special mention than the subject of this sketch. He is a native of Vinton county, Ohio, and was born January 20, 1843. In early life his time was divided between work on the farm and study in school. At the age of eighteen he began school teaching, and the next year started to Franklin College. After two years' study at this place he entered the school at Bethany, West Virginia, where he graduated, in the year 1866. After leaving college he taught school for several years, and entered upon his first pastoral charge at Kirkville, Wapello county, Iowa. From thence he removed to Bloomfield, where he remained one year, and then took charge of the church at Le Clair, afterward of the Christian Church at Panora, where he remained several years, and then went to Vinton; from thence to Indianola, and finally to Pleasantville, in the summer of 1880, where he has gained the respect of the entire community. He was married to Miss Hattie A. Garvin, a very estimable lady, a native of Kentucky, and born July 3d, 1846. From this marriage they have one child, Mabel Eldora. SWAIM, JOHN-Farmer and wool-grower, Sec. 1, P. O. Pleasantville. Was born December 25, 1820, in Vinton county, Ohio. He is a son of Michael and Nancy, the former of Kentucky and latter of New Jersey. He lived in his native county until in the fall of 1850, when he came to Iowa, settling in Van Buren county, near Bonaparte, where he remained until the spring of 1853, when he came to Marion county. He rented a farm for about two years and then purcased land, on which he now resides. He was engaged in farming, raising cattle and hogs until 1862, and since that time has been engaged exclusively in the raising of sheep, keeping from 500 to 1,000 head and shearing from 3,500 to 6,000 pounds of wool per year, and at the present time has between 1,100 and 1,200 head. deals altogether in the Merino stock. He now owns 130 acres of land, all of which he uses for pasture and hay. Has been twice married; first to Miss Lydia A. Swisher, of Virginia, August 20, 1844. She died October 22, 1864, leaving a family of seven children living: Stephen S., L. C., Peter M., Andrew J., James B., Geo. W. and Mary A. Three deceased: Elihu A., Sarah E, and Nancy J. Second to Miss Mary E. Elwood of Ohio, October, 1868. She died in November, 1874, leaving one child, Henry C., being the only child at home except Geo. W., who is married and keeps house for his father. Mr. S. is a member of the Christian Church. He HORNBURGH, RICHARD H.-Farmer and stock-raiser, Sec. 26, P. O. Pleasantville. Was born in Washington county, Indiana, January 13, 1816. In 1839 he emigrated to Clay county, Illinois. In 1859 he came to Marion county. He married Miss Martha Polson, also a native of Indiana, born September 18, 1818. From this marriage they have had eleven children: Thomas P., Amos G., James H.. William Wallace, Mary A., Elizabeth (now Mrs. Shroud), Adaline (now Mrs. Morris), Benjamin, Janey, Richard W., Sarah (now Mrs. Bennett). Two of his sons were killed in the late war, Thomas P. and Amos G. Sarah, afterward Mrs. Bennett, is also dead. No man more fully deserves the respect of his fellow men. He came to Marion county with very limited means, and by industry and economny he has now a competency, and possesses 216 acres of land, mostly in good cultivation. ALLETTE, EDWARD-Retired merchant. Is a native of Cincinnati, Ohio, and was born October 23, 1820. In early life he was a salesman in his native city. In the year 1844 he emigrated to Milton, Indiana. Here he engaged in merchandising, and in 1847 traveled through Indiana in the notion business. In 1851 he went to the city of Wabash and in 1853 to Belleville, St. Clare county, Illinois. Here, in connection with his brother, he began an extensive stock business, fattening over 30,000 hogs in three years. In the month of October, 1856, he came to Pleasantville. Here he engaged in clerking until the year 1861, when he started for the gold fields of California and other States and Territories of the far West. In the gold regions he spent six years and then returned to Pleasantville. Here he has ever since made his home. He was married to Miss Salens Richards, a native of Coshocton county, Ohio, born February 3, 1827. a very estimable and intelligent lady, on the 1st day of May, 1851. The father of Edward Vallette was a native of Boston, Massachusetts, and was born on the 27th day of May, 1783. He died October 3, 1825. He emigrated to Cincinnati in the year 1813, and in his house was organized the first Baptist Church of Cincinnati. It consisted of twelve families. From this small beginning, what a mighty result! Cincinnati is now one of the Baptists' strongholds, and the churches of the city number their members by thousands. Mr. Vallette's mother, an estimable lady, was also a native of Boston, and was born on the 25th of November, 1786. Her maiden name was Harriet Bronsdon. She died June 10, 1865. As a man, Mr. Vallette is honest above reproach, a kind, intelligent, Christian gentleman, always ready to assist any enterprise that may promise good to the community in which he lives. He is a citizen that Pleasantville could ill afford to lose. WEST ville for a period of almost ten years. He was born in Fleming county, Kentucky, April 4, 1840. His father, Joseph F. West, came to Henry county, Iowa, in 1844, and in the spring of the next year came to Marion county. He settled on section 32, township 77, range 19, where he died in 1876. Mr. W., the subject of this sketch, was married December 27, 1866, to Maria Harsin. Mr. W. is a respected citizen of Pleasantville, and has been honored by his fellow-townsmen with various township and city offices, and his term of ten years in the Pleasantville school demonstrates his success as a teacher. WILLIAMS, E.-Physician and surgeon, Pleasantville. Dr. Williams is a native of Logan county, Ohio, and was born July 9, 1822. His father, Benazah Williams, a native of Virginia, emigrated to Logan county, Ohio, in the year 1803. He was born May 15, 1795, and belonged to the Society of the Friends. His great-great-grandfather originally came from Wales. Dr. W. remained in the place of his nativity until the age of eight years and then removed to Cass county, Michigan, and emigrated to Iowa in the year 1838, and settled in Van Buren county, where for some time he lived neighbor to the Indians, and learned the language. Was present at Agency City when the treaty was concluded giving to the whites the "New Purchase." In 1843 he came to Marion county and settled in Clay township. He set out the first fruit trees that were planted in the county, on the place now owned by George Harsin. He commenced the study of medicine in the spring of 1848, with Reuben Mathews, at Red Rock. Soon after this he made a trip to California. After an absence of two or three years he returned to Iowa. In 1853 he went to Cincinnati, where he attended lectures at the "Eclectic Medical College." Returned to Marion county after a short time. He has been in the constant practice of medicine for twentyseven years. He was married May 22, 1851, to Miss Elizabeth P. Harsin. From this marriage their family consists of three children living: Marion Leander, Laura (now Mrs. O. B. Drake), and Eva May. Lost one, Lucre tia (died May 31, 1875). Dr. Williams' father died in Mahaska county, August 12, 1844. He was one of the first grand jurors in the county. CHAPTER VIII. UNION TOWNSHIP. Organization--Early Settlers-Pioneer Experiences-An Incident of the War-Miscellaneous Matters-Biographical. ORGANIZATION. ON THE 7th of October, 1850, in compliance with a petition, it was ordered by the commisssioners that all of township 76, range 20, south of the river, and all of 77, same, range, south of the river, be called Union township, from and after the first Monday of April, 1851. This township is bounded on the north by Red Rock, with the Des Moines River as its boundary line; on the east by Polk, on the south by Knoxville, and on the west by Pleasant Grove and Swan. There is no stream of any considerable size coursing through this township, but many small creeks, the largest of which is Camp Creek. That portion lying contiguous to the river is somewhat hilly, but well timbered. The strip margining the river is mostly flat bottom land, partly prairie, the most noted of which is Butcher's Prairie. In some places the uplands terminate in abrupt rocky cliffs. The southern portion of the township is mostly upland prairie, and is a good farming district. The first election in this township was held at the house of William Ballard, April 2, 1851. After the appointment of Wm. Ballard, Geo. Teters and Simeon Reynolds, as judges of the election, and Wesley Teters and Wm. M. Norris, as clerks, the following named officers were elected: Wm. Norris and Samuel Teter, justices of the peace; trustees, Andrew Stortes, Wm. Ballard and Alfred Rees; clerk, Simeon Reynolds. EARLY SETTLERS. The names of a majority of those who settled in the township at an early date are, Simeon and Geo. Reynolds, Wm. Richard and John Butcher, Hiram Steel, Duncan Neil, — Vanderford, John Flanders, Robert Gusten, Andrew Stortes, Samuel, Geo. and Westley Teters, and Wm. Luty. John Flanders now lives in Red Rock township, having sold his claim to William Ballard at an early date. Wm. Luty came from Ross county, Ohio, in 1843. Died August 21, 1871. Simeon Reynolds was born in Duchess county, New York, March 16, 1786, moved to Ohio in 1816 or '17, and from thence to Marion county, November, 1845; elected a member of the State Legislature and served in the House in '1847. Died April 21, 1852. Mrs. Amanda Reynolds, his widow, still lives on the farm they first settled on, on Butcher's Prairie, and his two sons, who also took claims at the same time, live in the neighborhood. Mrs. Reynolds was the first white woman that became a citizen of this part of the country. On their arrival, November 2d, Mr. Reynolds and family took lodging in a little cabin formerly owned by Butcher, to whom the government had granted the privilege of making settlement there as early as 1843, in consideration of services he had rendered by repairing or making roads. The claim was at this time owned and occupied by Steel and Neal, of whom Mr. Reynolds purchased it. Soon after this Vanderbilt entered a portion of this claim, securing a title therefor, then took a fortified position on the opposite bank of the river in order to hold it. But he was at length persuaded to capitulate by giving a deed for the land, which he did, and received his entrance money. The first summer of their residence here was extremely warm, and for s time every member of the family was prostrated by the ague, and consequently much reduced in the way of subsistence. Mr. Stortes made three trips to Burlington to mill. At this time there was no settlement between Fairfield and Oskaloosa, and but few houses between that and Red Rock. On one occasion it was so cold that Mr. Stortes was compelled to run for several miles to keep from feezing till he could reach a shelter, which he found at Blakeway's, in what is now Summit, after midnight. Mr. Stortes was the hero of a legal contest that came before a justice's court in Red Rock, in '46 or '47, under the title of Brown v. Stortes, the object of which was to establish the ownership of a certain dog claimed by both parties. As the parties were well known, and the case rather novel, large numbers of people came to witness the trial. After it was over, and judgment was rendered in favor of Stortes, the latter proposed to treat the company, which was not objected to. But, as enough whisky could not be found, several kinds of liquors were mixed, and the result was soon per ceptible and highly entertaining. A small quantity of such a compound was sufficient to disturb the mental if not the physical equilibrium of even those who had been accustomed to drinking one kind. It is supposed that there were more tipsy people in Red Rock that day than have been there at one time before or since. Even staid old fellows who prided themselves upon their sobriety, made the unfortunate mistake of taking "a drop too much" on that occasion. Samuel T. Teter came to the county and located within the present bounds of Union township in 1846. He came from Ohio, and when he started had $3,500, which he invested in goods. On his way out the goods, which were shipped from Cincinnati by steamer, were all lost, they having been sunk in the Mississippi River in a steamboat disaster. When he reached this county he had nothing but a team and wagon, and not a cent of money, besides being fifteen dollars in debt. PIONEER EXPERIENCES. At one time a man came down from the Fort to the Butcher farm for corn But there was nothing to measure the grain in, and the purchaser paddled down to Red Rock, borrowed a half bushel measure, and returned the same day, making a trip of sixteen miles. And it was not an uncommon occur. rence for persons to go eight or ten miles to grind their axes. Many stories are related of the depredations of those intolerable pests of every new country, the wolves. The winter of 1848 and 1849 will long be remembered on account of the depth of snow that fell and the severity of the cold. And the wolves, should any that experienced that winter yet surIvive, may have the most sorrowful occasion to remember it on account of thei numbers that were slaughtered by their natural enemies. Weakened by starvation, and impeded by the deep snow, they were easily run down by men on horseback. Mr. William Ballard relates that he and his two sons killed nine in one day, and his exploit is but one of many instances. The Indians also proved troublesome by appropriating everything to their own use that could be used for food. Once during the absence of Mr. Stortes they appropriated most of his corn from the crib; and Mrs. S., in order to save some of it, had to store it in the house. Not having any sacks to carry it in, she used a bed-tick for this purpose. Among the first persons who taught school in Union was Nancy Beckwith. This was in 1848, in the western part of the township, and in a cabin owned by Jacob Haynes. AN INCIDENT OF THE WAR-BY M. E. DONLEY. Historians record the privations and hardy achievements of the first settlers of a country, and the great and daring deeds of warriors, while the sorrows and mental distress which upset the mind, and leave life void, are left untold. During the rebellion of 1861, a fierce battle was fought. The news was brought to Marion county. The great nerves of the country were unstrung. Dreadful suspense hovered over almost every household, for many were reported killed. But all had to wait the approach of the slow stage coach to bring letters or tidings from the survivors, ere they could know the fate of the brave ones who fought that battle. Finally the news came. Mothers, with hearts as heavy as stone, wept; fathers, bold and stout, bowed with grief; while friends met and held long hours of painful consultation, and struggled to rise above the wave of despair, that threatened to engulf them. While all the gloom and agony caused by the dreadful loss still lowered over the people, it was announced that a Marion county mother, like Rachel of old, had refused to be comforted, when she heard that both her sons were killed on that fatal field, and that her mind had yielded to that dread enemy, insanity. When the cruel dart pierced her breast, she bewailed the loss of her noble boys, until reason fled. Then the husband and son (for there was but one child left) carried her away to an asylum, where they hoped she would have her reason restored. They calmly endured the double stroke, knowing only the comfort which comes from the throne of the Great Eternal. At this time another notable event occurred, very closely connected with the other, and in such a manner, that to tell one necessitates the repetition of the other. The night after the news had arrived in Pella, between eleven and twelve o'clock, a knock was heard at the door of a widow's house. One arose to learn what was wanted. The door was opened and before them stood a handsome, educated, heroic girl, stricken with sorrow. When questioned as to the cause of her emotion, she told that a farmer had passed her father's house, twelve miles from town, and had said that a great battle had been fought, in which two young men (the ones above mentioned) had been killed. Almost wild with grief, she confessed that one of them was to her more than a friend, and that when she heard of his probable fate, she |