My Genealogy Hound

J. F. Ickis, among the old settlers of Union county, and one of the well known public men, has been long closely associated with its agricultural interests and his official service, too, has been of a character to commend him to the high regard of his fellow townsmen. Iowa has claimed him as one of her citizens since 1852 and after two years spent in Lee county he came to Union county, where for fifty-four years he has now made his home. His birth occurred in Mahoning county, Ohio, June 11, 1824, and there he was reared to manhood. He had the educational advantages afforded by the common schools and also spent several terms as a student in an academy. Subsequently he engaged in teaching for several years in Ohio and also for one term in Lee county, Iowa.

Mr. Ickis was married in his native state in the fall of 1844, when twenty years of age, Miss Mary Osborne becoming his wife. She died in August, 1852, leaving three children. It was in that year that Mr. Ickis came to Iowa and rented land in Lee county, where he carried on farming until 1854. Following his removal to this county he purchased land in Union township, securing a claim of one hundred and sixty acres, which he broke and improved, opening up a good farm. In 1857 he removed to place on the Grand river, where he established a sawmill and engaged in the manufacture of lumber. Afterward he bought farm land there and made the place his home for a long period, owning and cultivating three hundred acres of land, which he brought under a high state of cultivation and transformed into one of the fine farms of the county. Year after year his labors were energetically prosecuted with the result that he obtained a comfortable competence. In 1899 he removed to Afton and purchased the residence which he now occupies. Here he has since lived retired and his rest is well merited, for it has come to him as the just reward of his labors.

Having lost his first wife, Mr. Ickis was married in Union county, in 1859, to Miss Marion Ramey, a native of Ohio, born in 1841. She was brought to this state, however, in 1844 and was there reared upon the frontier. For almost a third of a century she traveled life’s journey with Mr. Ickis but on the 1st of December, 1891, was called to the home beyond. The children of his first marriage were as follows: E. Ulysses, a resident of McCook, Nebraska; Flora J., the widow of Professor Mehan, of the Capital City Commercial College of Des Moines; and David M., who is now in the gold mines of Alaska. By the second marriage there were also three children: Mrs. Nettie J. Bagg, of this county; Mrs. Effie; D. Allen, of McCook, Nebraska; and John S., deceased.

On the 19th of February, 1894, Mr. Ickis was married in Osceola, Iowa, to Mrs. A. M. Brady, widow of Dr. Brady and a native of Morgan county, Ohio, whence she was brought to Iowa in 1844, being reared in Burlington. Later she lived in Oskaloosa and there married Dr. Brady, and subsequently went to Knoxville, Iowa, becoming a resident of Osceola in 1894. Mrs. Ickis has two living children: M. L. Brady, a business man of Colorado; and Elva P., the wife of W. E. Griffiths, general manager of the Postal Telegraph Company at Fort Worth, Texas. Mrs. Ickis is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church.

Mr. Ickis belongs to the Odd Fellows society, joining the lodge in Afton in December, 1861. He has been a resident of the county for fifty-four years, there being but one building in Afton at the time of his arrival, while Creston had not yet been founded. The entire district was almost an unbroken wilderness but he believed that the west was the land of opportunity and accordingly he made his way into this section of the country. Nor was he disappointed in the hope that led him to Iowa, for here he has found good business opportunities and has prospered as the years have gone by.

Politically Mr. Ickis is a Jefferson democrat, casting his first presidential vote for Lewis Cass and for every nominee at the head of the national ticket since that time with one exception. His fellow townsmen, recognizing his worth and ability, have frequently chosen him for positions of public honor and trust. He was elected and served as the first school commissioner, looking after the finances connected with school lands. Later he was chosen by popular ballot to the office of county surveyor and during that term likewise discharged the duties of deputy county clerk. In fact he continued in the latter position for two terms and was then elected and served for two terms as supervisor. In 1883 he was made custodian of the county’s funds, being elected county treasurer, and entered upon the duties of the office in January, 1884. By re-election he was continued in the position of a second term and was then a candidate for re-election and lacked only eight votes of being elected for the third time. While he has been in office for many years, he has never been a politician in the sense of office seeking. On the contrary, the position has sought the man and it is by reason of his well known devotion to the public good, combined with his ability, that his fellow citizens have honored him with official preferment. He has been a delegate to both county and state conventions and is a recognized leader of the democracy in Union county. Mr. Ickis is today one of the best known citizens of this part of the state. He has been a leading factor in its agricultural development as well as in public life, and the strong traits which he has displayed have been such as have commended him to the confidence and regard of all with whom he has been brought in contact.