Henry County >>
1906 Index
Biographical
Review of Henry County, Iowa
Chicago: Hobart Publishing Company, 1906.
S
Biographies submitted by Polly
Eckles.
The
Saunders
Family
The Saunders family has been identified with the early
settlement and growth of Henry county, Iowa. Presley Saunders pre-empted
the land from the government in the year 1834 upon which Mount Pleasant
is situated, and laid out the town of Mount Pleasant in the year 1835.
In 1836 his brother, Alvin Saunders, followed him to
Mount Pleasant, and, in the spring of 1845, his brother William A. Saunders,
came to that town, and, in 1856, his cousin, William G. Saunders, came
from Kentucky to Mount Pleasant.
There are no two names more closely identified or better
known in Henry county than William G. Saunders and Presley Saunders,
to whom this article will more particularly refer.
The Saunders family originally came from England, and
the first one of the family now known is Henry Saunders, who was killed
in the battle of Culloden, Scotland, in 1756. His son, James Saunders,
married Sarah Gunnell in England, and they moved to America in 1746
and settled in Virginia. He died on April 7, 1778, and his wife died
September 21, 1793. Their children were Mary, born January 1, 1732;
William, born March 21, 1741; John S., born February 1, 1746, and died
May 6, 1797; Gunnell, born March 10, 1748; Barbara, born February 20,
1750; Presley, born December 3, 1752, died August 31, 1823; Henry, born
September 21, 1755, died February 19, 1823; Moses and James, born November
24, 1757; Cyrus, born December 22, 1760, and died in November, 1822.
Gunnell Saunders, son of James Saunders, above mentioned,
lived in Virginia and afterward moved to Kentucky. He had six sons,
William, Oliver, Gunnell, Sylvester, Moses and Aaron.
William Saunders, son of Gunnell Saunders, was born
in Virginia on March 11, 1780, and when quite young moved with his father
to Kentucky, where he resided until the date of his death, February
21, 1870. He was married when quite young in Kentucky to Margaret Mauzy.
She was of French descent and was born in 1781 near Fredericksburg,
Virginia. Her parents moved to Kentucky when she was nine years of age
and settled near Sherburne in the same neighborhood with the Saunders
family. They moved to Mount Pleasant in the spring of 1856. Both Mr.
and Mrs. Saunders were religiously inclined and were members of the
Christian church at Mount Pleasant. She died June 15, 1869.
The children of William and Margaret Saunders were:
Sarah, who married James Grant, and who had six children, -- William,
Roland, Margaret, Jennie, James Austin, and Frank. But two of these
children are now living, Margaret, and James Austin, both of whom are
residing in Mount Pleasant.
Eleanor was born February 13, 1805, in Fleming county,
Kentucky, and married Isaac Fouche April 20, 1826. Their children were
Emily, Margaret, James, Mary, Barbara, Sarah, George W., and Matilda.
Those now living are Emily Vandall and James Fouche, who live at Osceola,
Iowa; Mary Ball, of Fresno, California, and Barbara R. and Matilda,
of Mount Pleasant.
Austin, who lived and died in Kentucky. He left one
daughter, who married Joseph D. Ringo, who resides at Sherburne Mills,
Fleming county, Kentucky.
Ann, who married Mathew G. Jones. They had three children,
-- Jefferson, Thomas and Goldsmith.
Margaret, who married James Garvin. They had seven children:
Jasper, Samuel Wallace, Ann Eliza, Sarah Harriet, Mecca, and Julia.
Of these Jasper, Samuel Wallace, Ann Eliza, and Harriet are still living,
but the only one who now resides at Mount Pleasant is Samuel Wallace,
who is an honored citizen and who for a long time has been identified
with Henry county and Mount Pleasant, both as a citizen and an official.
William G. was born in Fleming county, Kentucky, December
25, 1815, and on May 25, 1843, he was married by his uncle, Aaron Saunders,
a minister of the gospel, in Fleming county, to Harriet Eliza Saunders,
the fourth daughter of Henry Saunders, a native of New York state. She
was in no way related to her husband. She was born in Gallipolis, Ohio,
May 22, 1824, and died in Mount Pleasant, August 5, 1886, after a protracted
illness. They moved from Kentucky to Mount Pleasant in the spring of
1858. Mr. Saunders died at Mount Pleasant on December 3, 1899. A more
extended description of the life of William G. Saunders will hereafter
be given.
Elizabeth, who married Charles Saunders, of Fleming
county, Kentucky. She died in Mount Pleasant April 5, 1901, leaving
one son, Francis Marion, who lives in Ohio.
Mary married C. W. Saunders, by whom she had two sons,
Worthy and William P. After the death of her husband she married Cummings
Brown. They had several children, and after the death of Mr. Brown she
married William Tolle. Both she and Mr. Tolle are now dead.
Aaron, the youngest son, married Mary Wrenchy in Kentucky,
and moved to Blythedale, Missouri. They were the parents of six children,
Margaret, Alice, John, James, Squire, and Elizabeth. They are both laid
to rest in Blythedale cemetery.
Gunnell Saunders, a brother of William Saunders, and a son of Gunnell
Saunders, was born in Virginia, July 27, 1783, and moved with his father
to Kentucky. He married Mary Mauzy, a sister of the wife of William
Saunders. They lived on a farm about ten miles south of Flemingsburgh,
in Fleming county, Kentucky, until about 1829, when they moved to a
sparsely settled part of Illinois not far from Springfield, where his
son Presley located the year previous. He moved to Mount Pleasant in
the year 1845, and owned, and lived in a small brick cottage where the
Young Men’s Christian Association now stands. He died October
26, 1848. His wife died October 18, 1851. Their children were:
Jonathan R., who was born in Fleming county, Kentucky,
on February 17, 1802, and who married Sarah McKinnie, December 18, 1823.
They afterward moved to Springfield, Illinois, where he died on April
8, 1886. Their children were Asbury H., and Milton. Milton died at Springfield,
Illinois, October 18, 1902, leaving a wife and several children. Asbury
H. is still residing at Springfield. He has one daughter, Mrs. Ralph
W. Hayes, of Washington, D. C.
Nancy, who was born in Fleming county, Kentucky, March
16, 1806, and who married Amos Locke. They moved to Monroe county, Indiana,
where she died. Their children were: Mary Ann, Frances, Sarah, Nancy,
Alvin, James, and Louisa. Sarah married Lloyd A. Smith, her husband
having died years ago. She had three children. She is now living in
Mount Pleasant. Nancy married Thomas Williams. She and her brother Alvin
died a few years ago. Louisa married Granville Whisnand, and they are
now living in Colorado.
Frances was born in Fleming county, Kentucky, February
21, 1807. She married Robert MacKey and afterward married Arthur Miller,
a minister of the gospel. They had no children. She died at Mount Pleasant,
February 24, 1878.
Presley, the founder of Mount Pleasant, was born in
Fleming county, Kentucky, July 11, 1809, and died in Mount Pleasant
July 19, 1889. A more extended sketch of the life of Presley Saunders
will be hereafter given.
George was born in Fleming county, Kentucky, August
6, 1811, and afterward moved to Springfield, Illinois, where he resided
until his death, May 12, 1898.
Alvin, who was born in Fleming county, Kentucky, July
12, 1815, moved with his parents to Springfield, Illinois, in 1829,
and in 1836 he came to Mount Pleasant. He was appointed postmaster of
Mount Pleasant by President Van Buren, and served as such postmaster
while Mount Pleasant was in the Michigan, Wisconsin, and Iowa Territories.
He was a member of the Iowa state senate from 1854 to 1861, and was
a member of the Republican national convention, which nominated Abraham
Lincoln as president. On March 26, 1861, he was appointed by President
Lincoln as Governor of the Territory of Nebraska, which office he held
until Nebraska was admitted into the Union as a state, March 27, 1867.
He then engaged in the banking business in Omaha, and in 1877 was elected
as a member of the United States Senate from that state, which office
he held until 1883. He was identified with many important projects and
enterprises in Omaha, such as the construction of the Omaha & Southwestern
Railroad, the gas works, the smelting works and the Trans-Mississippi
and International Exposition. In 1856 he was married to Marthena Barlow
in Washington, D. C. He died at Omaha, Nebraska, November 1, 1899, and
was buried in Forest Lawn cemetery, at Omaha. His wife survives him.
They had two children, -- Charles L., who resides in Omaha and is engaged
in the real estate business and is president of the Omaha Real Estate
and Trust Company, and Mary, who married Russell B. Harrison. She is
also in Omaha.
William A. was born in Fleming county, Kentucky, August
4, 1818. He moved, with his parents, to Springfield, Illinois, in 1829,
and in the spring of 1845 he moved from Springfield to Mount Pleasant,
where he engaged in the mercantile and banking business for a time with
his brothers, Presley and Alvin. About 1860 he went into the mercantile
business by himself, in which business he continued until the date of
his death, February 14, 1865. He was a member of the Christian church
in Mount Pleasant and was greatly interested in church work. On October
23, 1850, he married Louisa Dickey, daughter of Samuel Dickey, at Mount
Pleasant. She was born October 27, 1826, in Indiana, and in October,
1838, moved with her parents to Mount Pleasant. She died in Omaha October
6, 1904, and was buried in Mount Pleasant. They had several children,
but all died in their infancy, except one son, William A., who now resides
in Omaha, where he is engaged in the law business.
Mount Pleasant became the home of quite a number of
the Saunders family, and it has been the last resting place of its older
members. Presley Saunders obtained a lot in the city cemetery, dedicated
the “family circle”, erected a monument, and in this circle
many members of the different branches of the family have been buried.
We wish to refer again to William G. Saunders, who came,
with his wife, to Mount Pleasant in the spring of 1858. At the time
of his marriage he had no property, but, from time to time, he accumulated
a little, when he opened a store in a small place in Fleming county,
Kentucky, known as Plumer’s Mill, but owing to its unhealthy location
they left that neighborhood and went to Elizaville in that county, where
they remained for one year, and then went to Union Mills, one and one-half
miles west of Elizaville. There Mr. Saunders built a store building
and a small dwelling.
Good news being brought from the settlers who had gone
west, they determined to sell out and move to Iowa, so, in the fall
of 1857, they sold their Union Mills property and in the spring of 1858
they moved to Mount Pleasant, Iowa, where he remained until the date
of his death, December 3, 1899, except for two years spent in La Grange
county, Missouri, where he was engaged in the dry goods business. After
coming to Mount Pleasant he went into the mercantile business and as
late as about 1875 he was engaged in the dry goods business at Mount
Pleasant.
Mr. Saunders became interested in the First National
Bank shortly after its organization in 1866, and was director and officer
in that institution until he died. He was the third president of the
First National Bank, succeeding Charles Snider to that office.
Mr. Saunders was a man who had strong personalities,
was kind and considerate, and had a faculty for making friends. He was
a man who believed more in action than in words, and what he did will
live after him. He helped many a person over a financial chasm and the
numerous charitable things which he did will never be known. His will,
which was probated in Mount Pleasant, shows the character of the man.
By that instrument he left a valuable estate, and remembered in a substantial
way about one hundred and sixty of his relatives and friends living
from the Atlantic to the Pacific and from the Dominion of Canada to
the Gulf of Mexico. He not only remembered his relatives and friends,
but he gave to the city of Mount Pleasant a donation of two thousand
dollars, the interest on which amount was to help maintain the city
cemetery. He also gave the Christian church two thousand dollars the
Christian Science society a like amount.
For about fifteen years before the death of Mrs. Saunders,
Sarah Fouche, daughter of Isaac and Eleanor Fouche, sister of Mr. Saunders,
came through their very urgent solicitation to make her home with them
and live as their own daughter. They were both very much attached to
her. She was so sacrificing and kind that Mrs. Saunders urged her to
stay and keep the home for her uncle. She promised her before her death,
on August 6, 1886, to remain, and did everything she could to make the
lonely home cheerful. Mr. Saunders mourned the death of his wife very
much and had a memorial of her life published and sent a copy of the
book to all her friends. While he was not identified with any church,
yet he gave liberally, and practiced the golden rule.
His niece was not permitted to remain long with him,
as the staff of his declining years. On July 4, 1898, she was called
home, and he was left alone.
Barbara R. Fouche, her sister, came to take her place
in the home, and was, at the time of his death, with him. Owing to the
confidence he reposed in her, he made Miss Fouche the trustee of a considerable
fund that he left for charitable purposes. Many persons mourn his death
as having lost a friend who could not be replaced.
RESOLUTIONS.
WHEREAS, It has pleased our Heavenly Father to remove
from our midst our worthy president, William G. Saunders, be it
Resolved, That in his death the First National Bank of Mount Pleasant,
Iowa, has lost an efficient officer, an earnest worker, and a staunch
friend, and that his memory will always be revered by his brother officers
and the stockholders of the bank, with which he was so long connected.
Resolved, That these resolutions be spread on the records
of the bank, a copy of the same be sent to the members of his household,
who have our sincerest sympathy, and that a copy be given the city papers
for publishing.
I. P. Van Cise,
T. J. Van Hon,
W. E. Keeler,
Committee.
Presley
Saunders
Presley Saunders was born in Fleming county, Kentucky, July 11, 1809,
and emigrated to Springfield, Illinois, in the year 1828, and there
engaged in farming until the breaking out of the Black Hawk war in 1832.
He enlisted in Captain Moffet’s
company, and was an active participant in the events following, which
lead to the capture of Black Hawk. The treaty of 1833, and the settlement
of this territory by the whites. He was in the same regiment with Abraham
Lincoln, and they were close, intimate and personal friends.
In 1834 he, with his four
companions, started west, and finally located on the site of Mount Pleasant,
where he set his stakes and pre-empted the land from the government.
In February, 1835, he brought his family from Illinois. In 1836 he opened
a store in the new village of Mount Pleasant, and there began the business
life which he followed, with strict integrity and always with success,
for fifty-two consecutive years, making him the oldest merchant in the
state.
In the early days Presley
Saunders, with his brothers, Alvin and William A., organized a private
bank, which they operated safely and successfully. In the year 1862
this bank went under the name of Saunders, Kibbin & Company and
continued thus up to the time of its organization as the First National
Bank of Mount Pleasant. Presley Saunders was president of the First
National Bank from the time it was organized up to the date of his death,
July 19, 1889.
In 1830 he was married to
Miss Edith Cooper, of Sangamon county, Illinois, but she died at Mount
Pleasant in 1836. They had one child, Mary, who married John W. McCoy.
In 1837 Mr. Saunders was married to Huldah Bowen. She was born in Chillicothe,
Ohio, in 1817, and was the daughter of Isaac and Rhoda Bowen, natives
of Maryland and Kentucky.
Their union was blessed with
four children, Smith, who lived in Mount Pleasant for quite a number
of years, and afterward moved to Council Bluffs, Iowa, where he died
on April 15, 1901, leaving two sons, Alvin B., who married Alice Saunders
and who died in 1904, leaving a wife and three children who now live
in Kansas City, Missouri; Eliza, the wife of John Bowman, now residing
in York, Nebraska, and who have three children; and Etna, who married
Fred Hope, and who now lives in Lincoln, Nebraska, with her daughter,
Mrs. Chester Rouse.
The life of Presley
Saunders was full of encouragement to young men who had an earnest desire
to succeed. He started only with a capital of a good constitution; was
temperate and had frugal habits; was industrious, and was full of perseverance.
From these humble beginnings he raised himself to a prominent position
in the community and acquired an ample fortune.
William
G. Saunders
William G. Saunders, one
of oldest, most respected and influential citizens of this city and
county, died at his home on South Jackson street about 11 o’clock
Sunday evening, December 3, 1899. His death resulted from heart disease,
and was entirely unlooked for at this time, although both he and his
relatives had been warned by the family physician that he would quite
likely pass away in that manner. Mr. Saunders had been suffering from
a complication of troubles for a long time, and his death was a matter
of but a few months at best.
However, lately he had been
feeling unusually well, and was up town the previous Friday attending
to business matters. The same day he was out at his farm making arrangements
for the erection of a home. Sunday he seemed unusually bright and ate
three hearty meals. In the evening he spent some time looking over the
plans for the new farm house, and went to bed at the usual hour. About
eleven o’clock, however, his nieces heard Mr. Saunders groaning
but reached his side too late to relieve him. Dr. Smith stated that
it was a plain case of heart disease.
Mr. Saunders would have been
eighty-four years old this coming Christmas. He was born in Kentucky,
and came to Iowa in the early ‘50’s. He has always been
actively engaged in business enterprises, and is thought to have been
one of the wealthiest men in the county. He was at the time of his death
president of the First National Bank, and a stockholder in the Savings
Bank. Aside from this he possessed large holdings of real estate in
the city and county. He also had large investments in Omaha and other
parts of the west. His estate is estimated to be worth between $300,000
and $500,000. He made a will disposing of his property this fall.
Mr. Saunders died a widower,
and childless. His wife died about fifteen years ago and he never had
children. He leaves a brother and two sisters: Mr. Aaron Saunders, of
Blytheville, Missouri, Mrs. William Tolle, of Los Angeles, California,
and Mrs. Elizabeth Saunders, of this city.
Mr. Saunders was cared for
at his home by three nieces, Misses Rena, Maggie and Tillie Fouche,
who kept house for him and whom he regarded as his children.
Mr. Saunders and his family
were affiliated with the Christian church.
WAS A LARGE FUNERAL.
The funeral of William G. Saunders was held from his late residence
on South White street, Thursday afternoon, at half past two o’clock.
There was a large concourse of relatives and friends present at the
last rites over the remains of this most esteemed citizen, whose influence
on the town has been marked for years. The services were conducted by
Rev. H. T. Clark, of Leon, Iowa, formerly pastor of the Christian church
of this city, and assisted by Rev. O. W. Rogers, of the Congregational
church, Rev. Cantrell, of Chicago, formerly pastor of the Christian
church here, and also by Father Bassler, of the Alphonsus Catholic church.
The several addresses were very feeling and appropriate. Special music
was furnished by a male quartette consisting of Messrs. R. A. Budde,
Fred Van Hon, I. P. Cise and W. E. Keeler.
The active pall bearers were
Messrs. James T. Whiting, H. E. Snider, C. F. Snider, W. A. Worthington,
James T. Gillis, Charles Hughes, H. J. Twinting, W. E. Keeler, and Fred
Van Hon. The honorary pall bearers were Messrs. G. H. Spahr, E. L. Penn,
C. V. Arnold, I. P. Van Cise and J. G. Budde.
The interment was in the
city cemetery in the “Saunders Circle.” As a mark of respect
the First National Bank was closed the entire day and the National State
& Savings Bank during the afternoon of the day of the funeral. There
were a very large number of relatives of the deceased here from abroad
to attend the funeral. Aside from his relatives he had an extensive
acquaintance over the city and county that was grieved to learn of his
death, even though it had been his lot to round out his four score of
years and end a life of unusual energy and success. Mount Pleasant as
a community loses one of its best citizens.
LAST WILL AND TESTAMENT.
The last will and testament
of the late William G. Saunders was filed with the clerk of the court
last Friday. In some respects it is as interesting a document as has
been filed there for a long time. It was known that Mr. Saunders was
a very wealthy man, and naturally there was much interest among, not
only the relatives and intimate friends of the deceased, but also in
the community, especially as it was known that it was his intentions
to divide his estate up into small bequests.
The will was made August
1, 1899, and is written in his own handwriting, and in his own style.
The will is witnessed by Messrs. W. E. Keeler, Fred Van Hon, and H.
J. Twinting. W. A. Saunders, of Omaha, and Barbara R. Fouche, of this
city, are named as the executors of the will. There is no estimating
the amount of Mr. Saunders’s fortune but it was large.
After a touching tribute
to his deceased wife, and also to his niece, Sallie Fouche, also deceased,
he made his first bequest in the shape of $2,000 to the city of Mount
Pleasant, the interest from which should be perpetually used to keep
the old city cemetery in order.
He gave to the Christian
church of this city $2,000 in cash, and also gave to the Christian Science
Society of this city $2,000 to be used for the erection of a church
edifice.
A WISE DISTRIBUTION.
The preliminary work of settling
the estate of the late W. G. Saunders has already been begun by the
executors. Notices are being sent out to the beneficiaries and many
a home will be made glad. Mr. Saunders is sleeping the last sleep in
the family circle, by the side of his wife and near relatives, but his
deeds of love and kindness will go on for years to come. It is seldom
that a man of wealth makes such a wise and satisfactory distribution
of his property. It seems as if every bequest made was only after a
careful consideration of the needs and merits of the beneficiary.
His aim seemed to be to distribute
his great estate where it would do the greatest possible good. And after
providing for upwards of two hundred relatives and friends with rare
discrimination he left a very large sum to be held in trust for the
needy. The amount of good that Miss Fouche can do with that fund is
beyond words to express. In scores of homes the checks for $1,000 and
$500 will come as a Godsend, relieving want and scattering the clouds
of anxiety.
W. G. Saunders could not
have left a greater monument to his own worth than his own last “will
and testament,” and long after the granite shaft that has been
reared in the “Saunders Circle” shall have crumbled to dust
the splendid work of relieving want and suffering will still go bravely
on.
RESPECTS A DEAD WIFE’S
WISHES
As preface to his will Mr.
Saunders says:
“The writer of this
document, W. G. Saunders, will make this statement or preface in connection
with his last will and testament that he and his wife, H. Eliza Saunders,
who died August 5, 1886, having labored faithfully together all through
their married life, and was so fortunate as to accumulate some property,
and feeling that it is not only his privilege, but his duty to bestow
on those of her relatives and choice as well as those of his own relatives,
knowing it would be her desire.”
TRIBUTE TO A FAITHFUL NIECE.
Continuing Mr. Saunders pays
the following tribute to the memory of Miss Sallie Fouche, who died
last year:
“And now his niece,
Sallie E. Fouche, who had lived with him so long and was always so faithful
and kind and did every thing in her power to relieve and comfort Mrs.
Saunders, during her life of affliction, and was always kind to me in
looking after every comfort, she having passed away and having made
the request that her sister, B. R. Fouche, should take her place in
my home, and inherit her bequests in property that was intended for
her to be given to B. R. Fouche, and as I believe partly in trust for
others. And now I believe it to be my duty to grant her request as I
had promised. As I always felt like remunerating her for her unselfish
life and as this is the only way I have left to bestow on her is to
grant the request, with these preliminary remarks, I will proceed to
write my last will in as plain a manner as I can, so as to prevent any
litigation or dissatisfaction.”
PAYS AN OLD DOCTOR’S
BILL.
Possibly the best testimony
in support of his scrupulous honesty and his intent to defraud no man
can be found in a note to his will which reads as follows:
“This is to certify
that Benjamin Dudley, of Lexington, Kentucky, saved my life by a surgical
operation in the year 1837, and giving me medical attention for two
months. I had nothing wherewith to pay the Doctor for his services,
but promised him as soon as I was able to pay him I would do so. His
usual charges in such cases would be $500. I did not feel able to pay
that for about thirty years. Since then I have neglected to pay this
debt which I justly owe with six per cent interest until paid. Dr. Dudley
having died it will be due his heirs.”
~~~~~~~
Just what Mr. Saunders estate
will amount to will not be known until the final report of the executors
is made. It is believed, however, that after all the legacies are paid
and the expenses of the settlement of the estate deducted there will
still be left a large sum to be held in trust for the benefit of the
poor. It is thought that it may amount to $100,000. The interest as
well as principal is to be devoted to the need of the poor until it
is all used up.
It was also a graceful thing
to leave the city in trust the $2,000 for the care of the city cemetery.
In this plot of ground are buried not only a large number of the Saunders
family, but also a great many of the early settlers of the town, and
it will be a satisfaction to the relatives of these to know that the
cemetery will now be cared for, as it should be. The city of Mount Pleasant
has never done the right thing by the old cemetery, and none felt it
keener than Mr. Saunders. Half of the proceeds of the trust fund go
to the general care of the cemetery and the other half goes to the maintenance
and permanent care of the “Saunders Circle.”
Another handsome remembrance
was the gift of $2,000 to the Christian church. This church has been
struggling under a heavy debt for a number of years, until the members
lost courage. The munificence of Mr. Saunders pays off the debt and
gives to the members new hope and courage.
His gift to the Christian
Scientist of the city is said to be in memory of Miss Sallie Fouche,
who was an earnest worker among them.
Elmer
E. Scott
Elmer E. Scott,
whose attention is given to general agricultural pursuits, is the owner
of a well improved farm of one hundred and seventy-eight acres, which
he has owned since the spring of 1895. He was born in Rome, Iowa, September
2, 1861, and is descended from two of the old families of Pennsylvania.
His paternal grandparents were James and Margaret (Shannon) Scott, both
natives of the Keystone state. Their son, William Scott, was born in
Ohio and wedded Miss Maria Pfoutz, who was a native of Pennsylvania,
as was her father, David Pfoutz, who came to what is now Trenton township
in the fall of 1838, while the state was a territory, and before the
land had been placed on the market by the government. When it was opened
for settlement he obtained nearly a section located in Trenton township
about three miles northwest from Rome, when neighbors were few. Here
he made improvements and lived until the time of his death. There Miss
Pfoutz lived until her marriage to Mr. Scott.
The year 1843 witnessed
the arrival of William Scott in Tippecanoe township, Henry county, Iowa.
Having previously learned the trade of a millwright, he continued to
follow that pursuit in this county, building several mills on Skunk
river. He also bought land in Trenton township, where he resided for
a few years and then purchased land upon which the town of Rome now
stands and laid out the village. There he conducted a mercantile enterprise,
also operated a sawmill and was proprietor of a hotel and livery barn,
which was the stage station before the railroad was built. He capably
conducted these various kinds of business up to the time of his death,
which occurred in December, 1868. He was distinctively a man of affairs,
alert and enterprising and he did much for the upbuilding and improvement
of the town as well as for his individual success.
His wife now makes
her home with her son Elmer. She came to this county with her parents
and they settled about three miles northwest of Rome in Trenton township.
In their family were four daughters and a son and the family resided
in Trenton township for about ten years. The son continued to make his
home there upon the old family property until about 1901, when he sold
out and is now living a retired life in Fairfield, Iowa.
Elmer E. Scott is
indebted to the public school system of this county for the educational
privileges he enjoyed in his youth. He lived with his mother until the
spring of 1895, making his home with her in Rome. He conducted the ferry
across Skunk river and also farmed after attaining his majority, residing
with his mother until the spring of 1895, when he purchased one hundred
and seventy-eight acres of land on the Skunk river bottoms. Upon the
place was an old barn and house which were very dilapidated. He had
these torn down and erected here a residence of eight rooms with cellar
underneath. He also built a hay barn, fifty by fifty-six feet, and a
cow barn, thirty by forty feet. He likewise built three corn cribs and
tiled the land, thus bringing it into cultivable condition. His fields
now produce excellent crops and in his pastures are found good grades
of stock.
Prior to moving
to the farm Mr. Scott was married in October, 1894, to Miss Ellen Newburg,
who was born in Sweden and is a daughter of John and Sophia (Johnson)
Newburg, both of whom were natives of Sweden and in 1886 came to Henry
county, Iowa. They now reside near Lockridge, Jefferson county, this
state. Mr. and Mrs. Scott have become the parents of four children:
Raymond, born May 3, 1895; Walter, October 6, 1897; George, June 6,
1899; and Edward, July 14, 1902.
Mr. and Mrs. Scott
reside on section 4, where he owns one hundred and twenty-two acres
of land and he also has fifty acres on section 9, and five acres in
another tract. In politics he is a republican, but without aspiration
for office. Fraternally he is connected with Henry Lodge, Independent
Order of Odd Fellows, of Mount Pleasant. He is a man entirely free from
ostentation or display, but of genuine worth and of thorough reliability,
whose word, among those who know him, is as good as any bond.
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