with spirit and sympathy into all his undertakings. She remembers much of interest concerning the growth of the county and the changes that have come since 1853 when she came here. There were only thirty houses here when she came and Sunday school was held in the old court house. Land was sold at five dollars per acre and she saw the first court house in the county built.

Seven children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Claussen, six of whom are living: Frederick, aged forty-one, resides in Boone, Iowa, his wife's maiden name being May Woodard; Leonora, aged thirty-nine years, is the wife of the Rev. W. McMillan, and resides in Eureka, Illinois; Arthur, aged thirty-seven, is unmarried and lives at home; Christopher, aged thirty-five years, resides in Waterman, state of Washington, his wife's maiden name being Etta Bowker; Henry, of Moline, Illinois; Walter, aged twenty-nine, resides in Newton, his wife's maiden name being Maude Atkins; Una Margaret died in infancy.

Besides farming, Mr. Claussen has always paid much attention to stock buying, being still engaged in that business to a considerable extent. He is and always has been a public-spirited citizen, giving liberally towards many public enterprises. In politics he is a Republican. Both he and his wife are members of the English Lutheran church.

FREDERICK A. EATON.

Jasper county is characterized by her full share of the pioneer element who have done so much for the development of the county and the establishment of the institutions of civilization in this fertile and well-favored section. The biographical sketches in this volume are largely of this class of useful citizens and it is not in the least too early to record in print the principal items in the lives of these hard-working and honest people, giving honor to whom honor is due. They will soon be gone and the past can have no better history or memento than these records. Of this worthy class the name of Frederick A. Eaton, long a prominent farmer of the county, but now living in retirement in Newton, should receive specific mention, for during his active years here he has been conspicuous because of his activity and the progressive and enterprising spirit displayed by him in all the phases of our citizenship.

Mr. Eaton was born of sterling old New England parents, in Rutland county, Vermont, November 12, 1829, being the son of Horace and Amanda (Molten) Eaton, both natives of Vermont, who emigrated to Ohio when their

son, Frederick A., was eight years old and there they remained, becoming well established, until about 1868 when they moved to Jasper county, Iowa, where they spent the remainder of their lives, the father dying about 1884; he was peddler and collector. There were three children in his family, two by his first wife and one by his second wife, Mrs. Emma Hyatt, of Grand Junction, Colorado, a half-sister of the subject, being the other living child. Frederick A. Eaton received a good education in the public schools of his day, and he was twenty-one years of age when he came to Illinois; after remaining there two or three years he returned to Ohio, where he married and remained two years, then came to Jasper county, Iowa, in the spring of 1856, locating on a farm five miles east of Newton, which he developed into an excellent farm and where he established a most comfortable home, in which he remained until 1897, when he moved to Newton. He has lived to see and take part in the wonderful transformation of the county. The present thriving city of Newton was a brush patch when he first came here. He was for a long period regarded as one of our most progressive farmers and stock men. In 1897 he was elected county recorder, in which position he served most faithfully and well for four years. He had previously served as trustee of Kellogg township. He is a stanch Democrat. In 1870 he was commissioned as census taker for eight townships in Jasper county, which appointment was made without his solicitation or knowledge, the petition having been sent to Washington by a large number of citizens who recognized the peculiar ability of Mr. Eaton for this work, and useless to add that he filled the place acceptably. He was also assessor of Buena Vista and later of Kellogg townships.

Mr. Eaton was married on October 13, 1853, in Ohio, to Caroline M. Hodges, who was born in New York, her parents removing from that state to Ohio when she was twelve years of age. Their family consisted of twelve children, namely: Frankie died when thirteen years of age; W. O. lives four miles north of Newton on a farm; Alma is the wife of George Hart, of Newton; Carrie is the wife of Gus Erickson, of Red Oak, Iowa; Arthur T. lives in Newton; Truman lives in Kellogg township; Harry E., who lives at Shenandoah, Iowa, is one of the three state pharmacist commissioners; Fred lives near San Diego, California; Horace died in Newton about 1906; Sherman is deceased; Addie is the wife of Alton Reynolds, of Denver; Belle is deceased.

Mr. Eaton is in his eighty-first year and Mrs. Eaton was in her seventyninth year when, with her husband on a visit to her daughter in Colorado, she died on December 4, 1911. They had traversed through the sunshine and shadow of life's uneven road, hand in hand, for a period of fifty-eight years, this union having been a fortunate and happy one. Mr. Eaton has never been

sick and is still hale and hearty. They were a fine old couple whom everybody respected and admired, for their lives were exemplary and they sought to do all the good possible. Mr. Eaton belongs to the Methodist Episcopal church, and fraternally is a Mason, having attained the Knight Templar degree. Mrs. Eaton was a member of the Methodist church.

Mr. Eaton handled live stock on an extensive scale for over twenty years. while on the farm. Although a man of meager schooling, he was prevailed upon to teach a school in Jasper county in the pioneer days, after he had been here only a short time, teaching in a log house, handling the school with great success; he was later offered license by Superintendent Lufkin. He has always been a loyal supporter of movements having as their object the general good.

HENRY HERWEHE.

An illustration of high-grade skill as a farmer as well as the ability to concentrate efforts along some special line until success is achieved in that undertaking is found in the case of Henry Herwehe, of Fairview township, a man who takes a general interest in the affairs of his community, but who has never sought to be a leader in public affairs, being satisfied to discharge his obligations as a citizen by lending his support at the ballot box to such men as, in his opinion, will discharge their official duties with the utmost conscientiousness and integrity.

Mr. Herwehe was born in Des Moines township. this county, March 10, 1858, of German parentage, being the son of Philip and Mary (Vance) Herwehe, both born in Mannheim, Germany, the father in 1829 and the mother in 1831, and they grew up and married in their native country and there began life on the farm. They emigrated to America in 1855, locating in Cincinnati, Ohio, where the father worked as a laborer one summer. In the fall of that year they came to Jasper county, Iowa, and rented land near Vandalia. He soon had a good start and in the year 1859 he bought thirty-six acres in Fairview township, and at his death in 1879 he owned a farm of seventy-five acres and another of one hundred acres and one of sixty-eight acres. Politically, he was a Democrat and a member of the German Methodist church. His widow survived over twenty years, dying in 1902. They were the parents of three sons and five daughters, of whom Henry, of this sketch, was the seventh in order of birth.

Henry Herwehe was reared on the home farm and when but a boy assisted with the general work about the place. He received his education in the district schools and he remained at home. After his father's death, he began renting the home place, later buying out the other heirs. He has been most successful as a general farmer and stock raiser, and as he prospered he has added to his original holdings until he is now the owner of as valuable land as this part of the county affords, aggregating four hundred and forty acres, all in Fairview township. He has kept the place under modern improvements and has a good home and convenient outbuildings, and has set out a splendid

grove.

Politically, Mr. Herwehe is a Democrat and in religious matters he belongs to the Methodist church. He was married on April 24, 1884, to Anna K. Whitmer, a native of Jasper county and the daughter of George Whitmer, one of the early settlers of the county. The subject's living children are, Hannah, George, Mrs. Ella Walker, Nettie, Grover, Murl. Anna May, Pearl and Viola.

Mr. Herwehe has a cane which he values highly, it having been carved out of one of the logs in the house in which he was born. The log was cut in 1846 by J. Bruner, uncle of the subject. Everything was open prairie here during the boyhood of Mr. Herwehe and there were few settlers. He has watched the county develop into one of the richest agricultural sections in

Iowa.

CHARLES FREMONT ROSS.

One of the up-to-date farmers and stockraisers of Elk Creek township, Jasper county, who has worked hard for what he now possesses is Charles Fremont Ross. He knows how to appreciate the true dignity of labor and to place a correct estimate upon the value of money. Nevertheless, he is liberal in his benefactions and stands ever ready to support with his influence and means all measures for the material and moral welfare of the community in which he has so long resided. Among those who know him best he bears a reputation of a man who exercises sound judgment and who has pronounced views and he keeps himself well informed upon all matters pertaining to the public weal or woe and always exercises the duties of citizenship in a conscientious manner.

Mr. Ross was born in Van Buren county, Iowa, on July 10, 1856. He is the son of Elisha and Eliza Ann (Shanklin) Ross, the father born in Seville,