IowaJones/Biographies/W. D. Ralston

W. D. Ralston–E. E. Reed

W. D. Ralston
Born 1835

W. D. RALSTON, clergyman; P.O. Scotch Grove; born in Armstrong Co., Penn., in 1835; came to Jones Co. and to his present work in 1864; the society is called the Congregation of Scotch Grove, of the United Presbyterian Church; the Church of which he is Pastor was organized in 1856; the first Pastor was Rev. A. J. Allen. Mr. Ralston succeeded him, and has been Pastor fifteen years; the work of building the church edifice was commenced in 1864 and completed in 1866, and dedicated and first used for worship Jan. 21, 1866; the present membership is about eighty, and a Sabbath school is in connection with the society; the society is in good condition; the parsonage belonging to the Church was built in 1867. Mrs. Ralston's maiden name was Carrie M. Eaton, a native of Massachusetts; they were married in 1865; have two children—Mary F. and Carrie L. The children are members of the United Presbyterian Church also. Mr. Ralston is a Republican.

From History of Jones County, Iowa, Western Historical Company, Chicago, 1879, page 632.

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J. C. Ramsey
Born 1835

J. C. RAMSEY, agent of the Midland Branch of the Chicago & North-Western Railway at Amber, in Wayne Township, Jones Co., Iowa; was born in Plain Grove, Mercer Co., Penn., in 1835; he is the son of Isaac T. Ramsey and Mary Jorden, of Pennsylvania; he first came to Jones Co. in 1862. He was married, in Lawrence Co., Penn., on the 16th of April, 1863, to Miss Martha A. Dickey, daughter of David Dickey and Nancy Love, of the same county; they have five children—Ella May, Eugene E., Joseph, Jasper H. and Addison D. Mr. Ramsey is express agent at Amber, and is also a dealer in lumber, grain and agricultural implements; he has a farm of eighty acres in Sec. 34 of the same township, which he rents; he owns several other buildings in the village, besides the warehouse which he occupies; he was instrumental in locating the depot at this point, and has been the agent ever since the establishment of the depot in January, 1875; the first shipment of grain from this station was on the 9th of February, 1875, and was sent by the firm of Ramsey, Hartman & Co., the silent partner being Mrs. C. E. Sanford, who is still a resident of Amber; has always been a reliable Republican and an influential citizen, but has not sought office, although he has held all township offices except Constable; he now is, and has been for several years, a Justice of the Peace; he is a Royal Arch Mason; he is liberal and public spirited in all his views, is thoroughly identified with the business interests of the town, and would be a prominent man and useful citizen in any community, because of his practical judgment and business ability.

From History of Jones County, Iowa, Western Historical Company, Chicago, 1879, page 633.

Austin N. Reade
Born November 2, 1842

AUSTIN N. READE, farmer, Madison Twp., Sec. 11; P.O. Onslow; born November 2, 1842, in Marion Co., Ind.; in 1852, he came with his parents to Jones Co.; he owns ninety acres of land. Married Ellen M. Osborn in 1871; she was born in Wisconsin; have three children—Orra I., Jessie May and Edith J. Republican; M.E. Church.

From History of Jones County, Iowa, Western Historical Company, Chicago, 1879, page 618.

J. Reade
Born December 13, 1853

J. READE, farmer, Madison Twp., Sec 12; P.O. Onslow; born December 13, 1853, in Jones Co., Iowa; he owns eighty acres of land. Married Mary E. Silsbee March 18, 1875; she was born September 5, 1855, in Wyoming Township; have one child—Myrtie Belle. Republican.

From History of Jones County, Iowa, Western Historical Company, Chicago, 1879, page 618.

Ralph Reamer
Born 1834

RALPH REAMER. farmer, Oxford Twp., Sec. 19; P.O. Oxford Mills; born in New York in 1834; came to Cedar Co. in 1854, remained until 1860, and then to Jones Co., and now owns 135 acres; when he bought the land, it was wild, and he has made the improvements of a fine house and barn, with fences and farm in the best order. His wife, Clarissa Brink, was born in Bradford Co., Penn., in 1831; came West to Iowa and settled in Cedar Co. in 1855, and married in 1856; they have two children—Ciesely A and Elvira M. Has been School Director and District Treasurer; in religion, Wesleyan Methodist; he enlisted in September, 1861, in the 14th I.V.I., and transferred to the 7th I.V.C., and mustered out June 23, 1866.

From History of Jones County, Iowa, Western Historical Company, Chicago, 1879, page 595.

Thomas M. Redmond
Born December 24, 1878

One of the successful younger physicians of Monticello, Iowa, is Dr. Thomas M. Redmond, who was born in Dysart, this state, December 24, 1878, the son of James and Mary (Gill) Redmond. The father, who died in Dysart, May 23, 1909, at the age of seventy-two, was born in Acklow, County Wicklow, Ireland, April 5, 1837. The Redmond's emigrated to America in 1851 and became residents of New York state. In 1867 they located in Benton county, Iowa, where the survivors of the older generation still reside. The subject of this sketch is the oldest of four children born to the parental union, the others being: James F., owner and manager of a department store at Lamont, Iowa; William H., a senior medical student at Northwestern University Medical school, and Mae, a student at St. Clara College, Sinsinawa, Wisconsin.

Thomas M. Redmond was reared at home and after graduating in 1895 from the Dysart high school entered the employ of the Kullmer Drug Company and after three years as clerk with this firm be became a student at the State University, where be combined the academic course with that of medicine. Two years later he enrolled as a student in the medical school of the Northwestern University of Chicago, from which he was graduated in the class of 1904. During this period, however, he served for six months in Wesley Hospital, substituting for a physician who was ill. When he received the degree entitling him to practice his profession he was offered a remunerative position with the Battle Creek Sanitarium, but under the impression that larger opportunities awaited him elsewhere he refused this appointment and assumed charge of Dr. Connor's practice at Reinbeck, Iowa, during the latter's four months vacation. It was in November, 1904, that he located in Monticello. Since that year he has built up an extensive and lucrative practice, winning the confidence of a large clientele. He has been successful in surgery as in the practice of the healing art.

On the 7th of November, 1906, Dr. Redmond was joined in wedlock to Miss Catherine Mullen, of Laporte City, Iowa, and to them has been born one child, Ralph N. During his college career he was initiated into the Kappa Sigma fraternity and later became one of the organizers and a charter member of the Mu chapter of the Phi Rho Sigma Medical fraternity, the first medical fraternity organized at State University of Iowa. Since leaving college he has also been largely interested in fraternal matters, having joined Root Camp, NO. 282, M. W. A., the Catholic Order of Foresters, the Mystic Workers, the Fraternal Bankers, the 'Home Guards and the Homesteaders. As a member of Jones County Medical Society, of the Iowa State Medical Society, of the Iowa Association of Health Officers, of the Cedar Valley Medical Society and the American Medical Association he keeps abreast with the advancement of his profession. He is now and has been health officer at Monticello the past four years. Partly in recognition of his skill as a practitioner Dr. Redmond was appointed medical examiner for the American Life Old Line Insurance Company, the Equitable Life Insurance Company, and the Bankers Life Association, all of Des Moines, and the Cedar Rapids Insurance Company of Cedar Rapids, and in this capacity he has again proved his title to be known as one of the successful physicians of Monticello. He is a member of the Catholic church.

From History of Jones County, Iowa, Past and Present, R. M. Corbitt, S. J. Clarke Publishing Co., Chicago, 1910, p. 233.

David Reed
Born 1823

DAVID REED, farmer, Wayne Twp., Sec. 21; P.O. Langworthy; born in Pennsylvania in 1823; came to Jones Co. in 1857. Wife's maiden name was Mary C. Scriven, from Pennsylvania also; born in 1838; they were married in 1859; have six children—Elizabeth Jane, Clarinda Ann, Emma, James, Avert and David Arthur. Mr. Reed owns 120 acres. Mr. and Mrs. Reed and three of the children are in the M.E. Church. He is a Republican.

From History of Jones County, Iowa, Western Historical Company, Chicago, 1879, page 633.

Ervin E. Reed
Born June 15, 1873

Ervin E. Reed, one of the successful young lawyers of Monticello, was born in South Fork township, Delaware county, Iowa, June 15, 1873. His father, John S. Reed, was a farmer, who settled in that township in 1848, when it was first opened by the government for colonization. His mother, whose maiden name was Christiana McDonald, was also one of the early settlers of Iowa, having come to the state in 1854 and to Scotch Grove township two years later. The father was of Scotch-Irish descent and the mother of Scottish ancestry.

After the death of John S. Reed in 1887, his widow removed from the old homestead in Delaware county to Monticello, where Ervin E. Reed was sent to the public schools. He was graduated from the high school in 1891 and after teaching for a period in the rural schools of the county he matriculated in the Iowa State College of Agricultural and Mechanical Arts at Ames. From the scientific course of that institution he was graduated in November, 1895, and in 1898 he received his degree of LL.B. from the law department of Drake University at Des Moines, having completed the course in that school.

While a student Mr. Reed pursued a systematic and thorough course in military science in connection with his regular collegiate work and in 1894 be was detailed-to act as battalion adjutant of the First Regiment Iowa National Guard during its annual encampment. Immediately after the encampment he was appointed to fill that position with the rank of first lieutenant, serving as such at the opening of the Spanish-American war. In April, 1898, be was ordered into the United States service with his regiment, which was rechristened the Forty-ninth Iowa Infantry Volunteers when it was mustered in. It was ordered to Jackson ville, Florida, where a military camp had been established under the name of Camp Cuba Libre. There the Forty-ninth Iowa Infantry remained until October, when it moved to Savannah, Georgia. In December it was sent to Havana, Cuba, and became a part of the American Army of Occupation under Major General Fitzhugh Lee. When the regiment arrived at Camp Cuba Libre it was only partially equipped and the work of providing the new recruits with the necessary accouterments for active campaigning was delayed because of the confusion due to the lack of trained and competent men in the quartermaster's department. In August Lieutenant Reed was made quartermaster of his regiment and with the capacity for organization that has ever distinguished him he proceeded to bring order out of the confusion and complete the equipment of his men for field work. So well were his duties performed that when the regiment moved into Cuba it was among the best prepared body of men in the army. Lieutenant Reed was present with his regiment every day from the time when at Des Moines he received telegraphic orders to join it until he was mustered out of the service at Savannah, Georgia, in May, 1899, five months of that time having been spent on the island of Cuba. At the close of the war Mr. Reed engaged in the practice of law in Monticello and has since devoted himself continuously to that profession, in which a large and remunerative practice indicates his success.

In 1901 Mr. Reed was married to Miss Gwendolen Doxsee, of Rolfe, Iowa, a graduate of the Iowa State College of the class of 1897. Three children have been born of this union: Elaine, Alfreda and Alice Miriam. In politics Mr. Reed has given his unqualified support to the republican party and is at present chairman of the republican county central committee. His devotion to the interests of his clients and the pronounced ability which has ever distinguished his conduct of cases secured for him election as city attorney of his home town, a position he held through two terms. In 1901 and 1902 he was county attorney of Jones county, again proving that he was a most competent exponent of the laws of the state and country.

From History of Jones County, Iowa, Past and Present, R. M. Corbitt, S. J. Clarke Publishing Co., Chicago, 1910, p. 223.