saved in California. He had to begin at the bottom again and work up, but everything prospered until he saved, from that time till 1872, something over $4,000 in property and money. Then he came West and located in Boone County, where there had just been discovered coal on Squaw Creek. He bought the lease from William Parkin, and was joined by his brother John, from Chicago. They opened the mine and carried on business under the name of the Ontario Coal Company, now known under the name of Hutchison Bros. & Son. The Squaw Creek coal, as it is called, has the name of being the best native coal in the State. It is three and one-quarter miles from the Gilbert Station, on the north branch of the North-Western Railway, consequently much dependence is placed on the country for trade. Formerly they supplied the country for thirty miles around, east and north, selling from 6,000 to 10,000 tons of coal during the season, but the last two winters being so mild, and so many railroads through the State, the teams do not come from such a distance as they once did.
G. Hyden, farmer and stock-raiser, Richland Township. Mr. Hyden was born in Staffordshire, England, in 1828, and was the son of Robert and Elizabeth (Nokes) Hyden, both of whom were natives of England. The father is still living in his native country, at the advanced age of ninety-seven years, but the mother died in 1849. Of the five children born to their marriage, only two lived to maturity—the subject of this sketch, and his brother John, who is the postmaster at Brereton, Staffordshire, England. G. Hyden was reared to farm life in England, but at the age of twenty-one years emigrated to America, and after working for one man in Chautauqua County, N. Y., for three and one-half years, he came to this county, in 1855, and purchased 160 acres of good land; he afterward sold eighty acres of this land to Mr. Hansicker, and together they purchased twenty acres of timber land. He then purchased a yoke of cattle and broke prairie with them, and bought others as he was able until he owned four yoke. Then he and Mr. Hansicker each bought a horse, and together they had a team, one using it one day and the other the next. They also purchased a wagon together, when able, and in this way worked along until each could possess his own. team and wagon and work independently. Their twenty acres of timber land is still undivided, and by hard work and economy Mr. Hyden is now possessed of a good farm of 280 acres, well improved with all necessary buildings, etc. By his marriage with Miss Louisa Pool, daughter of John P. and Ann (Jordan) Pool, of this county, he has become the father of seven children, only three of whom are now living: Corrilla (now Mrs. Apple, and a resident of this township) and Rose and Emma (at home). Since coming to America Mr. Hyden has visited his native land but once, and that was in 1875, when he and his wife made an extended trip to England. The latter is a much esteemed member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and she and her husband have always taken a decided interest in every movement tending to the welfare of the community. He helped to organize his school district, and has frequently served as school director, and he always aids with his support and encouragement those movements tending to the upbuilding of schools, churches, etc. In politics he is a stanch Republican. He is a very peaceable gentleman, and has never had a lawsuit in his life.
M. D. Illingworth, farmer and stock-raiser, Cambridge, Iowa. Among the successful agriculturists of Story County, whose merits are such as to entitle them to representation in the present work, is Mr. Illingworth, the subject of this sketch. He was born in Northern New