"The career of ex-Governor
William Larrabee is too familiar to the people
of Iowa, and especially of Fayette county, to need any encomium
on the part of the biographer, a mere statement of facts being
deemed sufficient to show that he, as the representative of a
sterling old family, has endeavored to perform his duty at all
times as he saw and understood the right, without courting the
plaudits of his fellow men. His genealogy is traced to the
French Huguenots who came to America early in the seventeenth
century.
Adam LARRABEE,
the father of William, was born March 14, 1787, and was one of
the early graduates of West Point Military Academy, and during
the war of 1812 (March 1, 1811) he was commissioned a second
lieutenant, promoted to Captain of his company February 21,
1814, and on March 30th following, at the battle of Lacole
Mills, during General Wilkinson's campaign on the St. Lawrence
river, he was severely wounded in the lung, but finally
recovered. He married Hannah G. LESTER, who
was born June 8, 1798, and died March 15, 1837. Captain Larrabee
reached the age of eighty-two years, dying in 1869.
William Larrabee, of this review, was born at Ledyard,
Connecticut, January 20, 1832, being the seventh child in a
family of nine children. His boyhood days were spent upon a farm
and he early became familiar with hard work in the fields,
attending the neighboring schools during the brief winter months
until he reached the age of sixteen years. He made the best use
of his limited advantages and taught school during the winter
months of the next two years. He was not to be discouraged by
obstacles, one of which was the loss of his right eye when
fourteen years of age by the accidental discharge of a gun. The
homestead was only two miles from the seashore, and in those
days it was the custom for boys in New England to follow the
sea. William's three oldest brothers had chosen this occupation,
while the fourth remained upon the home farm. Believing that
better opportunities awaited him in the Western states than in
his home country, young William, in 1853, made the long journey
to Iowa, locating Garnavillo, Clayton county, where his older
sister, Mrs. E. H. WILLIAMS, had previously
located. He taught one term of school at Hardin, and during the
three following years he was employed as foreman of the Grand
Meadow farm of his brother-in-law, Judge WILLIAMS.
In 1857 he purchased a one-third interest in the Clermont Mill,
at Clermont, Fayette county, becoming sole owner of the same
within three years. He operated this mill until 1874, when he
sold to S. M. LEACH. When the Civil war began
he offered his services, but was rejected on account of the loss
of his eye. Being informed that he might be admitted as a
commissioned officer, he raised a company and was elected as
first lieutenant, but was rejected for the same disability.
After selling his mill Mr. Larrabee again turned his attention
to agriculture, and also started a private bank at Clermont. He
started a nursery on his farm and carried it on for several
years.
Mr. Larrabee was always more or less interested in political
matters, but his active political career did not begin until
1867. He was reared a Whig and when the Republican party was
organized he at once identified himself with the same and has
never changed his views, remaining loyal to its principles. The
only public office he had filled prior to the date mentioned
above was that of secretary of the school board. In the fall of
1867 he was elected to represent Fayette county in the state
Senate, and being re-elected to the same office from time to
time, he served continuously for a period of eighteen years, . .
. .
In 1881 Mr. Larrabee was a candidate for governor, but Governor
SHERMAN's forces having already been well organized, he was too
late in entering the contest. But he received the nomination in
1885 and was subsequently elected the state's chief executive,
having been inaugurated January 14, 1886, and re-elected in
1887, . . . .
Governor Larrabee's domestic life dates from September 12,
1861, when he married, at Clermont, Ann M. APPELMAN,
daughter of Capt. G. A. APPELMAN, long a well
known citizen of this county. Seven children have been born to
the Governor and his wife, Charles, Augusta, Julia, Anna,
William, Frederic and Helen."
(A photograph is included in the source book.)