The James Families of Jones County, Iowa

GEORGE DANIEL JAMES.

The pioneers of Iowa suffered many privations and faced real dangers in their work of redeeming the wilderness, and what they accomplished is remarkable viewed from the standpoint of today. Among the names associated with the early history of Jones county is that of James, and representatives of this well known family are to be found throughout the various townships, the majority of them engaged in tilling the soil. George Daniel James, a native of the county, belongs to this family. He was born in Jackson township, where he still resides, September 17, 1870, being a son of Walter and Mary (Sherman) James, and grandson of Walter James. The latter, a native of Wales, emigrated to Virginia and after some time spent in that state pushed on to Jones county, Iowa, where he was one of the early settlers. He had a family of ten children.

Walter James, Jr., the father of George Daniel James, was born in Virginia on the same day as John D. Rockerfeller. He now resides in Wyoming, having retired from active life. His wife was also born in Virginia and both were brought to Jones county when young and were married here. For many years.they resided upon a farm, which he operated, and which contained one hundred and sixty acres. There were six children in their family, as follows: Ida May, who married J. Juzeler, of Washington; Philip G., who lives at Wayne, Nebraska; Charlotte, who married Frank Porter, of Jackson township; Sarah E., who married James Keglog. of Wyoming, Iowa; Olive, who lives in San Francisco, and George Daniel James.

Until his marriage, George Daniel James remained at home and then bought his present farm of two hundred and forty acres on sections 25, 26 and 23, Jackson township. Here he carries on general farming and handles a large number,of cattle, doing his work by the latest methods and with improved machinery. The land is highly cultivated, and he has made many desirable improvements.

On January 29. 1895, occurred the marriage of Mr. James and Elizabeth Stivers, who was born in Jackson township, March 9. 1875. She is a daughter of James and Elizabeth (Clark) Stivers, the former of whom was born October 20, 1825, in New York state, and the latter born October 31, 1824. in Virginia. They were married in Ohio, in 1853, and came to Jones county in 1855. Mr. Stivers passed away July 25, 1884. but his widow survives him and lives on the old homestead. Ten children were born to them. Mr. and Mrs. James have two children: Harvey Stivers and Esther Eloise.

The James family made a good record during the Civil war. Walter James, Jr., enlisted from Jones county, August 12, 1861, as corporal, and received his promotion to the rank of first lieutenant January 16, 1865. He served until the close of the war. in all of about four years, being a brave and gallant soldier, who was willing to risk his life in the service of his country. Mr. James has borne his part in public matters by serving faithfully as assessor of Jackson township for one term, having been elected on the republican ticket. He is a man of strong convictions, is popular, and is often cited as one of the representative farmers of his township.

As printed in the source¹. Wording is the original; obvious scanning errors have been corrected, and a few may remain.

JOHN WILLIAM JAMES.

John William James, one of the early settlers of Madison township and, until he retired from active life, one of its most successful farmers, was born near Harper's Ferry, in what is now Jefferson county. West Virginia, June 16, 1833. He is the son of Walter and Susanna (Ault) James, both natives of Maryland, in which state they grew up and were married, but shortly after their union they removed to West Virginia. In 1855 they came west to Iowa, locating in Jones county, where Walter James procured a farm of one hundred and sixty acres in Madison township. He paid but two dollars and a half an acre for the property for it was virgin soil which he had to prepare for cultivation. There he built the log house which served him as a home for many years. In 1860 his wife died and several years later he sold the farm and removed to Wyoming, Iowa, where he made his home until his death, which occurred in 1893 in his eighty-ninth year. He was a lifelong democrat, though never an office-seeker. He took a real interest in community affairs, however, and for a number of years was a member of the school board, using his influence to advance the cause of education in Jones county. In the words and deeds of their daily lives both he and his wife were consistent Christians, finding their religious guidance in the Methodist faith.

John Williams James was reared at home and acquired his education in the district schools of his native place and upon the home farm under the guidance of his father. He was a young man when his parents came to Iowa and for two years he participated in the rugged life of the pioneers. In 1857, however, he went to Maryland to wed the woman he had chosen for his wife. Until 1865 he remained in the east, working by the month, for the most part in West Virginia, and then came west, reaching Jones county, Iowa, November 3 of that year. For about two years he worked for various men by the month and then purchased eighty acres in Madison township for ten dollars an acre. As he had only one hundred dollars with which to make the first payment, he rented the farm to another man, and shortly after traded the land for a piece of property adjoining. There he resided for about four years when he again traded, obtaining the farm on which his son Smith James lives today. It was his home until 1893, when, on the occasion of his son's marriage, he went to live on another farm about one mile west of the old place. In 1899 he relinquished the heavier of life's cares and retired to Wyoming, Iowa, which has since been his home.

On the ist of March, 1857, Mr. James was married to Miss Martha Ann Smith, a native of Sharpsburg, Maryland, where the battle of Antietam, one of the important engagements of the Civil war, was fought. Of this union there have been born five children, four of whom now survive. Eleanora, the eldest, became the wife of O. H. Peck, a farmer and stockman of Madison township. Kate married George W. Mead, who lives near Anamosa, this county. Smith, is accorded extended mention in another part of this volume. John W. is a resident of Aurora county, South Dakota.

At one time Mr. James owned three hundred and thirty acres of some of the richest land in this locality and well improved. He has disposed of all save a small piece of timber land, however, for he felt that to be the wiser policy since his active farming days were over. But he is still the successful agriculturist in the minds of his friends and neighbors, who say that he, more than any other man, had the skill to renew the fertility of the soil and to win from it the most bountiful harvests. Highly respected, he was one to whom the people would turn naturally for their leader in political and public affairs, but aside from filling the position of school director for a number of terms he constantly refused to accept any office tendered him. His political ideas accorded with the platform of the prohibition party, while he and his wife worshiped with the Methodist Episcopal church.

As printed in the source¹. Wording is the original; obvious scanning errors have been corrected, and a few may remain.

Smith James is one of the prosperous farmers of Madison township, and, as it is popularly said in the phrase of the field, has the faculty of making two blades of grass grow where another man could with difficulty raise one. He was born in this township, November 6, 1867, and is the son of J. W. James, who has retired from the active pursuit of farming and lives in the town of Wyoming, Iowa.

Smith James was reared at home and after completing the course of study prescribed by the common schools continued his education in the Wyoming high school. His lessons over, he returned to the farm and for a number of years assisted his father in the cultivating of his fields, until, having married, he was desirous of establishing a home of his own. His father thereupon left the old homestead for another farm he owned in Madison township and rented to his son the place he now owns and occupies. In 1895 Smith James was able to purchase the land of his father, which brought his holdings up to two hundred and forty acres, for he had already bought eighty acres which adjoined the home place on the northeast corner. From the beginning he put his agricultural operations on a scientific basis, spring no pains to obtain the best results from the soil that is his. The wealth of the harvests have justified all his labor and the fertility of the soil, which rather increases than diminishes under his system of cultivation, attests the wisdom of his science.

In 1893 Mr. James was united in marriage to Miss Maggie Crew, of Lineville, Iowa. Seven, children have been born to the couple, six of whom survive: Cecil

W., Hugh L., Edward R., Paul J., Wesley A. and Mary N. The family are members of the Free Methodist church, in which Mr. James is a trustee, and are diligent in their attendance at its services. Their lives, too, bear testimony to the practical value of its teachings. Politically Mr. James affiliates with the prohibitionists, being thoroughly in sympathy with the majority of the principles of their platform. It is by his work, however, that he is judged, and when it is remembered that he feeds as many as two carloads of cattle each year and that his fields in every way are a model for those engaged in like pursuit, the inevitable inference is convincing — that though unremitting toil may accomplish many things and good management point the way to a substantial income, the greatest success comes from the union of these things and a mind which is progressive, determined to profit by the experience and knowledge of others and able to utilize scientific methods.

As printed in the source¹. Wording is the original; obvious scanning errors have been corrected, and a few may remain.