WILLIAM HOCKADAY. Prominent among the successful
and enterprising farmers of Oneida township
may be found the subject of this sketch. He is the owner of a large tract of
fine land pleasantly located on section 3, Oneida township,
where he has been operating successfully for more than twenty years. He has
brought his land to a high state of cultivation, largely by the labors of his
own hands, and is in possession of a comfortable set of farm buildings, to
which each year he adds something to enhance the beauty and value of his
property.
The subject
of this biographical notice is a native of England, and was born in Devonshire February 14,1845. His father, John Hockaday, was a
native of the same country, where he spent the early portion of his life as a laborer
on a farm. In 1845 he concluded to seek .his fortunes in the new world, and
accordingly set sail for the New York harbor in company with a small
colony of friends. The party proceeded as far as Cleveland, Ohio, when a halt was made until a
suitable location could be decided upon. Two others were dispatched West on a
prospecting tour, while the balance obtained employment and prepared to remain
until those of the party sent in advance should report favorably on a
location. It was while here that John Hockaday was
stricken down with cholera, an occurrence which deeply affected every member of
the little colony. The mother, accompanied by her only son, William, the
subject of this memoir, who was then only a few months old, proceeded to Du Page county, Ill., where she located permanently. She
remarried, becoming the wife of James Boker, by whom
she had one child—John C. F., who died when about eight years of age. The mother
died in Elgin,
Ill., in 1887. She was a zealous member
of the Methodist church for many years and a devout Christian woman.
William Hockaday is therefore the only living representative of
the family by that name in America.
He was reared on a farm, and received as good a common-school education as the
times afforded. During the dark days
that overshadowed our beloved country, from 1860 to 1865, when civil strife demanded such wholesale sacrifices
from the people of Illinois, as well as other states, the patriotism
of every man was appealed
to. Under stress of the demands so urgently made for
men, in 1864, Mr. Hockaday, when only nineteen years
of age, enlisted May 10th in the One Hundred and Forty-first Illinois regiment. His regiment was ordered to Columbus, Ky., and thence to Smithtown, a point on
the Ohio
river
where the famous rebel raider, General Forrest, was, and, after a march into
the country, he was
met and routed.
A month or more was spent in
skirmishes with Forrest and his band of raiders. Mr. Hockaday
enlisted for one hundred days, and at the expiration of that time he volunteered
to continue, at the request of his commander.
He was in the service about five months, during which he was fortunate
enough to escape being either captured or wounded. He was honorably discharged in November,
1864.
Returning
from the war, Mr. Hockaday purchased a team, and,
perceiving the advantages of a new country, where he could expand his efforts
and court fortune to a better benefit, he came to Delaware county, Iowa. He purchased eighty acres of
unimproved land in Bremer township, and entered upon
farming at once. The improvements were scarcely noticeable in the county at
that time, although a settlement had been made some years before.
Mr. Hockaday was married, September 30, 1867, to Miss Elizabeth Rogers, who was
born in Illinois in 1849. She is a daughter of Thomas Rogers, who immigrated from England to this country in 1848 and settled
in Du Page county, Ill. He removed to Delaware county, Iowa, in 1857, and was one of the early
settlers of this section. He was a farmer, and died here in 1884. He was a man
of a strong religious turn of mind and an active member of the Methodist
church. The mother of Mrs. Hockaday bore the maiden
name of Jane Box. She was the mother of eight children and a zealous Christian
woman. Mr. Hockaday's household is composed of the
following children—Electa A., born July 13, 1868; John
C. F., born March 18, 1870; Emma J., born December 7, 1871; William W., born
December 15, 1873; Oscar N., born November 14, 1875; Curt, born October 20,
1877; Reuben, born January 11, 1880; Bert, born November 6, 1881; Nettie, born September 2, 1883.
Mr. Hockaday is a firm republican, and has voted with that
party ever since he attained his majority. While he has never sought place, he
has nevertheless been called upon to fill some local positions, He owns an
estate of five hundred and fifty acres, all of which is susceptible of
cultivation and very productive. He has always been energetic and enterprising,
and has long ago been placed in the ranks of the solid men of Delaware county. During the fifteen years of his residence in
the county, he was variously engaged, having on hand a number of laudable
enterprises from which he secured handsome returns. He was among the first in
the county to engage in the dairy business, and he is perfectly familiar with
every detail of the manufacture and sale of dairy products. All of his transactions have been
characterized by that rare good sense and judgment which are essential to
success in any undertaking.
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