History of Lee County, Iowa, 1879

The History of Lee County
Chicago: Western Hist. Co., 1879.

Washington Township

Bullard, A. J., farmer, section 6, born in Des Moines Co., Iowa, May 19, 1835; came with his parents to Lee Co, May, 1836; they were among the early settlers of this county. Married Miss Amanda Walker in 1859; she was a native of York State; died April 4, 1868; he married again, Miss Fannie Sniveley in 1870; born in Lee Co., Iowa, in 1847; has three children by former wife - Matilda, James and Rachel, and two dead - Oliver and Ellen; and by present wife, four - Charley, John, Theophilus and Sarah J. Owns 270 acres of land. Mr. and Mrs. Bullard are members of Methodist Church; Mr. Bullard is a Democrat.

Bullard, James, farmer, Section 7.

Bullard, James, farmer.

Lauther, Alexander, farmer and stock-raiser, Section 16; P.O. Ft. Madison; born in Juniata Co., Penn., in 1824; his father, James Lauther, was also a native of Pennsylvania. Alexander was employed on the farm until at the age of 22, he entered a store at Peru Mills, same county. In April, 1849, he started on a tour of the Western States on foot, from Pittsburgh, which he reached by canal-boat and packet; he occasionally staged short distances, but most of the journey was on foot, frequently at the rate of thirty miles per day; from Niles, Mich., he went by rail to New Buffalo, thence by steamer to Chicago and Milwaukee, Wis.; he worked in the harvest field near Beloit that summer, and as help was scarce, was well compensated. From Peru he reached Peoria by boat, went back in the country, and worked at stripping soapstone from stone-coal; then taught school near Kickapoo Creek, fifteen miles from Peoria, at $45 per month; the next winter taught in Knox Co. for three months, at $18 per month; worked at farming in the summer; went to New Orleans and spent the winter of 1850 and 1851; in the spring came to Lee Co. and worked as a laborer at $13 per month; the next spring taught school in what is now Buck's College. In the spring of 1853, he visited his native State; returned, and in August purchased ninety acres of land, where he now resides; taught school in the winter and in the spring of 1854, returned to Pennsylvania and married Miss Martha J., daughter of Moses Irwin; she was also a native of Juniata Co., Penn.; had five children, three now living - James J., born Dec. 9, 1855; died May 23, 1858; Samuel A., Feb. 21, 1858; Ellen E., April 6, 1860, died April, 1862; Annie M., March 28, 1862; Clara P., Sept. 5, 1864. They lived two years in Nebraska, then came to present location; own 448 acres, valued at $50 per acre. Members of the Presbyterian Church at Fort Madison, of which he is an Elder.

Lauther, S. M., farmer, Section 15; P.O. Fort Madison; born in Juniata Co., Penn., 1842; when 14 years of age, removed to Lee Co., and settled on the farm now occupied by the subject of this sketch; he attended the district schools and Brush College until he was 21 years of age, when, Oct. 15, 1863, he married Miss C.J., daughter of William Burton, who settled in the county in 1835. His wife was born in West Point Tp., in 1843; have two children - Cora A., born Nov. 13, 1865, and Myrtle M., July 15, 1869. Democrat; Members of the Presbyterian Church.

Lauther, Elizabeth J., farmer, Section 15, P.O. Fort Madison; daughter of Thomas Jacobs, who was born in Juniata Co., Penn., in 1794, where, on the 1st of December, 1818, he married Rosana, daughter of James Shaw; she was born near Carlisle, Penn., on the 27th of May, 1794; Thomas Jacobs and his wife settled at Waterford, Penn., where he engaged at the business of a tailor, having learned that trade; they afterward removed to Germantown, Penn., where he died March 1, 1834, leaving three sons and one daughter, Elizabeth, who was born in Germantown in 1833; soon after her father's death, her mother returned to Waterford, where Elizabeth was raised and educated. On the 29th of January, 1852, she married James Lauther, who was born in that county Sept. 1, 1826; in 1854, they came to Iowa, where they first settled on the farm now owned by Omer Hayes. About 1858, they purchased the farm where the family now live, which consists of 200 acres, valued at $45 per acre; in March, 1871, the husband and father, James Lauther, was called from "labor to refreshment," leaving three children - Rebecca, born in Pennsylvania March 7, 1853, the wife of William Eoff, farmer and stock-dealer, of this township; James M., born in March, 1855, and is the mainstay and support of his excellent and highly-respected mother and manager of the farm; Margaret J., born in March, 1861; Thomas B. was born in March 1864, and died in April, 1866. The Lauther family came of Presbyterian parentage, of which Church Mr. Lauther was a respected and influential member at the time of his death; Mrs. Lauther and her children are also members of that Church.

Mitchell, John, Jr., farmer, Section 10; P.O. Fort Madison; his father John M., Sr., was born in County Derry, Ireland, in 1794. In 1816, married Miss Mattie Burr, born in the same county in 1795; they had six children, four of whom came to this country; the eldest, Margaret, born in 1818, married Nathaniel Humphreys, came to America in 1841, settled in Philadelphia, where she died in April, 1874; Hannah, born October, 1820, came over to Philadelphia in 1848, where she married Francis Snowden and still resides; John, was born in May, 1823, learned the trade of linen-weaver of his father; in 1844, came to America, remained thirteen months in New York City, weaving carpets; went to Philadelphia, where he married Jane Brewster July 3, 1849; she was also a native of County Derry, Ireland; lost her parents when young, and, with a brother and two sisters, came to America in 1846; in 1851, they came to Van Buren Co., Iowa; a year after, Mr. Mitchell left his family with a brother-in-law, and went overland to California, with a company of twenty-six men, four women and six children, with thirteen wagons; they organized under the leadership of Capt. Stone, of Illinois, and left Council Bluffs May 17, 1852. The cholera prevailed to an alarming extent all along their road until they passed the mountains, but owing to the good care of Dr. Murdock, of Fort Des Moines, they passed through safely; reached their destination Sept 13; Mr. M. remained four years engaged in mining with moderate success; returned via Panama, N.Y., and Philadelphia; reached home in May, 1856, and, a year after, settled at their present residence, the farm first settled by Cy. Ross, who brought the first rat to this township in a box of fruit-trees from Kentucky; the farm now consists of 150 acres, valued at $60 per acre, with brick residence which cost $3,500, and is well improved; they have five children - John, Jr., born July 3, 1851; Mattie J., March 25, 1857; Charles B., Aug 4, 1859; Mary A., Dec. 16, 1865; Maggie H., June 13, 1870; Mr. M.'s younger brother, Benjamin, was born in County Derry in 1825; came to America with his sister Hannah, and settled in Philadelphia as a laborer, then as a carpet-weaver; in 1854, went to California in 1865, married Jane Houston, and died in November, 1870. Their mother died in 1828; father in 1845.