WATERFORD BIOS

  HEFFERNAN

Past and Present in Allamakee County, by Ellery M. Hancock. 2 vols. Chicago: S. J. Clarke Pub. Co., 1913.

A valuable farm of one hundred and fifty-one acres in Linton township pays tribute to the care and skill of William Heffernan, who is numbered among Allamakee county's progressive agriculturists and most successful representative of native sons. He was born in this township, February 22, 1855, and is a son of William and Mary (McCormac) Heffernan, the former born in Waterford, Ireland, in 1832 and the latter in County Fermanagh in 1838. In his youth the father learned the shoemaking trade and about 1850 emigrated to America, following this occupation for one year in New York city. He then moved to Poughkeepsie, in the same state, where his marriage occurred, after which he and his wife came west, settling in Galena, Illinois. The father followed his trade in that community until he came to Iowa in 1854, settling on what was known as the old Rice homestead, where the subject of our review was born. The parents continued to reside there for one year and then moved to another farm in Linton township, this property comprising a portion of William Heffernan's present holdings. The father spent the remainder of his life upon this property, engaging in farming, and died here December 28, 1903. He had survived his wife since December 21, 1899. Seven children were born to their union, of whom the subject of this review is the fourth in order of birth.
William Heffernan acquired his education in the Egan school in district No. 1, Linton township, and when not engaged with his books assisted his father with the operation of the homestead, becoming thus familiar with the best and most practical agricultural methods. When he was twenty-two years of age he left home and went to Nebraska, where he took up his homestead claim in Custer county which he held for fourteen years. He did not, however, reside continuously upon this property, going back and forth for one year and in 1879 walked from Broken Bow, Custer county, Nebraska, to Cherry Mound, Allamakee county, Iowa, leading a span of colts, the trip consuming three weeks. During the remainder of his time he lived on the homestead in Linton township, Iowa, caring for his parents in their declining years. Eventually he disposed of his property in Nebraska and bought the old Corcoran homestead in Allamakee county, a property adjoining his father's farm. He operated this and the family homestead until after the death of his parents, when he became proprietor of the entire tract. He has since disposed of some of the land, owing to his impaired health, and owns today one hundred and fifty-one acres which are ably managed and which he has made one of the valuable and attractive farms in this locality. Mr. Heffernan engages in general farming and has extensive stock-raising and dairy interests, all of the branches of his enterprise being carefully conducted and therefore profitable.
On the 12th of January, 1909, Mr. Heffernan was united in marriage to Miss Margaret Kelly, who was born in Linton township, February 15, 1857, a daughter of John and Bridget (Birmingham) Kelly, the former a native of County Galway and the latter of County Fermanagh, Ireland. Mrs. Heffernan's mother is a descendant of one of the noted families of Ireland. The Birminghams were of Norman origin and came to Ireland at the time of the English invasion. The grandfather was a nobleman but lost his property on account of religious persecution at that time when Ireland was steeped in internal troubles. John and Bridget Kelly crossed the Atlantic at about the same time that Mr. Heffernan's parents made the journey and they settled in Ohio, where for a number of years the father worked in a hotel. After coming to Linton township, this county, he purchased land and turned his attention to farming, following this occupation until his retirement. He and his wife now reside in Linton township. Both are highly respected in Allamakee county, and all of their living children, four sons and three daughters, are well-to-do. In their family were nine children, of whom two, however, died in infancy. Mr. and Mrs. Kelly are widely known for their generosity, hospitality and kindness which qualities they practice in their old age as they have done during their entire life. Mr and Mrs Heffernan have an adopted child which they secured from a Catholic orphan's home in Chicago.
Mr and Mrs. Heffernan are members of the Cherry Mound Roman Catholic church, and he gives his political allegiance to the democratic party, having served in a capable and efficient way as a road supervisor. He is a stockholder in the Waterville Creamery Company and in the Farmers Telephone Company of Paint Creek township and is a business man of known reliability and worth. Throughout the township where his entire life had been spent he is well and favorably regarded and holds the unqualified confidence and esteem of the entire community.

RYAN

Biographical History and Portrait Gallery of Scott County...1895; American Biog Publ.

    John J. Ryan was born in Davenport, January 11, 1869, and is the son of Daniel and Julia (Organ) Ryan, natives of County Waterford, Ireland, who came to America and settled in Haverstraw, New York. After remaining there a short time the elder Ryan came to Iowa and became engaged in contract work on railroads.
     Judge John J. Ryan obtained his primary education in Davenport and graduated with honors from St. Ambrose College in 1886. He then taught school four months, after which he took up the study of law, and being an earnest and apt student was soon fitted to enter the law department of the State University at Iowa City. After remaining there one year he returned to Davenport and studied one year with E.M. Sharon, and in October of 1889 was admitted to the bar by the Supreme Court, in Des Moines, but not being of age his commission was withheld until the following January, ten days after he obtained his majority. He immediately afterward entered in a copartnership with E.M. Sharon, as junior member of the firm of Sharon & Ryan, their partnership continuing until February of 1893. He was elected police judge the following April.
     Judge Ryan is a member of the Scott County Hibernians, Division No. 2; also a member of the Carnival Camp No. 1, Woodmen of the World. He is a Democrat in politics and a Catholic in his church affiliations. He has a fine library, is in all respects a well equipped lawyer and occupies a leading position among the younger members of the bar of Scott County.

JORDAN

Gue, B.F. Biographies and Portraits of the Progressive Men of Iowa. Des Moines: Conaway & Shaw Publishers, 1899.

     Jordan, Richard Francis, is a leading citizen, successful lawyer and influential democrat of Boone county. He was born  in Queensburg township, Warren county, N. Y., not far from Glen's Falls, March 19, 1856. His parents were John and Ann Connelley Jordan. The father was a farmer in easy circumstances, who retired from active life in 1889. Both Father and Mother Jordan were natives of Ireland, coming to this country in early youth. It is understood in the family that his people originally came from Holland, as soldiers under William of Orange in one of his campaigns in Ireland, and that they settled in the city of Waterford, Ireland, and eventually became as children to the manor born. Mr. and Mrs. Jordan were married at Glen's Falls, N. Y., January 25, 1855. They lived in Dixon, Ill., from 1856 to 1866, and in April of the latter year drove overland from that place to Boone county, Iowa, where they purchased a farm in Colfax township, which continued to be the family home until 1889. Richard attended the city schools of Dixon, Ill., until he was 10 years of age, and after that attended the country district schools of Boone county until he was 17 years of age. In March, 1874, he entered the State Agricultural college at Ames in the regular course as freshman, and continued there until November, 1877, when he graduated with the degree of bachelor of science. He stood second in the markings of his class and was selected as one of the ten to participate in the graduating exercises. While in college he was a member of the Bachelors' Debating society, and in general took an active interest in all college class matters while there. During his vacations and for a short time after graduating he taught country schools. In August, 1878, he entered the Iowa Law school at Des Moines, which was a department of the Simpson Centenary college. There he completed the course in the study of law, receiving the degree of bachelor of law, and was admitted to practice in the supreme court of Iowa, June 9, 1879. During the time he was in law school he also read law in the office of Miller & Godfrey, in Des Moines. He has always been a student, keeping abreast of the times, keeping himself posted in all the new changes in the laws of our country and in the decisions of the supreme court. He has been successful and has advanced in his profession by simply sticking to his work, giving his best efforts to his profession and treating all with whom he deals in a fair and honorable manner–a firm believer in the old proverb: “Honesty is the best policy.”

CLARK

Mount Pleasant News
Mount Pleasant, Henry co., Iowa
May 18, 1948

Of James K. Clark and his colorful career some space must be given.  "Jim"
Clark, as he was affectionately known, was an Irishman.  His face was the
map of County Kilarney. His lips had kissed the Blarney stone, and his heart
as sentimental as the rhymes of Thomas Moore.  Mr. Clark was born in
Waterford, Ireland, in 1846.  He was educated in Dublin and came to this
country in 1863, landing in New York City, where he remained until 1866 when
he moved to Chicago and was there when the great fire of 1871 swept over
that city.  Mr. Clark losing about all he possessed.  Leaving Chicago Mr.
Clark moved to Iok (?), Kansas, entering the boot and shoe business, and a
year later moved to Topeka.  Soon back to Chicago, where under the firm name
of Reed & Clark, a wholesale business of footwear was established.  However
financial disaster overtook the firm in 1874, and Mr. Clark moved to Mt.
Pleasant where he again entered the boot and shoe business.  However, in
1880 he entered the newspaper business with R.C. Brown in publishing the
Herald.  After his disposal of his newspaper interests Mr. Clark entered the
grocery business, and old timers well remember his grocery on North Main at
the corner where the college gymnasium stands.  Mr. Clark delivered his
groceries with a one horse rig, and he called his store the "One Horse
Grocery."  While in Kansas Mr. Clark was elected to the lower house of the
Kansas legislature, and later, in 1875, he was nominated by the Greenback
party of Iowa as its candidate for lieutenant governor.

******
Sharyl
www.iowaoldpress.com

     THOMAS KELEHER, who is now living a retired life in the enjoyment of a well earned competency and is a resident of Elkader, is a son of the Emerald Isle, coming of one of those enterprising Irish families who have accomplished so much in the development and upbuilding of Clayton County. He is one of the honored pioneers of these parts, having settled within the limits of the county in 1855.
     The birth of our subject occurred in Waterford County, Ireland, in 1833, and of that country his father, Tobias, was also a native. The family removed to America in 1848, when Thomas Keleher was a lad of fifteen years, and their first location was in New York City. The father's death occurred in Clayton County, His wife bore the maiden name of Catherine Mulvey, and both parents were adherents of the Catholic Church, Mrs. Keleher died in
Clayton County.
     Thomas Keleher came to Clayton County in 1855 and soon after settled on a farm in Boardman Township, where he engaged in agricultural pursuits, improving and greatly increasing the value of his property. For about thirty-five years he continued to operate his farm, which is one of the most desirable in the township and which is still in the possession of our subject. The place comprises two hundred and forty acres of good land, which is improved with fences, desirable residence, barns and outbuildings. In 1891 Mr. Keleher retired from the active and arduous duties pertaining to running a farm and since that time has been a resident of the city. In 1860 our subject was united in marriage with Miss Mary Direen, who
departed this life on January 19, 1878, leaving four sons and one daughter, who in order of birth are as follows: William, Jeremiah, Frank, Edward and Anna. Thomas Keleher married his present wife in 1881. Prior to this her name was Anna Roach, and by this union one son and three daughters have been born, namely: John, Mary, Stella and Chloe. The parents are zealous workers in the Catholic Church, in the faith of which they are rearing their children and they are also giving them the benefits of a good education. Thomas Keleher, who is favorably known in Clayton County, has actively participated in its improvement; he has also been industrious and enterprising, attending strictly to his own affairs, By these means he has succeeded in acquiring ample means for providing himself and family with the  necessities of life. Commencing at the bottom round of the ladder he worked upward step by step, and by persevering energy and well directed efforts acquired his large and valuable property.  In regard to his polities he is a Democrat, using his influence and voting for the support of that party.

--Contributed by Becky Teubner

FLEMING

A Memorial and Biographical record of Iowa. Chicago: Lewis Pub. Co., 1896

     WILLIAM HENRY FLEMING, associate editor of the Iowa Daily Capital, Des Moines, Iowa, is a gentleman who has had a broad experience in the journalistic field.
     He was born in New York city, in the year 1833, and is a son of William and Margaret (Chambers) Fleming, both natives of Ireland, the father born in Waterford and the mother in county Fermanagh. Four sons and one daughter composed their family, and of this number two are now living: William H. and David D., the latter a resident of West Des Moines. William Fleming, the father of our subject, was by occupation a printer. He came to America about 1815 and settled in New York city where he was married and where he passed the rest of his life. He died there July 26, 1845, at the age of about forty-three years. His wife survived him till May 26, 1874, when she died in Des Moines. She was an Episcopalian. Grandfather Fleming was a Scotchman, was a sea captain for many years, lived to an advanced age and died in New York city. He and his wife were the parents of three sons and two daughters. Of the maternal grandfather of our subject, John Chambers, be it recorded that he was a native of the Emerald Isle, was a farmer by occupation, and emigrated to America and located in New York city as the war of 1812 was beginning, being on the ocean when the war was declared. In this conflict he was for a short time participant.
     William H. Fleming, whose name introduces this article, was reared in New York and received his early training partly in a private school, but mostly in Public School No. 7 of that city. At the age of fourteen he became an apprentice to the trade of printer in the office of John A. Gray, and subsequently he was in the employ of John F. Trow, who was connected with the city directory work for some years. After seven years spent with Mr. Trow, young Fleming came West, stopping first at Davenport, Scott county, Iowa, where he accepted a position in the office of Luse & Coles. He remained in Scott county eleven years. Within that time he published a paper at Le Claire, Iowa, for three years. For one year he was city editor of the Davenport Gazette. Later he was clerk in the office of the Adjutant-General of the State, and while in that position moved to Clinton. In January, 1867, he became a Deputy Secretary of State under General Ed Wright, which position he held two years and three months, when he was tendered the position of private secretary to Governor Merrill, and continued in that office through successive terms until January, 1882, serving under Merrill, Carpenter, Kirkwood, Newbold and Gear. In 1882 he was invited by Captain Hull to find and compile the Federal census of Iowa and all the enumerations from 1836 until 1880, which he accomplished in a period of eighteen months. In 1883 Mr. Fleming purchased and interest in the Iowa Weekly Capital, and on the 1st of September of that year started the Daily Capital, but in January of the following year disposed of his interest in this publication, and for some time thereafter was variously employed. In the campaign of 1884 he served as secretary of the State Republican Central Committee. In 1885 he was acting deputy Auditor of State. During the following three or four years he was engaged in journalistic work, and in 1890-92 was secretary of the Iowa Building & Loan Association. In 1893 we find him serving as clerk of the commission which revised the revenue laws of the State. For a number of years, in connection with other employment, he has been more or less engaged in journalistic work, writing for numerous publications, and, as above stated, is now serving as associate editor of the Iowa Daily Capital.
     Mr. Fleming has for years been deeply interested in temperance work, has been a member of the Order of Good Templars thirty-six years, and has been honored with official position in the organization, serving five years as Grand Treasurer, and also filling the office of Grand Chief Templar. He is also a member of the Ancient Order of United Workmen, in which he has served officially in the Grand Lodge. His religious views are those advanced by the Universalists.