Draper, Oscar
From Biographical History of Crawford, Ida & Sac Counties,
Iowa
The Lewis Publishing Co., Chicago, 1893
Oscar Draper, one of the prominent early settlers of Clinton township, Sac county, Iowa, resides on a farm of 160 acres near Odebolt.
He dates his birth in Essex county, New York, and is a son of Henry and Emily (Palmer) Draper, both natives of Essex county. His grandfather, Timothy Draper, was of Scotch-Irish descent. Henry Draper emigrated with his family to Scott county, Iowa, in 1859, and located near Le Claire, where his wife died in 1861. He, too, died in Sac county, aged sixty-six years. He was liberal in his religious views, and in politics was a Republican. Mrs. Draper was a Baptist. They had eight children, five sons and three daughters. Three of their sons served in the late war. William H., who was a member of the Twentieth Iowa Infantry, is now a resident of Clinton county Iowa. John, who served in the Sixty-sixth Illinois Infantry, lives in Seattle, Washington. August 22, 1862, Oscar enlisted in the Twentieth Iowa Infantry, and during his service participated in the battles of Prairie Grove, Arkansas and Vicksburg, and was through the siege of Fort Morgan and Fort Blakely, besides being in numerous skirmishes. He was honorably discharged at Mobile, Alabama, July 8, 1865.
Returning to Iowa after the war the subject of our sketch located east of De Witt, in Clinton county, where he was engaged in farming until 1874. Since that year he has been identified with the interests of Clinton township, Sac county. Here he purchased 160 acres of land, has improved it with good buildings, etc., and is devoting his time chiefly to stock-raising. He keeps a dairy of about fifteen cows. His residence is a story and a half, and is 18 x 24 feet, and his barn is 48 x 60 feet. A nice grove and orchard of two acres are among other improvements Mr. Draper has placed upon his land.
March 12, 1868, he married Sarah J. Bittinger, in Clinton county, Iowa. She was born in Franklin county, Pennsylvania, daughter of John and Rebecca (Kahl) Bittinger. The Bittinger family came West from Pennsylvania to Ohio in 1850, and two years later to Clinton county, Iowa. Their family was composed of seven sons and two daughters. The mother died in November 1887, and the father is now a resident of York county, Nebraska. He is a farmer, a Republican and Lutheran. Mr. and Mrs. Draper have four children: Jessie R., Emily E., Homer J. and Asa L.
Mr. Draper's political views are in harmony with Republican principles. He is a member of Goodrich Post No. 117, Odebolt, and he and his wife both belong to the Methodist Episcopal Church. He is a Trustee of the church and also takes an active interest in Sabbath-school work.
Dunkin, Oliver Perry
From Biographical History of Crawford, Ida & Sac Counties,
Iowa
The Lewis Publishing Co., Chicago, 1893
Oliver Perry Dunkin, one of the leading citizens and pioneer farmers of Clinton township, Sac county, Iowa, was born January 21, 1826.
His father, Joshua Dunkin, was a native of Virginia and a soldier in the war of 1812. His grandfather, John Dunkin, was a descendant of Scotch ancestry. The maiden name of our subject's mother was Sarah Richardson. She was born in Ohio, a descendant of German ancestry, and was first married to a Mr. Riley by whom she had four children. She married Mr. Dunkin in Brown county, Ohio, and her death occurred in Fulton county, Illinois, at the age of sixty. After her death the father came to Clinton county, Iowa, where he died at the age of seventy. He voted for Fremont in 1856, but was a Democrat all his life. He was a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church and for many years was a Class Leader.
Oliver P. was a lad of fourteen or fifteen years when the family moved to Fulton county, Illinois, and on his father's farm in that county he was reared. He then moved to Jackson county, Iowa, and some years later went to Clinton county and settled near Elwood. From Clinton county, in 1875, he came to Sac county, bought 320 acres of land, and on it has since resided. He has his farm well improved with good buildings and a nice orchard and grove.
Mr. Dunkin was married in Clinton county, Iowa, November 12, 1854, to Mary Jane Clark, a native of New Jersey. Her father, Barnabas Clark was born at Ashfield, Massachusetts, in 1799, was a wagon-maker by trade, and was a resident of Conway, Massachusetts. The family trace their settlement in New England back to 1623. Mrs. Dunkin's mother was before her marriage Miss Submit Hitchcock, who was born in Massachusetts, January 2, 1801, daughter of Heman (Herman?) Hitchcock. At an early day Mr. and Mrs. Clark settled in Delaware county, Ohio, and from there came to Clinton county, Iowa in 1853. They reared a family of five children, two sons and three daughters. One of their sons, Fred, served in the war in an Iowa regiment, and is now a resident of Clinton county, this State. The mother died May 6, 1878, and the father passed away in September 1890. He was a member of the Christian Church and his wife was a Congregationalist. Mr. and Mrs. Dunkin have five children, viz.: Frederick, a resident of Wall Lake township, Sac county; Frank L. on the home farm; Sarah Submit, wife of J.B. Southwell, of Hayes county, Nebraska; and William and George, at home.
Mr. Dunkin is a Republican in politics, and he and his wife are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church.
Fox, M.D.
From Biographical History of Crawford, Ida & Sac Counties,
Iowa
The Lewis Publishing Co., Chicago, 1893
M.D. Fox is ranked with the earliest pioneers of Clinton township, Sac County, Iowa, and to him belongs the distinction of having named the township. It is therefore appropriate that some personal mention be made of him in this work.
M. D. Fox was born in Trumbull county, Ohio, May 7, 1842. The Foxes trace their ancestry back to George Fox, a Quaker, who came from England to America during Colonial times and settled in Pennsylvania. Samuel Fox, the father of M.D., was born in New Hampshire in 1794, and was a soldier in the war of 1812. He married Dorothea Bullock, also a native of New Hampshire, and a descendant of English ancestry. Her father was a soldier in the war of 1812 and was killed in that struggle. They had fourteen children, five sons and nine daughters. The mother died in Lee county, Illinois, age forty-four, and the father departed this life in 1875. He was a farmer, a Democrat, and a Methodist.
When the subject of our sketch was a lad the family moved to Michigan, and after living there five or six years took up their abode in Lee county, Illinois. He was reared on a farm and received his education in the common schools and the Lee Center Seminary. In 1863 he enlisted in the Eleventh Iowa Infantry, and served until 1865. He was in the battles of Atlanta and Jonesborough, and at the latter place received a flesh wound. His brother, William H., now a resident of Sawyer, Michigan, was a soldier in the Twelfth Illinois Infantry.
After the war the subject of our sketch settled in Clinton county, Iowa, near Lyons. Still later he moved to a place near De Witt in Clinton county, and in 1874 came from there to Sac county. Upon his arrival here, he purchased 160 acres of wild land in Clinton township, which he has improved an to which he has added forty acres more. He has it well fenced, under a good state of cultivation and substantial buildings upon it. The residence, a story and a half frame, is 16 x 14 feet, with an L, 16 x 24 feet, and an addition, 12 x 14 feet. The grove and orchard comprise ten acres.
In May, 1866, Mr. Fox was married, in Clinton county, Iowa, to Lydia F. Bennett, who was born in Fayette county, Pennsylvania, daughter of William H. and Mary Ann (Wood) Bennett. She was reared and educated at their native place and was a successful teacher previous to her marriage. Her father died in Davenport, Iowa, at the age of sixty-two years, and her mother passed away in Colorado at the age of seventy-one. They had six children, one son and five daughters. Mr. and Mrs. Fox have six children, as follows: Flora A. Chauncy B., Jessie M., Fanny L., Harry B. and Howard M.
Politically Mr. Fox affiliates with the Republican party. He has most acceptably filled several of the township offices. He served as Justice of Peace fifteen years, was Trustee several years, and also served on the School Board. He is a member of Colonel Goodrich Post No. 117, G.A.R., Odebolt, and is at present Vice-President of the Sac County Soldiers' Relief commission. Mrs. Fox is President of the Woman's Relief Corps. Both he and his wife are worthy members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and she is a teacher in the Sabbath school.
Such is a brief sketch of one of the honored pioneers of Sac county.
Transcribed by B. Horak, November 2002
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