Peter Delescaille: Residence Montezuma, nativity Brussels. It is said that the familly was originally from France but went to Belgium during  the French revolution. His biography was published in "Portrait and Biographical Record of Johnson, Poweshiek and Iowa counties, Iowa":

Peter Delescaille, the subject of this sketch, is the oldest and best-known jeweler in Poweshiek County , Iowa . He was born in Belgium , eight miles east of the battlefield of Waterloo , April 3,1825 . His father, was Nicholas, also born there, who entered the Belgian army, taking part in the battle of Waterloo , being under Wellington and Blucher, and taking his honor with the rest when victory was won. The occupation of his father was that of farming, and his last days were passed in Belgium . The maiden name of the mother of our subject was Jane J. Roman, and she was born in the same place. Both were of French descent and Roman Catholics.

Our subject was the eldest of the family of six children and the only one who is in America . He was reared in Belgium and educated in the French language, and when sixteen years of age left school to learn the jeweler's and fine cabinet-making trade, the latter including fine clocks. The delicate workmanship required in these occupations always had great attraction for him, and in after years this knowledge served to while away the long hours of a prisoner's life. In 1856 our subject came to America , landing in New York April 26, having left Antwerp in the sailing craft "Francis B. Cutting." They were forty-seven days on the journey, having a severe time and encountering storms on the way. Reaching New York , he proceeded to Iowa City , where he worked at his trade until 1857, when he went to Brooklyn , remained one and one-half years, and in the fall of 1858 located in Montezuma, built a shop and began to manufacture clocks and do repair work.

Nothing was too difficult for our subject to do and every kind of utensil and machine was given him for restoration. Among the many things he did was the invention and patenting of an invalid wagon. Our subject, August 13, 1862 , enlisted in Company C, Twenty-eighth Iowa Infantry, and was mustered in at Iowa City and took part in the battles of Port Gibson, Champion Hill and Vicksburg ; was transferred to the Gulf, and in the battle of Sabine Cross Roads fought hard all day and was the last to leave the field, and if every one had fought as bravely as he, victory would have perched on the Union banners. He was captured immediately after being wounded in the right arm, the ball passing through that member. His undaunted spirit led him to defy his captors, who in wrath procured a rope, which they placed about his neck, when a boy of sixteen informed the commander, who came out and made them desist. Taken to Talty , Tex. , he was made to walk all the way and was repeatedly stoned on the passage. While in prison he employed himself in the manufacture of horn pipes with a pocket knife during the thirteen months of his imprisonment. It may be said that when he went to the war he took with him a kit of tools, which was often found useful. He was released at the close of the war and returned home poor in purse, but went manfully to work and has been able to acquire property since.