History of
Davis County, Iowa
Des Moines: Iowa Historical Company,
1882
V
Unless noted, biographies submitted by Dick Barton.
Van
Benthusen, Judge Wm., Bloomfield; is a native of Orange county, N. Y.; born
August 30, 1813. At the age of six, his parents, James and Susan Van Benthusen,
moved to Clermont county, Ohio, and in 1828, to Shelby county, where he grew up
and received his education. His father was a member of the Constitutional
Convention of 1851, and died with cholera, while serving as such, at the age of
seventy-three. His mother died in 1862. In 1853, he settled on a farm near
Drakeville, until 1865, when he was elected county judge and moved to
Bloomfield. He enlisted, September 22, 1861, in company a, First Cavalry, and
was elected captain of that company. He resigned in 1862, on account of failing
health, and in 1864, enlisted again, in Company D, Forty-fifth Infantry, and was
elected captain. Served four months; was in the battle of Pea Ridge. He now owns
500 acres of land, and lives in Bloomfield, having one of the finest residences
in the city. He was married in Indiana, May 6th,1831, to Miss Francis Clark, a
native of England, and by this union had fifteen children; four are living,
Eliza, wife of J. W. Clayton; Barbary, wife of John Curl; Frank, wife of John
Demuth; and Will, now editor of the Leavenworth Times. Mrs. V. died July 24,
1871, and he again married, September 10, 1872. Mrs. L. E. Watson, whose maiden
name was Merritt; a native of Posey county, Indiana. Judge v. is a member of the
M. E. Church, is also a Mason and Odd Fellow, and a member of St. John's
Commandery, K. T., at Centerville, Iowa.
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