Biography of Fred B. Caldwell

Fred B. Caldwell. The cultivation of broad acres of land, the growing of crops, the raising of cattle and hogs, proved a stronger influence with Fred B. Caldwell than the profession of law, in which he was trained and which he followed for several years in Iowa before coming to Kansas. While Mr. Caldwell had occupied his ranch near Howard in Elk County only a few years, there is no mistaking the fact that he is one of the well-known stockmen and diversified farmers of the state. His Poland China hogs in particular have gained him at least a national … Read more

Wolfe, Velma Laura Russell – Obituary

Velma Laura Wolfe, 79, of Oskaloosa, died Friday, March 14, in the Mahaska County Hospital in Oskaloosa. Graveside service and interment was held 1 p.m. Monday in the Old White Cemetery in Oskaloosa, with Elder Jimmy Kerr officiating. Garland-Van Arkel-Langkamp Funeral Chapel in Oskaloosa was in charge of arrangements. She was born Aug. 2, 1917, in Mahaska County to Richard Winfield and Victoria Boyd Russell. She married Orville Raymond “Tom” Wolfe. He died Aug. 20, 1978. Survivors include a brother: Arthur Russell of Oskaloosa. She was preceded in death by her parents; her husband; a sister: Victoria Powell; and two … Read more

Yeager, Welthy Serelda Kimberly – Obituary

Joseph, Oregon Mrs. Yeager Passes After Long Illness Mrs. Welthy Yeager passed away at the home of daughter, Mrs. Jennie Action of Joseph Sunday morning following a long illness. Welthy Serelda Kimberly was born January 11, 1860 in Oskaloosa, Iowa and died March 3rd, 1940, aged 80 years, 1 month, 28 days. She came to Walla Walla by ox team with her parents in 1865. May 10, 1875 she was united in marriage to George M. Birdsell. To this union six children were born all of whom survive. They are Mrs. Hattie Wolfer, Lostine; Mrs. Jennie Action, Joseph; Mrs. Mabel … Read more

McEwen, James William – Obituary

James W. Mcewen Pioneer Is Dead Came To The Kittitas Valley In 1871 Health Had Been Failing Fast For Ten Months And Was Confined To Room 4 Months. James William McEwen, pioneer of the valley died yesterday [July 15, 1915] afternoon from leakage of the heart. He was born October 24, 1853 at Oskaloosa, Mahaska County, Iowa. As a child his heath was very poor and the physician advised the father to bring him to the west, which he did when William was a lad of only six years, crossing the Sound country in the fall of ’59, where they … Read more

Boyd, Jennie Viola Lee – Obituary

Mrs. J. P. (Jennie) Boyd passed away Saturday, July 12 [1958] at her home following an illness of several weeks. She was 81 years old. Funeral services were held Tuesday at 2:00 p.m. at the Fremont Methodist Church, in charge of Rev. C. C. Callaham of the Gladbrook Methodist Church, Mrs. Wm. G. Hols played organ music at the service. Burial was in Cedar Township Cemetery. Jennie Viola Lee was the daughter of Nelson and Mary Wolfe Lee. She was born Nov. 30, 1876 at Fremont. On May 20, 1903 she was married to James P. Boyd. The couple lived … Read more

Lee, William – Obituary

At his residence on Birch Creek, Nov. 20th [1884], William Lee. Funeral at the house today at 11 a.m. William was born April 26, 1839 in Bartholomew Co., IN. He married Amy Lee on February 21, 1858 in Mahaska Co., Fremont, IA. Amy was only 15 and William was 19 years old when they married. In 1862 they came west to Oregon. Amy and William moved to Pendleton in 1869. Lee’s Crossing was named after William Lee. It is rather shocking that only a one line obituary was written. He and his mother and father-in-law, Mary and J. J. Lee, … Read more

Ferguson, Cynthia Ann McEwen – Obituary

Died, near Winfield, Cowley County, Kansas, December 31, 1883, at 12 p.m., Mrs. Cynthia A., wife of the Rev. Solomon Ferguson, aged 61 years, 11 months, and 5 days. Mrs. Ferguson was born in Bartholomew County, Indiana. She moved with her parent, the Rev. James McEwen when quite young to Decatur County where in October 1838 she was married to Solomon Ferguson, by whom she had ten children, two sons and eight daughters. Two daughters died in infancy; the others are left with the bereaved husband to mourn her loss, all member of the church. She was converted in 1843, … Read more

Lee, Ellen McEwen – Obituary

A Fatal Accident Aged Fremont Woman Falls Into a Cellar Way Kirkville, Feb. 15. — Grandma Lee, mother of M. B. Lee, was making her home with her son and family, met with an accident, Tuesday which cost her her life. She opened what she thought was the door to her room but instead opened the cellar door and fell to the bottom of the cellar, sustaining injuries from which she died soon after. Mrs. Lee was almost a centenarian, being about 90 years old. Obituary: Ella McEwen Lee Ella McEwen was born in North Carolina Dec. 23, 1810. She … Read more

Linsley, Vesta Phillippe – Obituary

Visitation: Open after 2:00 PM with family present between the hours of 6:00 and 8:00 PM February 29, 2008 at Fremont Funeral Chapel Funeral Service: 10:00 AM March 01, 2008 at Fremont Funeral Chapel Interment: Cedar Township Cemetery, Fremont, Iowa Vesta Linsley, 97 formerly of the Fremont-Hedrick area passed away February 25, 2008 at Crystal Heights Care Center in Oskaloosa, Iowa. Vesta was born January 30, 1911 the daughter of Asa G. Phillippe and Carrie Amelia Lawson Phillippe. She graduated from Fremont High School in 1928 and attended William Penn College in Oskaloosa where she received her teaching certificate. She … Read more

Brown, Walter ‘Junior’ – Obituary

Walter “Junior” Brown, 78, of Sigourney, died Mon., May 12, 2003, at his home. He was born June 1, 1924, in rural Kirkville, the son of Walter and Maggie Brown. He was raised and educated in the Kirkville area. He was united in marriage to Rosemary Failyer on Nov. 8, 1941, in Lancaster, Mo. He farmed his entire life in the Fremont, Ottumwa and Sigourney area. In later years he worked at Keoco Auction in Sigourney. He was a member of the Eagles. He enjoyed square dancing, western movies, showing mules at the Keokuk County Fair, the Keokuk County Expo, … Read more

McEwen, John Hager – Obituary

J. H. McEwen, formerly known as “Grandpa McEwen,” was born Bartholomew County, Feb. 4, 1832. When but an infant his parents moved to Decatur Co., Ind., where they resided until 1848, when with their family they moved to Fremont, Mahaska County, Iowa, where their son, J. H. was married to Miss Jerusha Amelia Morrow, Aug. 11, 1850. With his wife and young family, McEwen left Iowa in 1860, making his way across the great plains with an ox team. After a long and perilous journey they arrived at the Dallas, Ore., from which point the family were sent by boat … Read more

Passwater, Nancy Wilson – Obituary

Nancy Wilson Passwater was born to Jessie and Rebecca McClellan Wilson in Noblesville, Hamilton County, Indiana, July 17, 1828. At the age of sixteen she joined the Christian Church of that city during the pastorate of Brother Longly. On September 14, 1847, she was united in marriage to Samuel Passwater, who proceeded her in death October 8, 1896 in Bates County, Missouri. To this union were born two daughters, Mrs. Melvina White of Fremont, Iowa, and Mrs. Emeline Beckett, of Passaic, Missouri, both of whom are still living. Early in the year 1852 the family moved to Iowa, where they … Read more

Biography of John M. Haines

The wise system of industrial economics which has been brought to bear in the development of Boise has challenged uniform admiration, for while there has been a great advancement in all material lines, there has been an entire absence of that inflation of values and that erratic “booming” which have in the past proved the eventual death knell to many of the localities of the west, where “mushroom” towns have one day smiled forth with “all modern improvements” and practically on the next day have been shorn of their glories and of their possibilities of stable prosperity, so to remain … Read more

Iowa Atlases, Farm Directories, and Plat Books

1859 Map of Washington County Iowa

This collection contains digital atlases, farm directories, and plat books for all 99 Iowa counties. We have collated these from a variety of online sources, and provide them here as a single source for all online Iowa County Atlases, Farm Directories, and Plat Books.

Biography of Col. W.W. Chapman

Among men now living there are none around whom clusters so much of the history of Portland as the one whose name heads this memoir. He is the strongest link between the infant days and the stalwart manhood of our city. But the results of his labors in behalf of Portland, great and far-reaching as they have been in good, by no means complete the record of his long and useful life. Years before American civilization had gained a foot-hold in this portion of the Pacific Northwest, he had borne a leading part in laying the foundations of the State … Read more

Biography of Hon. J. H. Rinehart

HON.J.H. RINEHART. – Mr. Rinehart, whose portrait appears in this volume, is one of the pioneers of Eastern Oregon, and the proprietor of the Mammoth Anna-Lulu Flouring mills. He was born October 1, 1836, in Adams county, Illinois, and moved to Mahaska county, Iowa, in 1845. In 1854 he crossed the plains with his parents to Oregon and located with them at Eugene. In 1855 he left the parental roof and, although but a boy of eighteen, sought the gold fields of Northern California, where he remained a year and a half, and returned to Oregon soon after the close … Read more

Wolfe, Edith May Byram – Obituary

Edith May Byram, daughter of Rev. F. N. and Tabitha [McEwen] Byram, was born in Murray County, Minn., May 14, 1872, and in 1874 removed with her father’s family to Fremont, Iowa. Here she attended school and grew to womanhood, and was married to F. Wolfe on December 13, 1892. To this union four children were born – Walter Rex, Carl Vernon, Ralph Donavan, and infant daughter Marjorie Bitha, who with the bereaved husband a a large circle of friends and relatives, are left to mourn her untimely death; yet they mourn not as those that have no hope. The … Read more

Biography of Jackson B. Crane

Jackson B. Crane. Although the founder of the Crane family in Kansas, Jackson B. Crane was neither born nor died in this state, he spent forty-five years here, the best part of his life, and his name deserves preservation in the country’s enduring annals. His was one of the first pioneer cabins built in 1854 within a radius of eleven miles west of Leavenworth, then the frontier. He was one of that hardy band that not only dared the privations of the wilderness but had the resolute will that accepted a life that, at that time, positively demanded eternal vigilance … Read more

Lee, Marshall B. Jr. – Obituary

Marshall Bartholomew [middle name is really Burr as he was named after his father] Lee was born in Bartholomew County, Indiana, on May 9, 1850, [Headstone says he was born October 14] and came to Mahaska County with his parents in 1851. He was one of eleven children and when about five years of age his father died. He grew to manhood on the home place south of town, doing his share of the labor on the farm necessary to conduct it successfully. On May 9, 1875, he was married to Miss Hannah Wolfe. Soon after his marriage he bought … Read more

Biography of Lewis C. Rinehart

It is a pleasant task to scan the career of a successful man and to note the places where he has overcome the obstacles of life’s pathway and where he has made worthy achievements: and for a short time it is our good pleasure to thus contemplate the salient points of the life of the worthy gentleman, whose name initiates this article and who has been and is now one of the substantial and capable men of Wallowa County, having wrought for the development and advancement of the same in a manner that demonstrates both his ability and his integrity, … Read more