Marshall County >> 1912 Index

Past and Present of Marshall County, Iowa
by Judge William Battin. 2 vols. Indianapolis, Ind.: B. F. Bowen, 1912.

B

H. E. Bacon

To such men as H. E. Bacon, well known agriculturist and stock man of the western part of Marshall county, life is so real that throughout their useful and industrious careers they have found no time to plot either mischief or vice.  Their lives are bound up in their duties, they feel the weight of their citizenship, and take pleasure in sowing the seeds of uprightness.

Mr. Bacon was born in Erie county, Ohio, January 5, 1849, and he is the son of James M. C. and Mary A. (Harris) Bacon, the father born in New York and the mother in Erie county, Ohio.   They joined the long train of pioneers who made the overland journey to Iowa in 1855 and located at Illinois Grove, Liberty township, Marshall county, buying eighty acres in the northwestern corner of the township, which they improved and on which they lived until late in the fifties, when this was traded for another tract of equal size and they lived on the latter until sometime in the sixties, when they moved to Story county.  After remaining there a few years they returned to this county, and have since lived in this part of the county, Mr. Bacon now living in retirement at St. Anthony, having reached an advanced age.  He learned the trade of masonry when a young man and has followed it in connection with farming.  His family consisted of seven children.   He is a member of the Disciples church and a Democrat in politics.  He is well known and highly respected throughout this locality.

H. E. Bacon was educated in the common schools and helped develop the home farm.  He has followed farming all his life, and now owns one hundred and sixty acres, which he has brought up to a high state of improvement and cultivation.   In connection with general farming he has carried on stock raising and has fed a great deal from year to year.  He is a breeder of Poland China hogs and Barred Plymouth Rock chickens.

Mr. Bacon was married in 1872 to Kate Benner, who was born in Pennsylvania, but came to the state of Illinois when a young girl, thence to Iowa, about 1868, and here met and married Mr. Bacon.  This union has resulted in the birth of six children, namely: J. Norma, B. Frank, H. E. Jr., Cora, Wendell and Gladys.  Mrs. Bacon and her daughters, Cora and Gladys, and son, B. Frank, are members of the Disciples church.

Politically, Mr. Bacon is a Republican and, while he takes the interest of a right-minded citizen in local affairs, he is not a public man or an aspirant to be known as a politician.

Hon. WILLIAM BATTIN submitted by Dick Barton

One of those strong, self-reliant and determined characters who are occasionally met with and who are of such a distinct type as to seem to be born leaders of their fellow men is William Battin, who needs no introduction to the readers of this work. He does not court such distinction, being entirely unassuming, but his great force of character and his zeal and energy in whatever he undertakes naturally render him a potent factor in the affairs of the locality where he has long maintained his home and whose interests he has ever had at heart.

Mr. Battin is the scion of a sterling ancestry which may be traced back to Germany . The first traditional forebear of the family was Richard Battin, a resident of Virginia , who was born January 26, 1721 . Among his family of fourteen children was John Battin, whose birth occurred in the Old Dominion June 13, 1769 . He married Ann Raley, and they became the parents of twelve children, and from Virginia they moved their family to Ohio in 1812, and, with others, cut roads through the wilderness, blazing the trees along the route as a guide to others who might follow. They found a country inhabited only by Indians, who, upon learning that the newcomers were Quakers, came and cut certain marks on trees near their cabins, indicating that they were not to be molested by any of their tribesmen, in view of the fact that the Battins were of the Society of Friends.

John Battin, Jr., one of this family, was born February 2, 1800 , and was twelve years old when they came to what was later made Columbiana county, Ohio . He was the father of William Battin.

The maternal side of the house goes back to English nobility, to Duke Henry Howard, who emigrated to America in defiance of his family rules, having married a girl out of his rank, coming to the New World as a common citizen. Subsequently his English relatives became reconciled and sent a vessel to our shores for the purpose of carrying himself and wife back to their old home; but he refused, saying that he preferred to live in a free country where he needed no title. Of his family was a son, Bartholomew, who was father of John Howard, who married Cherry Dew, and four children were born to them. He was a physician and a mechanic, and he inherited a large tract of land near Beaufort , North Carolina , together with a large number of African slaves. He was a Quaker and at that time the Friends were being impressed with the fact that slaves were human and had souls, and were entitled to humane treatment. He finally gave them their freedom, divided his land in parcels to them, and after seeing them settled there he came to Jefferson county, Ohio, where he practiced medicine, in connection with furniture and coffin making. His daughter, Sarah D., became the wife of John Battin, Jr., on December 1, 1824 . They established their home near Sandy Spring church and school house, not far from Hanover, Columbiana county, Ohio . They became the parents of seven children, of whom William Battin, of this review, was fourth in order of birth, having first seen the light of day on June 24, 1832 . In early childhood he was a weakling, but became a sturdy young man, a rail splitter, like Lincoln . Of his many interesting reminiscences of early days he tells of a time when he and other boys took dinner with Benjamin Hanna and wife near Lisbon , Ohio . It was customary then for the elder people and visitors to dine first, the younger members of the company waiting for them to finish. Their hosts' grandson, Mark Hanna, of Cleveland , Ohio , was there on a visit to his grandparents, and a little neighbor boy, his playmate,, named William McKinley, was also present. Mrs. Hanna placed some little stools at a table in the corner of the dining room where the youngsters dined at the same time as their elders, each of the little guests enjoying a piece of her delectable pumpkin pie. He says that no one then thought that United States senators and Presidents would spring from such an environment.

William Battin grew up on a farm, but being delicate in health he worked but little during his childhood. While unable to walk, he was taught at home the alphabet, some spelling and how to figure. He attended the Friends select school near his home, there being at that time both a church and a school house in each Quaker neighborhood. Here he laid a good foundation for an education, which was later supplemented at a select school at Salem , Ohio , taught by William McLain, whose son is now a supreme judge of Iowa . The subject then spent one term at Marlboro,, Ohio , taught by Alfred Holbrook, these leading into the higher branches, including engineering, surveying, astronomy, etc. During the crop season he engaged in farming on the home place. His father was sick an entire year and then lived twenty-eight years with only one lung. While working at home he pursued his studies by candle light at night and while the team rested at noon . From the age of eighteen to twenty he taught three winter terms of school in his home district, later a fall and winter term in the Salem union school, then one winter term in the Friends Academy at Damascus , at this time declining an offer of deputy county auditor, also a call to the principalship of the Wellsville union school. He then engaged as a clerk in a general merchandise store in Damascus . After two years there he purchased a part of the stock, which he moved to Lafayette (now Albion ), Marshall county, Iowa .

On the last day of December, 1857, Mr. Battin was married to Elizabeth Malmsburg, at Salem , Ohio . Her father's name was Isaac, the son of Benjamin, grandson of John and great-grandson of William, of England . The lineage of this family runs back four hundred years before Christ. A rocky cape still bears the name of Malmsburg. The mother of Mrs. Battin was known in her maidenhood as Margaret Benson, the daughter of James and the granddaughter of Edwin Benson, of Lancaster , Pennsylvania . Mrs. Battin's grandmother rode on horseback from Fredericksburg , Virginia and swam her horse across the Ohio river , she being strapped to the saddle for safety; then they followed the blazes on the trees through the wilderness which led them to a settlement previously made by a few others from the East.

William and Elizabeth Battin are the parents of nine living children, two having died in early childhood; those living are, Horace Mann, Isaac Howard, Mrs. Sarah E. Price (whose husband is now deceased), John W., Mrs. Margaret Pearson, Dr. James Franklin, Mrs. Jane Sherman, Mrs. Cora Davidson and Mrs. Helen Raley, all well situated in life and popular in their respective communities. There are fifteen grandchildren, many of them being grown, stalwart young men and winsome young women.

William Battin has always taken an abiding interest in public affairs and when the county-seat question was the paramount issue of the people of Marshall county, the subject was elected county judge, and he discharged the duties of the same in a manner that reflected much credit upon himself and to the satisfaction of the people. A new law created the board of supervisors and much of the county business was transferred to it; this caused Mr. Battin to decline the nomination for a second term.

In 1862 Mr. Battin purchased a half block of ground on the north side of Grant street, Marshalltown, in partnership with S. L. Lowland, this excellent site being between First avenue and Custer street, and to this they moved a steam saw-mill from Marion township. They added other machinery and soon did a large business, turning out all kinds of lumber, shingles, laths, broom handles, etc. In the meantime Mr. Battin had purchased a farm eight miles north of Marshalltown, on which he erected a good set of buildings, then sold the Marshalltown property and moved to his farm, which was the family home for eighteen years. During this time the Farmers Union Railroad Company was organized at Liscomb, Mr. Battin and J. W. Tripp, of Liscomb, being potent factors in the same. A volunteer company made a survey from Liscomb to Vinton, which awakened public interest along the line. Soon afterwards a five per cent tax had been voted in every township through which the road was to pass, from Vinton to the Des Moines river , and most of the right of way given. Then the Burlington, Cedar Rapids & Northern Company undertook to build the road, and pushed it on to Traer, where they abandoned the project. Mr. Battin had an opportunity to join two experienced men in leasing and operating the coal mine at Hickory Grove, Monroe county, Iowa . He was to take charge of the store of miners' supplies. He engaged with them, and, a year later, moved his family from the farm to Oskaloosa for the purpose of giving his children better educational advantages. The managers of the Iowa Central railroad, on which the mine was situated, were interested in mines near Oskaloosa, and coal cars were scarce when wanted at Hickory Grove; this and other things seem to combine against their success. After two years of unprofitable work, one of the company proposed to Mr. Battin that they deed to their wives their real estate and prepare for the worse, but he refused, since a question of honor was involved, and thus stepped into poverty, but paid his debts. Later the Battin family took a five years' lease of a large farm in Marshall county and began life anew. Some years previous, while living on his own farm, Mr. Battin and another gentleman purchased several hundred young calves in the dairy country of Illinois and Wisconsin and shipped them to Iowa where they had arranged to put them out on the shares. Some of these shares coming due at this time helped to stock the rented farm. It was a time when prices were low and little more than a living was realized on the farm. The family finally moved to Marshalltown in March, 1890, where Mr. Battin engaged in various pursuits, selling woven-wire fencing, writing life insurance, fire insurance and real estate, loans, and for four years he served as justice of the peace. While living in the country he took his turn with others in filling the local offices, such as road supervisor school director, trustee, assessor, secretary of the school board, all of which came to him unsought.

In the palmy days of the Farmers' Alliance, a committee came to Mr. Battin from Grundy county, Iowa, prevailing upon him to be the farmers' candidate for Congress; this honor he declined, but consented to seek the nomination on the Republican ticket as a Farmers' Alliance candidate. Another candidate put three thousand dollars into the campaign fund, it was alleged, got the nomination and a Democrat was elected.

During all his manhood years Mr. Battin has been an occasional contributor to the public press, his trenchant articles being more widely copied than those of any other western writer, according to Charles Aldrich and E. N. Chapin, who were at times publishers of the Marshall Times. One article on currency, Mr. Chapin said, in a letter to a Chicago paper, was copied in seven European countries. Our country was not then ready, and is still not ready to adopt his principles. Always a profound student, he has kept fully abreast of the times in current affairs and is familiar with the world's best literature.

Mr. Battin recalls many interesting reminiscences of pioneer times, and in speaking of his career he says that the mistake of his life was in connection with the coal mining business, but that the result inspired his children to fight the battles of life alone, to be self-reliant, courageous, not waiting for the assistance of anyone. He gives his estimable wife the credit for bringing up the family under the teaching that industry, economy and honesty are sign-boards which point to the goal of success. Although he has reached an advanced mile-post in the flight of time, he refuses to admit that he is old, remembering that he was six years of age when the present populous city of Chicago was made a corporate town, four years after the lots for the town were laid out, and now he is writing the history of a county which was then a trackless prairie, the wild hunting grounds of Indians, and yet he says he frequently meets on the street a cheerful and venerable citizen, twenty- one years his senior, who inspires his youthful thoughts.

George Henry Beebe

In this publication will be found mention of worthy citizens of all vocations, and at this juncture we are permitted to offer a resume of one of the enterprising and substantial representatives of the manufacturing interests of Marshall county, where he has maintained his home for many years and where he has not only attained a high degree of success in his chosen vocation and enterprise, but also established a reputation for uprightness in all the relations of life.

George Henry Beebe was born in Clinton county, Iowa, October 29, 1853, and he is the son of Henry and Adeline M. (Curtis) Beebe, the father born in Ireland and the mother in New Hampshire. He was five years of age when he emigrated to America and she came West when a young woman. They were married in New York. Mr. Beebe devoted his life to farming and in 1852 he moved to Clinton county, Iowa, entered a farm from the government and there lived a while, buying and selling land, finally moving to Marshalll county, this state, where his death occured at the age of seventy-four years, and after he had been married fifty-seven years. His wife had preceded him to the grave two years. They were the parents of three children, all living. The father became well fixed in a material way through a long life of close application. Politically he was a Republican.

The son, George H., of this review, was educated in the common schools of Iowa and the high school at Cedar Rapids. He worked hard on the farm during this time, riding to and from school. He remained on the farm until he was twenty-one years of age, then went on the road as a traveling salesman and expert for various harvesting machine companies, which line he followed for a period of thirteen years, giving his employers high grade and satisfactory service. He finally drifted into the machine shop business, buying out the shop in a short time and this finally grew into the Fisher Governor Company, a well known manufacturing concern of Marshalltown. In 1887 he and William Fisher organized the company which was the first of its kind in the field, being the very first pump governor manufactured in this country, or perhaps anywhere. Mr. Beebe owned the building first. They began experimentally in 1886, and obtained patents the same year, but were not incorporated until December 23, 1890. Their business immediately grew by leaps and bounds, assuming large and ever increasing proportions, their products finding a very ready market wherever offered for sale, being of a superior quality. The plant is well equipped in every respect for carrying on its work and only skilled artisans are employed. Mr. Beebe is the only one of the original company now living, Mr. Fisher having died some five years ago. The controlling interest in the Brauer Acetylene Lighting Company, being a director in the same. He has been very successful in his business career and is regarded as one of the representative business men of the county.

Politically Mr. Beebe is a Republican. He and his wife are members of the Methodist church, and he is a member of the Marshalltown Club, the Masonic fraternity, Ancient Arabic Order of Nobles of the Mystic Shrine, also the Modern Woodmen of America, the Royal Highlanders and the Improved Order of Red Men, also the Marshalltown Auto Club.

Mr. Beebe was married on November 24, 1875, to Lucretia Reed, and to this union five children were born. The wife and mother passed away in 1897, and Mr. Beebe was subsequently married to Mrs. Harriet R. Eldridge, who also had five children, all living and married. Together they have eighteen grandchildren, widely scattered.

ALBERT JUDSON BINFORD submitted by Dick Barton

The men who have pushed forward the wheels of progress have been those to whom satisfaction lies ever in the future, who have labored continuously, always finding in each transition stage an incentive to further effort. One who has not been contented with mediocre achievement, but who has ever striven to better his condition, always hopeful that the future held still better things for him and his, is Albert Judson Binford, farmer of Vienna township, Marshall county. He was born in Columbiana county, Ohio , August 5, 1857 , and is the son of Samuel Alfred and Elizabeth M. (Johnson) Binford, both natives of Virginia but they both came to Ohio when children and there grew to maturity, were educated and married, after which they took up farming, the father spending the rest of his life in Columbiana county, his death occurring on October 6, 1904 . His widow is still living, being now eighty years old. Six children were born to them, four of whom are living. Samuel A. Binford bought one hundred and sixty acres of land in Marshall county, Iowa , but he never lived here. In politics he was a Republican and he and his family were members of the Friends church.

Arthur J. Binford, of this review, grew up on the home farm in Ohio , on which he worked when he was old enough, and during the winter months he attended the public schools and an academy in his native county, later went to Earlham College at Richmond . Indiana , also attended Grinnell College in Iowa , thus receiving a high education. He prepared himself for a teacher, which profession he followed for a number of years with much success, giving eminent satisfaction to both pupils and patrons and his services were in great demand, and had he continued in that line of work he would doubtless have become one of the leading educators of the public schools of the state; but tiring of the school room and desiring the freedom of the husbandman, he began farming in 1881, and is now the owner of one hundred and sixty acres of excellent land in Vienna township, having resided in Marshall county since the last date mentioned above, during which time he has kept fully abreast of the times in all matters pertaining to agriculture and stock raising. Everything about his place denotes thrift. good management and excellent taste. He has an attractive home and substantial and convenient outbuildings.

Politically, Mr. Binford is a Republican and he takes an abiding interest in the affairs of his township and county, having served the former as trustee for three years. He is a member of the township school board and of the Republican township committee. He is a member of the Friends church, while his wife affiliates with the Methodist Episcopal church.

On April 23, 1884 , Mr. Binford was married to Retta Hamilton, who was born in Bureau county, Illinois , May 31, 1866 . She is the daughter of Joseph and May (Rice) Hamilton, the father born in Pittsburg , Pennsylvania , and the mother in Seneca county, Ohio . They both came to Illinois when young, she accompanying her parents when but a mere child, and there they were married. In 1881 they came to Boone county, Iowa , and there the father's death occurred in April, 1902; his widow is still living. Eight children were born to them, four of whom are living. The father was a Democrat and a Universalist in religious matters.

To Mr. and Mrs. Binford four children have been born, namely: Edith Josephine, born in July, 1885, died when two years old; Iva Marie, born May 27, 1889 , was educated in the public schools and Cornell College , Mt. Vernon , Iowa , and for six years she was a teacher of music, being very proficient in the same; Lelia Mabel, born March 16, 1895 , is a student in the public schools; Samuel Alford, born January 26, 1902 .

John Breunig

It would indeed be difficult to find a more industrious and painstaking citizen and business man than John Breunig, of Eden township, a member of a fine old Marshall county family, members of which have done much for the general progress of the locality.  He was born in this township, two miles south of Rhodes, September 19, 1861.  He grew up in his native community and was educated in the local school, and up to September, 1910, was always identified with agricultural pursuits in a general way.  Upon the date mentioned he and his son in law purchased the hardware store in Rhodes, in which business he intends to continue.  He was a successful farmer and stock man and it seems that he has peculiar ability as a merchant also.  He has a well arranged and carefully stocked store, handling an excellent grade of most everything that a farmer needs and a large patronage is enjoyed.

Joseph Breunig, an old and influential settler of Eden township, was born in Baden, Germany, February 2, 1827, and there he grew to maturity and was educated, emigrating to the United States in 1851, locating in Chicago.  In 1857 he moved to Dekalb county, Illinois, where he remained until 1860, in which year he located on a farm in Eden township, Marshall county, Iowa, and here reared his family.  In 1893 he moved to Nebraska, and his death occurred in Humphrey, Nebraska, May 16, 1910.  His wife, Catherine Blink, was born in Baden Germany, April 27, 1830.  They were the parents of eight children, namely: Clara, born in April, 1854; Lena was born in February, 1857; John, of this review, and Elizabeth were twins, their birth occurring September 19, 1861; Henry was born March 21, 1859; Margaret, born March 15, 1863; Wilhelmina, who died in infancy; Jacob, born June 6, 1864; Lucy, born February 14, 1873.

John Breunig was married at Rhodes on February 1, 1887, to Anna Rohrer, who was born in Somonauk, Illinois, June 29, 1864. Her father, Lester Rohrer, was born in Alsace, France, May 5, 1838.  Three children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Breunig namely: Mrs. Isabelle C. Mallicoat, born June 27, 1888; her husband Vern Mallicoat, is the junior member of the hardware firm of which the subject is senior member; Genevieve M., born January 17, 1891, is at home; Lester Joseph, born September 20, 1892, is assisting in the store.

Mr. Breunig has been very successful in a business way, and what he has accomplished has been done by his own energy and good management, with the assistance of a faithful helpmeet.  He is the owner of a productive and finely improved farm of one hundred and sixty acres in Eden township, and he has a modern and well furnished home.  This entire family are faithful members of the Catholic church in Rhodes.  Mr. Breunig is independent in politics, and he has filled very ably and acceptably many of the township offices.  In no instance does his broad, liberal spirit manifest itself so much as in assisting to secure ample accommodations in the local public schools; in fact, he has always stood ready to support any measure looking to the general good of his neighborhood, and he and his wife are held in highest esteem by all who know them.

Mrs. Breunig's brothers and sisters are: Arthur, born December 28, 1862; Emma, born June 29, 1864; Rosa, born July 24, 1866; Adelaine, born April 21, 1868; Edward, born April 13, 1870; Charley, born April 14, 1872; Amelia, born January 21, 1874; Henry, born February 21, 1877; Albert, born October 4, 1879; Minnie, born July 31, 1881.