From History of Jones County, Iowa, Western Historical Company, Chicago, 1879, page 614, and submitted by Joanne Jones

From The History of Jones County, Iowa, Western Historical Co., Chicago, 1879, p 598 and submitted by Joanne Jones

Francis M. Benedict spent the first four years of his life in his native town and then accompanied his parents on their removal to Bicknelville, St. Lawrence county, New York. There he acquired his education in the common schools and spent the intervening years until 1868, his time and energies being devoted mostly to agricultural pursuits. In that year he came west with his father and stepmother, arriving in Monticello, Jones county, on his twenty-first birthday. His parents made the entire journey by train, while Mr. Benedict drove in a horse and buggy from Chicago. During the next ten years, which were mostly passed in Monticello, he engaged as a laborer and in 1878 he located in Cass township, purchasing the farm upon which he now makes his home. At that time it consisted of one hundred and sixty acres located on the northwest quarter of section 1. About three years ago, however, he gave one hundred and twenty acres to his son, for whose use another dwelling has been erected upon the place. Mr. Benedict also owns one hundred and thirty acres in Scotch Grove township and sixteen acres of timberland in Castle Grove township. During his residence here he has continued to devote his time to general agriculture and stock raising, and that he has been successful in his undertakings is indicated by the fact that he now ranks among the well-to-do men of the community in which he resides. His home is considered the finest in Cass township, and his farm is equipped with all the modern and up-to-date improvements that go to make up a model farm of the twentieth century. He not only occupies a high place among the township's leading and representative farmers, but is also well known in financial circles for as he has prospered he has been an extensive money loaner.

On the 9th of April, 1871, Mr. Benedict was united in marriage to Miss Luanna Secrest, a native of Anamosa, Jones county, Iowa, born on the 24th of August, 1852. She is a daughter of Joseph and Sarah (Osborn) Secrest, the former born in Lexington, Kentucky, on the 19th of December, 1816, and the latter in Indiana, January 19, 1819. The father came to this county with his parents when a young man and was here married about 1843. He was numbered among the early settlers of Anamosa, where he conducted the first store, the town at that time being known as Lexington. He was thus en-aged for many years and later removed his business to a store about four miles south of the town. He passed away in February, 1871, while his wife still survives and makes her home in Chicago. Their family consisted of seven daughters and one son, of whom Mrs. Benedict is the fifth in order of birth. The others are: Sarah, the wife of H. D. Sherman, of Cedar Rapids, Iowa; Margaret, the widow of P. Smith, residing in Pueblo, Colorado; Jennie, the widow of C. McGowan, of Chicago; Josephine, the wife of Robert Shields, who makes his home in Santiago, California; Bell, who wedded Nicholas Nellis, a resident of Chicago; Douglas C., who passed away in Dubuque, Iowa, and Ella the deceased wife of Professor F. Gault. Unto Mr. and Mrs. Benedict have been born three children, who are as follows: Winifred, the wife of George Colton, of Colony, Kansas, by whom she has five children; Jessie, who married C. B. Darrow, of Cass township, and has two children; and Royal, who operates the home farm and is also married, having two children.

In his religious faith Mr. Benedict is identified with the Presbyterian church of Castle Grove, in which he has served as an elder for the past three years. He gives stalwart allegiance to the republican party, supporting its men and measures at the polls and doing all in his power to extend its influence in the community. He has never sought nor desired public office, however, as a reward for party fealty, preferring to concentrate his efforts upon his own private business affairs. Preeminently a man of business, as the architect of his own fortune he has built wisely and well and now ranks among the wealthiest residents of Cass township, while his salient characteristics have been such as to make him popular with an extensive number of warm friends.

From History of Jones County, Iowa, Past and Present, R. M. Corbitt, S. J. Clarke Publishing Co., Chicago, 1910, p. 360.

From History of Jones County, Iowa, Western Historical Company, Chicago, 1879, page 660.

From History of Jones County, Iowa, Western Historical Company, Chicago, 1879, page 693.

In the year 1888, Mr. Berger married Mrs. Amelia (Grimm) Schullman, of Madison township, a native of Coal Valley, Illinois. To Mr. and Mrs. Berger have been born five children, all of whom live at home. They are John, Emma, Caroline, Walter and Lueverne. By her first marriage Mrs. Berger also had five children: George, a farmer of Madison township; Fred and William, of Omaha, Nebraska; Tillie, the wife of Charles Fiddler, a farmer of Wyoming township; and Ida, who has remained unmarried and lives in Omaha.

Since becoming a citizen of this republic Mr. Berger has supported the democratic party. He is liberal in his political views, however, and at local elections votes for measures and men as he thinks best. He has not aspired to public preferment, though he is vitally interested in the welfare of his townspeople and in advancing educational opportunities in particular. He has served the community by acting as a member of the school board. A man who has been accustomed from his youth to win success, it was for him not an unusual thing to find his agricultural undertakings fraught with so much profit to himself. In his old country home he made bread that was good enough to be placed upon the table of the Emperor and on that of the Iron Chancellor, Bismarck: here the fruits of his labors do not come so directly into the lives of those who know him, but as they see the results of his toil, look at the excellent condition of his fields and regard the substantial income which his harvests bring him, they bestow upon him ungrudgingly their praise and their admiration. He and his wife are members of the Lutheran church, that being the faith in which they were reared.

From History of Jones County, Iowa, Past and Present, R. M. Corbitt, S. J. Clarke Publishing Co., Chicago, 1910, p. 527.

From History of Jones County, Iowa, Western Historical Company, Chicago, 1879, page 698.

From History of Jones County, Iowa, Western Historical Company, Chicago, 1879, page 650.

From History of Jones County, Iowa, Western Historical Company, Chicago, 1879, page 621.

From History of Jones County, Iowa, Western Historical Company, Chicago, 1879, page 660.

From History of Jones County, Iowa, Western Historical Company, Chicago, 1879, page 585.

Although so early deprived of a father's love and guidance, Dennis Bittner learned well the fundamental lessons of life at home and at school, so that he has progressed far along the road to success. Until he attained his majority he remained at home, assisting his mother in all that lay in his power and then engaged in teaching. To this profession he devoted, all told, eleven winters, one in his, native state and ten in Jones County, to which he came in 1875. After forsaking that line of work he engaged in farming, but this did not prove sufficiently to his liking to hold him more than four years, when he sold his land, removed to Olin and embarked in mercantile business. His operations were bringing him large returns for his investments, so that he had every reason to be satisfied with his venture, when on the 22d of June, 1892, his stock was totally destroyed by fire. He was not discouraged by this misfortune, however, but starting again with a new line of goods he opened a store in which he has since carried on business. In 1897 he was appointed postmaster and has discharged the duties of this office ever since, but he has also conducted his general store in conjunction. The qualities which have made him a good business man, which have won for him a representative trade from the people of the village and its environs have also contributed to his popularity as a public servant, for he is unremitting in his efforts to secure the satisfaction of those who rely upon him, sparing neither himself nor those in his employ to obtain quick and efficient distribution of the mails, and ready and willing attention to the demands of others.

After coming to this state Mr. Bittner wedded Miss Clara C. Everhart. a native of Taylor county and a daughter of N. M. and Susan Everhart, who are now residents of Olin. She is one of a family of ten children. Mr. Bittner has always supported, the republican party, taking a vital interest in local affairs and in politics generally.

From History of Jones County, Iowa, Past and Present, R. M. Corbitt, S. J. Clarke Publishing Co., Chicago, 1910, p. 553.

From History of Jones County, Iowa, Western Historical Company, Chicago, 1879, page 585.

From History of Jones County, Iowa, Western Historical Company, Chicago, 1879, page 701.

From History of Jones County, Iowa, Western Historical Company, Chicago, 1879, page 598.

From History of Jones County, Iowa, Western Historical Company, Chicago, 1879, page 660.

From History of Jones County, Iowa, Western Historical Company, Chicago, 1879, page 643.

From History of Jones County, Iowa, Western Historical Company, Chicago, 1879, page 638.

From History of Jones County, Iowa, Western Historical Company, Chicago, 1879, page 638.

From History of Jones County, Iowa, Western Historical Company, Chicago, 1879, page 585.

From History of Jones County, Iowa, Western Historical Company, Chicago, 1879, page 590.

From History of Jones County, Iowa, 1879, page 689, and submitted by Lori J. Mentzel

From History of Jones County, Iowa, Western Historical Company, Chicago, 1879, page 621.

Sheriff Bodenhofer is a son of the late Jacob and Rebecca (Soisbe)* Bodenhofer, with whose names is associated a distinct measure of pioneer prestige in the Hawkeye State. Jacob Bodenhofer was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, in 1832, was reared and educated in the old Buckeye State and was about seventeen years of age when, in 1848, he severed the home ties and came to Iowa, where he found employment on a pioneer farm. He later studied law and gained admission to the Iowa bar, he having thereafter been engaged in the active practice of his profession at Anamosa for many yeas and having been one of the venerable and honored pioneer citizens of Iowa at the time of his death, which occurred in the year 1906, his wife having died in 1897, and having been a sister of Samuel Soisbe,* who served as a representative in the Twenty-eighth Iowa Legislature. Rev. George Bodenhofer, grandfather of the present sheriff of Jones County, was a clergyman of the Christian Church and after coming to Iowa was here associated in the establishing of Cornell College, which is now one of the important and well ordered educational institutions of the state.

In the Anamosa public schools John Bodenhofer continued his studies until he was graduated in the high school and thereafter he was actively engaged in farm enterprise in his native county for a period of thirty years, he being at the present time the owner of two well improved farms in Jones County and this landed estate having an aggregate area of 300 acres. While still residing on his farm Mr. Bodenhofer served two terms as representative of his township on the county board of supervisors, and this office he resigned at the time of his appointment to that of county sheriff, in 1921. As sheriff he has given a signally loyal, circumspect and effective administration, and the popular estimate placed upon the same is shown in his continued retention of the office since the year mentioned.

The political allegiance of Mr. Bodenhofer is given to the Republican party, he and his wife have membership in the Methodist Episcopal Church, he is affiliated with the Masonic fraternity and the Knights of Pythias, and the Wapsipinicon Country Club claims him as one of its appreciative and popular members.

October 26, 1893, marked the marriage of Mr. Bodenhofer to Miss Emma L. Manley, daughter of the late Thomas and Alice (Hannum) Manley, who were honored citizens of Jones County at the time of their death, Mr. Manley having been here the owner of a fine farm estate of 720 acres. Mr. and Mrs. Bodenhofer have three children: Helen is the wife of Roy Simpson, of Cedar Rapids, this state; Hazel is the wife of Philip Hammond, of Lisbon, Linn County; and Hylah is the wife of Ernest Towne*, their residence being maintained on the old home farm of Sheriff Bodenhofer, near Mechanicsville, and Mr. Towne being in active charge of the place.

From A Narrative History of The People of Iowa, Volume IV, Edgar Rubey Harlan, The American Historical Society, Inc., Chicago and New York, 1931, and submitted by Debbie Clough Gerischer.
Note: * Rebecca "Soisbe" and Samuel "Soisbe" should both be "Soesbe." Ernest "Towne" should be "Tonne." (RH)

From History of Jones County, Iowa, Western Historical Company, Chicago, 1879, page 621.

On the 22d of October, 1894, Mr. Bohren wedded Miss Elizabeth Friedli, of Lovell township, and to them have been born four children: Frieda, Olga, Lena and Fritz. Since he has been admitted to citizenship in this republic Mr. Bohren has affiliated with the republican party, and his election to membership upon the school board shows the confidence the people place in his judgment. Indeed he is a man whose influence is felt, and for the good of his fellows, in whatever body he may happen to belong, whether it be that for the government of the schools, that of the directors of the Klondike Creamery Company, of which he is secretary, or the congregation of the German Reformed church, of which he is trustee.

From History of Jones County, Iowa, Past and Present, R. M. Corbitt, S. J. Clarke Publishing Co., Chicago, 1910, p. 319.

From History of Jones County, Iowa, Western Historical Company, Chicago, 1879, page 660.

Edmund went as a Forty-Niner to California to "strike it rich" in the goldfields, leaving Mary Ann and two young children at home in Anamosa for almost five years. He did not become a millionaire (worse luck!); but he did find enough gold to send money back to Mary Ann. She invested in land, had a house built, and generally took the kind of responsibilities that were beyond the experience of many women--even hearing women--of her day.

She bought what has become prime real estate in downtown Anamosa. You can find the Booth Tract on city maps, bounded by Main, Booth, First, and Fourth Streets. It was part of this land that Edmund donated for the Library. He also donated the land for the first site of the Congregational Church--then on Main Street--although that site later was exchanged for a larger one at the corner of Booth and First Streets.

Shortly after Edmund returned from California, he bought the city newspaper, the Anamosa Eureka, of which he was the editor from 1858 until his retirement in 1898. His son, Thomas, worked alongside his father, and after his father's retirement, served as editor of the paper until be retired in 1911.

You can read more about Edmund and Mary Ann Booth at the Library of Congress American Memories site, including his diary and letters chronicling his overland crossing; prospecting at Feather River, Hangtown, and Sonora; visits to Sacramento, Columa, Columbia, and Stockton; and return voyage via Nicaragua, 1854.

Submitted by < second-great-granddaughter of Edmund Booth.

Submitted by: Marcia Kohl
FromWho's Who in Omaha 1928, Biographical Sketches of Men and Women of Achievement, Robert M. Baldwin Corporation, Publishers, Louisville, Kentucky, Omaha, Nebraska, Hebron, Nebraska,Copyright 1928, 216 Pages, page 28

His father, Edmund Booth, was at one time the owner of the Eureka, and when he passed away at the age of ninety-four years he was the oldest editor in America and the oldest teacher of the deaf, probably, in the world, He was himself a semi-mute, for though he could speak he could not hear, and his wife was both deaf and dumb. Their marriage license is the first one recorded in Jones county, Iowa, having been issued in 1840. Their son, T. E. Booth, was born February 11, 1842, in Fairview township, and has since lived within its borders save for a period of less than two years. His early education was acquired in common schools of the most ordinary kind, and even then his opportunities were limited because of the necessity for his labor on the farm. His ambition, however, was not in agricultural lines, but tended toward the printer's trade and he served a three years' apprenticeship in the office of the Eureka, which had been established in the fall of 1856 by John E. Lovejoy, a brother of the distinguished orator and Illinois congressman, Owen Lovejoy, and also of Elijah Lovejoy, who was killed at Alton, Illinois, because of his advocacy of anti-slavery sentiments. The new paper had little support and proved such a disheartening enterprise that Mr. Lovejoy sold it to C.L.D. Crockwell, a local druggist, a few weeks after it was started. In January, 1858, Matt Parrott, a job printer of Davenport, Iowa, purchased a half interest in the paper and was local editor and foreman when Mr. Booth began his apprenticeship. "The first thing he did on that day so eventful to us," writes Mr. Booth in the Eureka many years afterward, "was to bring forth a big box of nonpareil pi, probably a half peck of small legal matter type that some printer unluckily spilled out of a case. Mr. Parrott set a line to show which side up the nicks should be and turned the stick over to us. Another boy, Douglas, son of Mr. Crockwell, started at the same time. He soon tired of the job and quit."

The Eureka at that time had a circulation of four hundred, including exchanges, but it had little advertising patronage and its main source of support came from the sheriff sales, original and probate notices and the tax list after the county went republican in 1859. Not long after Mr. Booth became connected with the paper his father purchased a part of Mr. Crockwell's interest in the Eureka, of which practically he had been the editor from the first. The equipment of the plant included a Washington press but there was no job press, the hand press being used to print the few little "jobs" that were brought to them. For his apprenticeship Mr. Booth was to receive thirty dollars for the first year, forty-five dollars for the second year and sixty dollars for the third. but such was the financial outlook of the paper that during the three years he did not receive, perhaps, more than ten dollars in cash with the smallest possible allowance for clothing. During the second summer he and Mr. Parrott set up and printed the paper without any other help. His apprenticeship concluded, he spent twenty months in an eastern academy and then returned to take his place in the office of the Eureka. Since that time he has been continuously connected with the paper, doing every kind of work in the office, mechanical, business and editorial. He had thought in early youth to some day become connected with a metropolitan establishment, but fate decreed otherwise and he has remained in the Eureka office, which has been owned by the Booths for more than four decades. The Eureka has always been an example of clean journalism, characterized by progressiveness in keeping with the advancement that has characterized the country press. Its columns have been used to advocate all measures and movements which has had for their object the betterment of municipal or county interests and in the discussion of state and national policies its tone has been no uncertain one, yet with none of the bitter aggressiveness or partisanship that is too often seen in the local press. Mr. Booth is himself a fair-minded man, capable of looking at the question from an unprejudiced standpoint and his advocacy of any issue or principle has been sufficient to win for it other followers on account of the public confidence felt in his judgment.

From History of Jones County, Iowa, Past and Present, R. M. Corbitt, S. J. Clarke Publishing Co., Chicago, 1910, p. 184.

From History of Jones County, Iowa, Western Historical Company, Chicago, 1879, page 643.

.From History of Jones County, Iowa, 1879, (Chicago: Western Historical Publishing Company), p. 622, and submitted by Mary Kay Kuhfittig.

From History of Jones County, Iowa, Western Historical Company, Chicago, 1879, page 693.

At the early age of fourteen years Asa E. Boyer was thrown upon his own resources and as the architect of his own fortunes has built wisely and well. He was first employed in the telephone office where he remained for about a year and a half, when, realizing the necessity and value of further education as a preparation for life's practical duties if he would work his way upward, he reentered the public schools, which he attended until eighteen years of age, when he was graduated from the high school. He was then employed in different ways for about a year, devoting some time to teaching school and later resumed his education as a student in the State University at Iowa City. There he remained for about a year, when he met with an accident which incapacitated him for active work for some time. Returning to Anamosa in May, 1908, he secured employment in the Welch factory and there continued until the opening of the succeeding year.

In the meantime he had been made the democratic candidate for the office of county recorder and the election, which was held on the 3d of November 1908, showed that he was the popular choice for the position. On the 1st of January he entered upon his duties which he is now discharging in a systematic, prompt and capable manner, his record being equal in its efficiency to that of any previous incumbent in the position. He has always been an advocate of democratic principles since age conferred upon him the right of franchise. He belongs to the Episcopal church and is a young man whose sterling traits of character have won him a strong hold upon the regard and affections of his fellow townsmen.

From History of Jones County, Iowa, Past and Present, R. M. Corbitt, S. J. Clarke Publishing Co., Chicago, 1910, p. 487.

James A. Bracha is the eldest of the seven children of the first marriage and was a lad of ten summers when, in 1880, he accompanied his parents across the Atlantic and on to Chicago, where they established their home. A year and a half later, however, they removed to Bonhomme county, South Dakota, and since that time or from the age of eleven years, James A. Bracha has been dependent upon his own labor for whatever success be has enjoyed. He worked on a ranch as a herder of sheep for three years and was afterward employed at general labor on a farm until seventeen years of age, when he became connected with mercantile interests, securing a clerkship in the general store at Armour, South Dakota. Fourteen years ago he went upon the road as traveling salesman for a grocery house, spending two years in that way and in the fall of 1896 he came to Oxford Junction, where he assumed the management of the general store of Johnson Brothers, remaining in charge for about eight months. He was then married and entered his present business in the fall of 1897, since which time he has been proprietor of a general mercantile establishment at this place. He has the largest store in town and he owns as well the building which he occupies and which he erected. In the spring of 1898, his store was swept away in a disastrous fire which occurred in the town and his was the first building erected after the conflagration. He has a one-story brick structure, forty-four by seventy feet with a basement under the entire building. His establishment is conducted on the department store plan under the firm style of Bracha & Company. Mrs. Bracha has been an able assistant to her husband since the business was established.

Mr. Bracha's mercantile interests, however, by no means limit the extent of his activities. He has been very prominent in community affairs and was twice elected mayor on the democratic ticket but resigned in the winter of 1908-9. In the spring of 1909 he became president of the board of education and is doing effective work in the interests of the schools. He cooperates in every movement for the material, intellectual and social progress of the city and has served as a committeeman from his township on the democratic central committee.

In August, 1897, Mr. Bracha was united in marriage to Miss Frances B. Wosoba, a native of Oxford township and a daughter of Michael B. and Anna (Dusanek) Wosoba, who were natives of Bohemia and now reside at Oxford Junction. Mr. and Mrs. Bracha have two children, Adaline and Amelia. Mr. Bracha belongs to New Era Lodge, No. 88, K.P., and Zealous Lodge, No. 245, A.F.&A.M., and of the Commercial Club is vice-president. He is a prominent factor in the business life of the town, contributing to its commercial prosperity through his efforts, while his labors in behalf of general improvement are far-reaching and beneficial.

From History of Jones County, Iowa, Past and Present, R. M. Corbitt, S. J. Clarke Publishing Co., Chicago, 1910, p. 131.

From History of Jones County, Iowa, Western Historical Company, Chicago, 1879, page 660.

Mr. Brainard was born on the 24th of September, 1842, in Wyoming county, New York, on the old homestead farm located about one and a half miles cast of the town of Gainsville. His parents were Stephen and Jemimah (Helmer) Brainard, also natives of Wyoming county, where their entire lives were passed. Their family consisted of six children, four sons and two daughters, but only one son now survives.

Under the parental roof Frank J. Brainard was reared to manhood and at the usual age was sent as a pupil to the district schools near his father's home, later attending an academy and high school. He supplemented his early training by a course of study in the academy at Pike, New York, and after completing his course in that institution engaged in teaching school for three terms, the summer months being devoted to farming in partnership with his fattier. In 1866, he sold his interest in the farm and came west to Iowa to visit friends living in Anamosa. He was so impressed with the excellent opportunities which this state offered along agricultural lines that he decided to take up his permanent abode here and consequently, in the spring of 1867, he purchased a farm of eighty acres in West Cass, for which he paid ten dollars per acre but sold in 1909 for one hundred and twelve dollars and fifty cents. He added another tract of forty acres to his original purchase and on that farm of one hundred and twenty acres be continued to make his home until 1876, when he sold out and purchased the farm upon which he was residing at the time of his demise and which is now operated by his son. It consists of two hundred and forty acres of land, located on section 9, which, under his careful management, was brought under a high state of cultivation, the farm becoming one of the best improved properties in the township. The place is equipped with two comfortable and attractive dwellings and has a large barn forty-eight by one hundred feet, while he also added all the modern conveniences and accessories used to facilitate farm labor. In addition to his general farming he made a specialty of raising cattle and hogs, and was a most successful, all around agriculturist, whose well directed labors were crowned with a most gratifying degree of prosperity.

On the 21st of October, 1866, in Gainsville, New York, Mr. Brainard was united in marriage to Miss Martha E. Price, native of that town, born on the 15th of July, 1843. Her father had been twice married, Mrs. Brainard and two brothers being the children of the second union, while by his former marriage he became the father of six children. Unto Mr. and Mrs. Brainard were born five children, namely: Fred A., of North Dakota; Grace May, who passed away when seven years old; Walter and Warren, twins, who died at the age of three months; and George, who resides upon and operates the home farm. The last named married Emma Pfiel, by whom he has two children, Geraldine and Carlton, while Fred, the eldest son, is also married, the lady of his choice being Miss Lizzie Crain. They are the parents of seven children, namely: Asa, Bertha, Chauncy, Dorothy, Ethel, Florence and Glenn.

Aside from the high rank which Mr. Brainard attained as an agriculturist, he also became a well known and influential factor in community affairs, although be never sought to figure prominently before the public. A life-long republican, he did all in his power to further the influence of that party in the community, and his fellow citizens, recognizing his genuine worth and ability, called him to various public offices. He was elected township trustee, in which office he served during the years 1886 and 1887, and was also chosen as assessor and justice of the peace. In 1899, further civic honors came to him in his election to the office of county supervisor, being a member of the board at the time of his demise and discharging the arduous and sometimes tedious duties of this office with exemplary diligence and fidelity. During his entire lifetime he had been a faithful and regular attendant at church and Sabbath school, never being absent unless detained by illness. On the 6th of March, 1879, he became a member of the Cass Center Congregational church, and for nearly eighteen years served as deacon therein. In the Sunday school he was by turn scholar, Bible class teacher and superintendent, occupying the latter office for eight years' He was a stanch advocate of the cause of temperance, doing all in his power to extend its influence in the community, for he realized that the liquor traffic is one of the greatest evils against which the country has to contend. He remained throughout his life an earnest student, keeping in touch with modern thought and advancement, and was well known as a man of sterling integrity and well cultivated intelligence.

Two weeks prior to his demise Mr. Brainard was seized with a chill developed into grippe, and this, with a complication of heart trouble, proved to be his fatal illness. He passed away on the 12th of March, 1902, at the age of fifty-nine years, five months and sixteen days, his remains being interred in Cass Center cemetery. His death was a great shock to the members of his family, for he had ever been a most loving husband and father, while his loss was also sorely felt throughout the community, where he was known as a faithful and considerate neighbor and a man of kindly thought and spirit, generous and helpful in action, and at the same time his genial disposition made him the life of every social gathering. just prior to his final illness he was engaged in a characteristic ministry, assisting to care for a sick neighbor. He realized as few men seem to do his obligations to his fellowman and to the community in which he resided. He looked at life from a broad standpoint and the simple weight of his character and ability carried him into important relations with his fellowman and won for him the unqualified regard and esteem of everyone with whom he came in contact.

From History of Jones County, Iowa, Past and Present, R. M. Corbitt, S. J. Clarke Publishing Co., Chicago, 1910, p. 192.

From History of Jones County, Iowa, Western Historical Company, Chicago, 1879, page 598.

After completing the course of study prescribed by the common schools of the county, Henry Bramer passed to the high school in which he finished his education. At the same time that he prosecuted his lessons, however, he also worked upon the home farm, so that he was well fitted for farming when he embarked in business for himself on attaining his majority. For one year he rented land and then bought the place on which he now lives. It consists of one hundred and eighty-four acres on sections 16 and 21, Wyoming township, is improved and some of it well cultivated, but Mr. Bramer makes a specialty of raising and feeding cattle, sheep and hogs, so that a large part of the farm is used merely as pasture land. Although still a young man, in the few years that he has devoted himself to farming he has given evidence of those qualities which are certain to win pronounced success in the course of years.

It was in 1903 that Mr. Bramer was united in marriage to Miss Elsie Holub, who was born after her parents came to this country and is one of a family of six children. They were natives of Bohemia, who sought to make their fortune in this land. The mother has passed away, but John Holub, the father, is living in Texas. To Mr. and Mrs. Bramer were born four children: one who died in infancy; Henry C.; and twins, born November 9, 1909, one deceased, and Bernice Elizabeth.

Mr. Bramer was reared in the faith of the Lutheran church, while his wife received equally firm grounding in the Presbyterian creed. In his political views, he is in sympathy with the Democratic Party, being convinced of the value of the principles to which it gives expression in its platform as a basis for the governing of the nation. Accordingly the candidate who represents those views can always count upon his support, but for himself he has sought for no public recognition of his abilities.

From History of Jones County, Iowa, Past and Present, R. M. Corbitt, S. J. Clarke Publishing Co., Chicago, 1910, p. 638.

From History of Jones County, Iowa, Western Historical Company, Chicago, 1879, page 651.

From History of Jones County, Iowa, 1879, page 689, and submitted by Lori J. Mentzel

From The History of Jones County, Iowa, Western Historical Co., Chicago, 1879, p. 641, and submitted by Joanne Wilkin.
Note: William Brazelton 12/31/1821-2/7/1901 and Ruth (Hulda?) Brazelton 2/10/1827-8/17/1906 are buried at Oakwood Cem., Monticello, IA.

From History of Jones County, Iowa, Western Historical Company, Chicago, 1879, page 585.

John R. Breed was educated largely in the country schools and also spent some time in Cornell College, Mount Vernon, Iowa, thus obtaining thorough preparation for life's practical and responsible duties. The occupation to which he was reared he determined to make his life work and when he put aside his text-books he resumed his labors in the fields. , In his youthful days he was some-what of an athlete and very fond of all outdoor sports. After the death of the father his older brother Ira took charge of the farm, which they operated together until the death of the brother on the 17th of July, 1909. As lie took up farming for himself he bent his energies to the further development and cultivation of the fields in a way that brought substantial returns. He studied the nature of the soil and the needs of various cereals and inculcated the prin-ciples of scientific farming into the work of developing the home place. Year after year he thus carefully carried on his work with the result that in time he accumulated a handsome competence sufficient to enable him to spend his remain-ing days in the enjoyment of well earned rest. In March, 1908, therefore, he removed to Anamosa, where he has since lived retired.

On the 22d of November, 1888, Mr. Breed was married to Miss Cora A. Burch, the wedding being celebrated at the home of her father, T. M. Burch, in Madison township, Jones county. They became parents of twin boys, who died in infancy and a daughter, Glada M. Mr. Breed has been a member of Knights of Pythias lodge of Martelle for about eighteen years, and is also a member of the Masonic fraternity. His political allegiance is given to the democratic party of the principles of which he is a stalwart advocate and yet he has had little time for the honors and emoluments of office, finding through many years that his time and energies were fully occupied by his business pursuits.

From History of Jones County, Iowa, Past and Present, R. M. Corbitt, S. J. Clarke Publishing Co., Chicago, 1910, p. 584.

From History of Jones County, Iowa, Western Historical Company, Chicago, 1879, page 638.

From History of Jones County, Iowa, Western Historical Company, Chicago, 1879, page 598.