H. R. Pilgrim
Through many years H. R. Pilgrim was
numbered among the well known and highly respected farmers of Elk township,
where he passed away on the 17th of July, 1910. His birth occurred
near London, England, on the 21st of September, 1831. His father died in that
country.
H. R. Pilgrim was reared in England to
the age of twenty-one years, when he resolved to come to America, attracted by
the favorable reports which he heard concerning business conditions in
the new world. Accordingly he crossed the Atlantic in 1852 and made his
way to Cleveland, Ohio, where he was employed
in a greenhouse for several years. Later he made his way to this county,
arriving in the latter part of the '50s. He invested his capital in one hundred
and forty-four acres of land on section 16, Elk township, and with
characteristic energy began the further development and improvement of his
place. As the years went on his labors wrought a marked transformation in the
appearance of the farm. He added many modern equipments and accessories and his
farm presented a most neat and thrifty appearance. Fences and buildings were
kept in good repair and the work of the fields was carefully and systematically
managed, so that as the years went on he gathered good harvests, while the
sale of his crops enabled him to add annually to his bank account.
In 1860 Mr. Pilgrim was united in
marriage to Miss Sarah Gibbs, who was born in the state of New York, August 18, 1841, a daughter of John and Elizabeth (Bunns)
Gibbs, both of whom were natives of England and in early life came
to America, eventually making
their way to this county, where they arrived in 1851. The work of progress and
development seemed scarcely begun here at that time and they cast in their lot
with the pioneer settlers. There was still much land that was in possession of
the government which in the summer was covered with the native prairie grasses,
dotted with a million wild flowers, while in the winter seasons the deep snow
ofttimes rendered the roads impassable. Mr. Gibbs entered three hundred and
twenty acres of land near Earlville and at once began the development of a
farm, his labors resulting in transforming the wild prairie into productive
fields. Upon that place both he and his wife passed away. Mrs. Pilgrim was one
of their family of thirteen children, and by her marriage she has become the
mother of eight children, as follows: E. H., who is a resident of Manchester,
Iowa; J. M., living in Louisiana; George and Albert W., who make their home in
Edgewood, Iowa; Sarah, who gave her hand in marriage to Joseph Airhart, of
Delaware county, Iowa; Rose A., the wife of Charles Rizer; and two who are
deceased. The family circle was again broken by the hand of death when on the 17th of July, 1910, Mr. Pilgrim passed away, the family
being thus deprived of a devoted husband and father. His remains were interred
in Grandview cemetery at Greeley and a widow and six
children were left to mourn his loss. Mrs. Pilgrim still resides upon the old
home place of one hundred and forty acres and personally superintends her
business affairs.
In his political views Mr. Pilgrim was an
earnest republican from the time that he became a naturalized American citizen,
and he always kept well informed on the questions and issues of the day. For
some years he served as a school director and was a stalwart champion of the
cause of public education. His life was in harmony with his professions as a
member of the Methodist Episcopal church and he always took an active and
helpful interest in church work, doing all in his power to advance the moral
progress of the community. He never had occasion to regret his determination to
come to the new world, for here he found the opportunities which he sought and
in their improvement worked his way steadily upward to success.
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