David and Joshua Switzer had erected a sawmill on "Old Man's Creek," and owned a small gristmill near Iowa City. But few improvements had been made, yet the first few settlers had made claim to a large area of land along the river. John purchased his claim of Jacob Earhart, who "squatted" upon the tract in 1836. Van Fleet also owned a part of the lands purchased by Mr. Fesler. The newcomers made improvements upon the land, and the first crop was raised in 1841. The first year they came, land was rented and a crop raised. John had some money, which made his beginning easier than many men who came at an early day. His elder children were large enough to be of some service. John Fesler was one of the masons who erected the capitol building at Iowa City, upon which he worked in 1840-42. This is now the State University Building. His death occurred in 1843 while en route to Indiana. HIs wife survived him until 1856, and her remains are interred in the cemetery which was a part of the first claim purchased by her husband.
Our subject remained upon the old homestead until his marriage, in 1848, to Mary Slife. In 1855 he removed to this county and purchased first the farm now owned by D. J. Godlove. In 1866 he sold that farm and purchased 140 acres two miles north of Riverside, which he still owns, but is a resident of Riverside, to which village he removed with his family in 1878. In 1874 he engaged in the grain business, renting an elevator erected by the grangers in 1873. The business he has continued to date, having in 1880 purchased the elevator, the only one in the village. Six children were born to Jacob and Mary (Slife) Fesler, four living: John, the husband of Lucina Ford; Daniel A., whose sketch appears elsewhere; Eldora L., the wife of J. P. McClushey, and Eddie S., who wedded Viola Gwinn. In 1859 our subject was Assessor of the township, which office he held for three years. When the war broke out, he enlisted as a private in Co. A, 22d Iowa Vol. Ing., and from
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the autumn of 1863 until the close of the war, he remained at his post. He was in ill-health the first year, and when a regiment known as the 3d Veteran Reserve Corps was organized, he was transferred to it while in Texas. During the remainder of his service, the regiment did garrison duty at Washington, D.C., recruiting in New York. Mr Fesler served as Corporal of a company in this regiment.
In 1868, and after his return from the war, Jacob Fesler was elected Supervisor of Iowa Township, serving the last term before the new law governing the election of County Supervisors came into effect. This was followed by his election as Assessor for two years, and later he was elected Township Clerk for several consecutive years. He was also Trustee as long as he would consent to serve, and after his coming to the village was elected and served a three-years official on the second board. Mr. Fesler is one of the oldest settlers of the neighborhood, being only thirteen years of age when the family moved to Johnson County, and he is now in his fifty-ninth year. His children are well married and settled in life, and the parents can look back upon a well-spent life, with a feeling of gratitude for the blessings which have followed in their footsteps, and in those of their kindred.
WILLIAM B. FORD, a retired farmer, was born in Herkimer Co., N.Y., in May, 1812, and is the son of David Ford. The Ford family are of Irish origin, but may be denominated Yankees. David and his wife lived and died upon the farm in New York, where for many years they owned and operated a dairy of fifty cows.
They reared a family of ten children, of whom our subject is the only one coming West. Albigence W., Aldis, Lydia, Sarah, Almira, Mary and our subject are living, married and have families, all residents of York State except William, who came West in the autumn of 1838, and settled in Johnson County, five miles from the village of Riverside. He entered a half section and afterward purchased other tracts, and now owns in Johnson County 500 acres in one body. The original entry is still in his possession, also the original patent.
David Ford was a lover of the chase, and as this was at that time the frontier where Indians were more plentiful than white men, William was a favorite with them, and they were inseparable companions upon hunting expeditions. He built a log cabin and kept bachelor quarters until his marriage, upon the land of Asa Bailey, who came with him from New York, and is still a resident of Johnson County, residing within forty rods of he original cabin site. Bailey did the cooking and Mr. Ford provided the game. Mr. Ford never learned the Indian language perfectly, although he could converse very well by signs, and his friendship for them never diminished. He was a successful trader, and many a pony found its way from their herds to his stable. He excelled them in rifle shooting, but the Indians were generally more successful in hunting than he, yet they never quarreled.
In the spring of 1843, William B. Ford was married to Magdalena Kepler, whose parents were natives of Pennsylvania, Lancaster County, who first emigrated to Ohio, and in 1842 to Johnson County. Mr. Ford soon became acquainted with the new comers, and being tired of a bachelor's life, married, and began domestic life in a log house built upon his own land. In the spring of 1845, Orrin B., his first son, was born, the gentleman who furnishes the items for this biography. A large family graced the union of Mr. and Mrs. Ford, eleven of whom are living, and all grew to be adults. Orrin remembers well the pioneer days in the old cabin, which has been replaced by a modern brick residence. He says many times he and the younger children crowded under the bed for fear the wolves should attack them, as their mournful howls and large numbers made it seem like a funeral dirge. Many times has he seen deer in droves of twenty or thirty standing about the clearing or galloping across the fields. Their meat was principally venison and wild turkey. Sometimes there would be the carcasses of thirty or more deer hanging in their granary at one time, and in fact they were often fed to the hogs.
William B. Ford was one of the first Justices of
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Johnson County, and performed the first marriage ceremony in that county, where for almost forty years he served as a Justice. He helped to erect the first log house in Iowa City, and when court was convened at an early day, William was summoned to appear. He had no money to pay board, and as usual depended upon his rifle to bring down game enough to defray expenses. Hitching up his team, he started across the country, and when he drove into Iowa City he had captured enough deer to pay expenses for several days. He became later in life a very wealthy man, and now lives with his wife a retired life in a handsome residence in Riverside. He took a trip west when seventy-five years of age, and as a trophy of his marksmanship, brought back with him the heads of a fine buck and antelope which he had killed. They now ornament the storeroom of his son Orrin. Perhaps no man is better known in Southeastern Iowa than Mr. Ford, and we regret that a personal chat could not be had with him, as he was absent upon a visit to his native State. Their children were Orrin B., Thomas H., Adolphus S., Electa L. (deceased), Amelia J., Sarah A., Lucina A., William A., Walter, Edward W., Mary E. and Alfred E. Thomas H. wedded Rosie Brindle, of Pennsylvania, and is now Clerk of Hamilton County, Kan., and owns a 3,000 acre stock farm; Adolphus S. married Elizabeth Overholser, and resides near the paternal homestead in Johnson County; Electa wedded J. P. Coe, became the mother of two children, and died in Kan.; Amelia J. married Frank Overholser, a farmer of Ringgold County, Iowa; Sarah A. is the wife of John Slichter, a stockman of Wyoming Territroy; Lucina A. is the wife of John Fesler, a partner of his father, Jacob Fesler,in the grain business at Riverside; William A. is the husband of Rosetta Tucker, and is also a stockman of Wyoming; Walter W. married Sarah Forbis, and resides on the old homestead. The three youngest children are unmarried.
Orrin B. wedded for his wife Mary Switzer, of Jewell County, Kan., and after her death, Ida Story of the same county, became his wife. Their wedding was celebrated July 3, 1881. Orrin went to Kansas in the spring of 1872, where for seven years he farmed, and the last two years of his residence there were spent in the livery business at Burr Oak. Their eldest daughter, Annie M., was born there, and was only three weeks old when her parents came to Riverside. Thomas H. Ford erected a two-story brick store in 1879, and was engaged in general merchandising. Later he sold out to the Alcorn Bros., who were succeeded in business by Orrin, who purchased the stock March 24, 1885, and still continues the business. Four children have been born to them since coming to Riverside; Arthur, Charley (deceased), Harry and Willy Roy. Orris was a soldier during the late war, enlisting March 4, 1864, in Co. D, 24th Iowa Regiment, and his regiment was transferred to the Shenandoah Valley, under Gen. Phil Sheridan, serving in the battles of Winchester, Fisher's Hill, and Cedar Creek, all within thirty days. At the last battle he was wounded, a rebel bullet passing through his right thigh, which incapacitated him for duty for some time. After his furlough of thirty days had expired, he returned to his regiment and remained until the close of the war. Two of his comrades were carrying him off the field, and while doing so, one of them was shot dead with Orrin in his arms.
We present this sketch with pleasure, as it gives a place to one of the pioneer families, as well as to a brave soldier who is now a resident of the county.
ALEXANDER DUNCAN, of Washington, is another one of the truly representative pioneers of Washington County, having made this his home since 1847, a period of forty years. He is a native of Ireland, born in 1813, and is the son of John and Elizabeth Duncan, both of whom were also natives of that country. When Alexander was about seven years of age, the family emigrated to America and located in Somerset County, Pa., where they remained eight years, and then moved to Washington County, in the same State. In 1833 they removed to Richland County, Ohio, where Mr. Duncan died in his one hundredth year. Mrs. Duncan died in Coshocton County, Ohio, from a cancer, in her eighty-sixth year. With the exception of the cancerous
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trouble, she was a hale and hearty woman. They were both members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and were among the first to embrace that faith in the days of John and Charles Wesley. Five children were born unto them, of whom two are yet living—Samuel, now living in Missouri, and Alexander, in Washington, Iowa.
Alexander Duncan was reared upon his father's farm, and from the time when he was physically able, had to do his share of the work in its cultivation and improvement. The education received by him was only such as could be obtained in the old log school-house. That school-house, with its puncheon floor, slab seats and greased paper window-lights, is well remembered by him. For a time he was required to go four miles to school.
On the 17th of August, 1837, our subject was united in marriage with Miss Lydia Frederick, a daughter of Peter and Elizabeth Frederick, who were of German descent, their fore-parents being among the first to emigrate to America. Mr. Duncan was born in Tuscarawas County, Ohio, in 1817. She is a cousin of Hon. Ben Frederick, of Marshalltown, Iowa. After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Duncan settled in Richland County, Ohio, where Mr. Duncan opened two farms in the heavy timber. In 1847 they sold their possessions in Ohio and came to Iowa, being urged so to do by a brother of Mrs. Duncan, who had come to this State several years previously. They came across the country with teams and landed in Brighton in September of that year. Mr. Duncan first purchased land just across the line in Keokuk County, which he improved and upon which he lived two years, then sold out and bought and improved a farm of 137 acres in Franklin Township, there were but three houses in sight, and it was thought strange by many that he should settle out upon the prairie. But his choice was a good one, and he never had cause to regret it. He broke the first prairie east of Indian Creek.
Mr. and Mrs. Duncan were never blessed with children, but years ago they adopted Caroline Homel, who was then two years of age. The child was given their name, and as Caroline Duncan, grew to womanhood under the kind and watchful careof her foster parents, and is now the wife of N.N. Vinquest, an ice dealer of Kansas City.
In early life, Mr. Duncan was politically a Whig, casting his first vote for William Henry Harrison for the Presidency. Since its organization he has affiliated wit the Republican party. Religiously, he and his wife are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Coming to this country in limited circumstances, by industry and economy, he has accumulated enough to make him and his aged wife comfortable the remainder of their days. In this community none are more highly respected than Mr. and Mrs. Duncan, the pioneers of 1847.
FRED A. DRUF, merchant, and present Mayor of the city of Riverside, was born in Evansville, Ind., in the year 1841. He is the son of C. C. and Catharine Druf, both of whom were natives of Prussia. the former emigrated to America in 1836, and the latter two years later. They both drifted to Evansville, where they were afterward married. By trade C. C. Druf was a miller, and was engaged in that business during his residence in Indiana. In 1843 the family emigrated to Natchez, Miss., where Mr. Druf was engaged in building for about a year. While a resident of Natchez, their only daughter, Mary C. was born. In 1844 the family removed to Iowa Township, Washington County, and entered 240 acres of land on section 21, which was their home until 1877, when they removed to Riverside, where the last six years of Mr. Druf's life were spent. Upon this land he built a two-story log cabin, long since torn away and replaced, first by a frame and afterward by a brick residence. Upon this farm, under three large oak trees which graced their dooryard, the first Fourth of July celebration of this township was held, and perhaps the first one in the county. Nathaniel McClure was the speaker of the day. Dinner was served under the trees, on rough
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plank tables. The total population of Iowa Township at that time was represented at the celebration, numbering twenty-four souls. At that festal board the patriotism of the pioneer was no less manifest than to-day, when with martial band and caparisoned steeds the crowd parade the principal streets of a great city, whose march is heralded by the boom of cannon and the firing of guns. Those bronzed and bearded men, with their wives and children, had emigrated to the new country to find and make homes, and as the hearty hand-clasp was given and the crowd separated, three as hearty cheers as were ever given for th "Red, White and Blue" were borne away and echoed in the distant hills.
C. C. Druf was one of the first Township Trustees of Iowa Township, and perhaps served in less important offices at an early day. He was not a politician in any sense, but during his life was an ardent Democrat, and the principles so warmly advocated by the father are endorsed by the son, who is a leader in Democratic local politics in this township. The attention of C. C. Druf was wholly confined to agriculture during his working days in this county, and before his death he was one of the wealthy farmers having accumulated money by hard work. He retained until his death his first entry of lands, which were at that time divided between his children. In 1877 he and his wife came to Riverside to spend their declining years, but their life's journey was almost ended. His death occurred in the spring of 1883, and his devoted wife survive him one year. In the death of Mr. and Mrs. Druf the county sustained the loss of one of her first and most highly respected families. Their daughter became the wife of Joseph R. Rose, a son of A. B. Rose, one of the original proprietors of the town plat of Riverside, whose personal history appears in this volume. The family are now residents of LaCrosse, Rush Co., Kan., where Mr. Rose is engaged in the furniture business, and also owns a couple of farms, and, like his father, is an enterprising man.
Our subject, Fred A. Druf, was educated in this township, and until his marriage remained with his father on the farm. At the age of twenty-eight years he left the farm and engaged in the mercantile trade. His marriage with Miss Mary M., daughter of Isaac and Bertha (Noble) Whitehead, was celebrated in December, 1862. He had just returned from the army, in which he had enlisted as a member of Co. F, 1st Iowa Vol. Cav. His service was of an active character from the time of his enlistment until he was discharged on account of disability. He afterward recovered sufficiently to enable him to do farm work, and for eight years he managed the old homestead. He then began business in Yatton, putting in a stock of general merchandise, where he remained until Riverside was platted and the village started, when he moved his goods to the new town, and has since remained one of her merchants. In addition to his general store, Mayor Druf has embarked in the lumber business, and is also engaged in the grain business. He, in partnership with T. H. Ford, purchased and shipped stock until 1881, when the firm was dissolved. The firm of Cress & Druf began business June 1, 1887, following the old firm of Mechling & Cress, in the same line, and in the first store building erected in Riverside.
With inclinations towards politics, Mr. Druf has always been a party leader, as mentioned elsewhere, and has done more to further the interests of his party than perhaps any other man in the township. He was the first Mayor of the village of Riverside after the incorporation of the same and as proof of his adaptability for the position he has since been twice elected, and is the present incumbent. He has been Town Recorder and Secretary of the School Board for a number of years, in all of which he has shown a fine business record. Having no children of their own, Mr. and Mrs. Druf adopted a daughter, Ida Violetta, now in her eleventh year.
JOEL R. CRUMPACKER, farmer on section 30, Jackson Township, was born in Botetourt County, Va., July 6, 1825. He is a son of Benjamin and Mary (Stoner) Crumpacker. Benjamin Crumpacker was born in Maryland, and his father Joel Crumpacker, was for more than a half a century an acceptable minister of the Dunkard
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faith. The eldest brother of our subject, John, was a successful physician during his lifetime, and his youngest, Daniel, was for many years a minister of the Methodist Episcopal Church. He was a highly educated gentleman, and served as Auditor of Lake County, Ind., for a number of years. He died while a resident of Washington, D.C., being at that time a Government clerk in one of the departments. The father of Mary Stoner, and his sons, were merchants; several son-in-laws were also engaged in the same business. She was born in Baltimore, Md., where for many years the Stoner family resided.
After their marriage Benjamin Crumpacker and his wife settled in Botetourt County, Va., and for many years he engaged in farming and mill-wrighting. The latter was his trade, and for a long while he operated a grist and saw mill on Glade Creek, known as the "Stoner Mills," owned by his wife's father. In 1835, they moved to La Porte County, Ind., locating on the Plymouth road, four and one-half miles southeast of La Porte, where he remained during his lifetime. He died in 1856, his wife survived him; both reached the age of about sixty-five. they reared a family of three daughters and four sons, and two daughters, Emma and Mary, died in infancy; Elizabeth wedded Alfred Wing, both of whom died without issue in LaPorte County, Ind.; Nancy became the wife of Adam Shoemaker, and bore a son, John, and a daughter, Lizzie; the latter is the wife of William Hayes, of Chicago, Ill. Martha died unmarried. The sons were Daniel, Joel, Benjamin and Joshua, all living but the last who died June 22, 1886. Daniel received the degree of M. D. before the war began; he was one of the first to enlist, and was elected Captain of Co. C, 19th Indiana Volunteers, and was discharged later, on account of ill health. He again enlisted, as a private of the 48th Indiana Regiment, and was discharged before the war closed for disability. He was married after his return, to Miss Louisa Wells,a nd the Doctor now lives a retired life at Wellsboro, LaPorte County, Ind.; Benjamin was also a soldier, belonging to a Missouri regiment. He was at that time a resident of Lewis County, Mo., was wedded to Martha Anthony, and is the father of several children. The parents are now residents of Ewing, Holt Co., Neb., where he is operating a mill.
Our subject left the paternal household in 1848, and journeyed to Dallas County, Tex., remaining there some time. Later, he returned to his boy-hood home, and his next location we need mention was Eldora, Hardin Co., Iowa, where he engaged for two years in real-estate business, and was elected County Surveyor by a large majority. While a resident of that county, his marriage was celebrated, Mrs. Catherine (Boston) Bennett becoming his wife. In 1856, they became residents of Mendota, La Salle Co., Ill., Mr. Crumpacker purchasing a farm near the town, and assisting as Deputy Surveyor while a resident of that county. Both their children were born at Mendota, Charles B. and Mary E. The daughter is the wife of Newton Eyestone, of Cedar Township, this county; she is the mother of two sons, Winn Wilbur and Charles Leslie.
In the autumn of 1863, Mr. Crumpacker came to Washington County, Iowa, purchasing a quarter section of land upon which he has made every improvement. Not one of the grand old trees now standing, not a foot of the virgin soil, had been disturbed when he made the purchase. In a small frame building which forms a part of the present mansion their domestic life was begun, and as days went by, the lands were covered with heavy crops, which formerly were grazed upon by deer and other wild animals, with which the new country abounded at an early day. Prosperity came with advancing years, and other additions have been made to his first purchase. Large barns and a commodious farm house betoken the wealth of their owner, and the trees which furnish such a grateful shade serve as monuments to his enterprise.
In the autumn of 1885, Mr. Crumpacker was elected one of the Trustees of Jackson Township, and is the present incumbent. He has never sought for, neither does he care for such honors. He is religiously, a Methodist, politically, a Republican, and no man nor family can be spoken of with greater favor than the one mentioned, who for almost a quarter of a century has been a citizen of this county. The death of Mrs. Crumpacker occurred Oct. 2, 1883, and her remains were interred
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in the Gibson Cemetery. September 12, of that year, as well remembered by hundreds of people in this county, the team her husband was driving ran away from the fair grounds, and the injury occasioned by the overturning of the carriage caused the death of Mrs. Crumpacker twenty days later, although everything which medical skill and loving hands could do, was brought to aid. She died as she had lived, surrounded by her husband and children, and loving friends.
Among the enterprises of this county may be mentioned the Farmers' Mutual Insurance Company, which was organized mainly through the influence of Mr. Crumpacker, and for twelve years he was President of the company.
GILBERT T. MATTHEWS, liveryman, Riverside, was born in Marshall County, Ill., in February, 1851, and is the son of Tyrus and Eizabeth (King) Matthews. The grandmother King, on the maternal side, was of aristocratic parentage. Her father owned a large plantation in Kentucky, which was cultivated by slaves. The grandfather, John King, a native of Pennsylvania, went to Kentucky, where he married his wife, and then removed to Ohio, where she died. Later he went to Illinois, and then to Kansas, where he owned the land and was the proprietor of the town of Neosho Falls. He sold his interests there and returned to Marshall County, Ill., where he died in 1862.
Tyrus Matthews, father of our subject, was a native of Allegany County, N.Y., and his wife was born in Ohio. Tyrus was the son of John Matthews a farmer of Allegany County, N.Y., who, about 1840, came to Illinois, locating in Marshall County, where he lived and died. When our subject was ten years of age hismother died, leaving him and three sisters—Alice, Mary and Electa. In November, 1861, Tyrus Matthews was again wedded, this time to Mrs. Clymena Scribner, a resident of this county from 1840 until 1859, when she removed to Henry County, where her second marriage was celebrated. Her husband, Abraham Scribner, was a well-known millwright of this county, in which his death occurred. Mrs. Scribner was the sister of Nat McClare, a resident of Washington at the time of his death, and who was one of the best known men of his day. He owned a large tract of land, upon which the present village of Riverside is located. By her first husband Mrs. Tyrus Matthews bore two children—Imri and Ai, the first a resident of Montana and the latter of Nebraska. After her marriage with Mr. Matthews, two children were born—Huldah and Louise. The first is the wife of Gus Hahn, a dealer in harness, etc., at Riverside. Louise is the wife of John Bryant, a farmer of Iowa Township, this county. Alice, the wife of Capt. Montgomery Cooper, is a resident of Florida. The Captain was born in this county and was a soldier during the late war, commanding Co. K, 10th Iowa Vol. Inf. Mary wedded O. D. Huntley, a farmer of Nebraska, but a land-owner in this county. Electa is the wife of R. C. Brown, a resident farmer of this county.
Tyrus Matthews and his wife are also residents of Iowa Township, he being in his sixtieth year. Our subject is his only son, and was educated in the graded schools at Galva, Ill. Dec. 26, 1877, his wedding was celebrated, Miss Lena Hahn becoming his wife. Her parents were Charles and Margaret (Neil) Hahn, both natives of Bavaria, in which country both of them were born, reared and married. They emigrated to America in 1850, accompanied by the parents of Mrs. Hahn. The party landed first at New Orleans, then took passage on a steamer bound for Keokuk, Lee Co., Iowa. At St. Louis the father and mother of Mrs. Hahn, both aged people, died, presumably from old age and the long voyage, and as in life they were united, in death they were not divided, both dying within forty-eight hours, and were laid side by side in the cemetery at St. Louis. Four of their sons, John, Matthias, Christian and Frederick, accompanied the party from Germany. Their youngest daughter, Elizabeth, the wife of Adam Schimbano, a farmer of Lee County, Iowa, preceded them. Both are now deceased.
Charles Hahn was a mason by trade, and located in Franklin Center, Lee Co., Iowa, where he yet resides, living a retired life, having accumulated a competency for his old age. For years he worked
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at his trade. Mr. and Mrs. Hahn reared a family of five children, all born in Iowa except the eldest, whose birthplace was aboard the "Arcadia" on the Atlantic. Henry, Lena and August are residents of Riverside; Adam, the husband of Fanny Grass, is a blacksmith of New Windsor, Col.; Frederick married Mrs. Barbara Kern and resides in Franklin Center, Iowa, by trade a shoemaker. Elizabeth was a daughter of the first wife of Charles Hahn, and is the wife of Edward Garlick, Sergeant of Troop G, 7th United States Cavalry, now stationed at Ft. Meade, Dak. Her first husband was Henry Dose, a soldier who shared the fate of many other brave men when Gen. Custer and his gallant band were masacred [massacred] by the savages. Mrs. Garlick has been on the frontier for years, sharing all vicissitudes of her husband's soldier life, and is the owner of the only horse uncaptured by the Indians when the Custer massacre took place. It was ridden three days and nights without food, and was presented by its owner and the guide of Custer, to Mrs. Garlick. August wedded Huldah Matthews, and Lena G. is the wife of G. T. Matthews, as noted in this sketch.
Our subject and his wife began their domestic life in the village of Riverside, where for a number of years he has been engaged in the livery business. In connection with Robert S. Coe, he erected the first livery barn in the new town of Riverside in 1875. The next year they sold out and bought another barn, which was destroyed by fire, the first fire in the village. In 1876 he removed to Ainsworth, and for four years was in the livery business and a general dealer in horses, buying and shipping, also managing the mill at Ainsworth. After his return to Riverside, Mr. Matthews purchased the livery of S. Wombacher and the feed stable of John Mertzer, also the harness-shop of J.J. Chibak, which is managed by August Hahn, brother-in-law of our subject.
Outside of Washington, Mr. Matthews has the largest barn in the county, and a fine lot of horses and buggies. He has been a successful man in business, beginning without capital and bearing the disastrous fire of 1878 without insurance. Those losses were long since retrieved, and his business is now better than ever. He has for several years been Constable of the township, which is strongly Democratic, being elected unanimously with the exception of one vote. He was later elected Street Commissioner of Riverside, and superintends all the grading of the streets after they are laid out. He is an active local politician of the Republican party, and for three years has been a member of the Republican County Central Committee. Mr. and Mrs. Matthews are the parents of four children—Clyde H., Gilbert E., Charley F. and Lola, all born in Washington County.
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