William Washington Elliott, 1845-1927

Past and Present of Lucas and Wayne Counties Iowa

Chicago: The S.J. Clarke Publishing Company, 1913

Volume II, Pages 50-53

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     For several years William W. Elliott has lived retired in Seymour and by reason of his high standards of integrity and his honorable and upright life has gained the confidence and esteem of many friends. He is a native of Indiana, born in Morgan county, February 18, 1845, and is a son of Brooks and Martha Elliott, natives of Kentucky. In the early days of his career the father of our subject moved into Indiana and there resided until his death, which occurred when his son William W. was only one month old, and only eight days after the death of his wife. Following the death of his parents, the subject of this review was taken into the home of his sister, Mrs. John Bradley. This family left Indiana in the fall of 1854 and moved into Iowa, locating in Appanoose county, where William W. Elliott attended school. 

He was a lad of sixteen at the outbreak of the Civil war and was, in consequence, unable to enlist until 1863, in which year he joined Company H, Eighth Iowa Cavalry, under command of M. M. Walden. He served until the close of the war and was mustered out at Macon, Georgia, on the 13th of August, 1865, receiving his honorable discharge. During the period of his enlistment he saw active service all the time and once was in the thick of a battle or a skirmish every day for thirty-three consecutive days. He was with Sherman on his Atlanta campaign and at Noonan, Georgia, was wounded in his right leg and his horse was killed under him by the same bullet. He suffered from this wound for ten years. On McCook's raid, which took place on July 30, 1864, Mr. Elliott was captured by the rebels and remained in prison for four months, during which time he was afflicted four times with gangrene in his leg. Mis horse fell upon the leg which was not infected and Mr. Elliott has always been more or less disabled as a result of his injuries. After his discharge he returned to Appanoose county and settled on a farm on the 1st of September, 1865. He carried on general agricultural pursuits until 1896 and then moved into Seymour, where he has since lived retired, with the exception of the years from 1907 to 1911, when he resided in Mt. Pleasant in order to educate his children.

     On April 1, 1866, Mr. Elliott married Miss Amanda S. Manning, a daughter of John and U. B. (Morgan) Manning, natives of Ohio, who came to Iowa in 1850 and to Appanoose county in 1854. Mr. and Mrs. Elliott became the parents of three children: Martha L., who married Charles G. Norris, of Numa, Appanoose county; William, who died in infancy; and Edna Love, who lives at home. They are people of wide charity and practical benevolence and at different times have given a good home to five children who were left orphans. They are devout members of the Methodist Episcopal church and in their lives exemplify the doctrines in which they believe.

     Mr. Elliott has firm faith in the principles of prohibition and gives an active and helpful support to the prohibition party. He keeps in touch with his comrades of fifty years ago through his membership in the Grand Army of the Republic, in which he has attained a place of distinction. He has twice been commander of William Kellogg Post, No. 186, and served for two terms in the same position in McParland Post, No. 20, at Mount Pleasant, Iowa. All the relations of his life have been distinguished by the same steadfast courage and perseverance which marked his work on the southern battlefields and his entire career has been a credit and honor to a man who once proved himself a valorous soldier.

William W. Elliott & His Grandson William Lloyd Norris
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  The editor sincerely appreciates the contribution of this article and pictures to The Jerome Journal by Gale Norris of Unionville, MO.

Lincoln Township, Appanoose County

Past and Present of Appanoose County, Iowa

Edited by L. L. Taylor

Chicago: The S.J. Clarke Publishing Company, 1913

Page 406-407

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Lincoln township is bounded on the west by Wayne county, on the north by Johns township, on the east by Bellair and Pleasant townships, and on the south by Franklin township. It was organized in the '50s. Jerome postoffice was established a number of years ago but has been discontinued.

Lincoln has many good farms, the soil being arable and well drained by Cooper and Shoal creeks. Its people are industrious and progressive, as the well-tilled fields, good roads and fences, modern homes and farm buildings well attest. There are no better supported district schools in the county and the churches testify to the religious character of the men and women. The Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul and the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific Railroads enter the township.

Among the early settlers were John Moore, who came here in 1848. He is said to have killed thirty deer in one week, they were so plentiful. Mr. Moore was wont to tell of his experiences. Wolves were so numerous that the farmers' live stock were in constant danger from their ravages. He told of killing a buck, a fine, large fellow. After skinning and dressing it, he took a hind quarter to town and traded it for the family's first set of cups and saucers. No mill, at the time of his settlement here, was closer than Des Moines, so the family subsisted for a while on grated boiled corn. Their buckwheat flour was made by a coffee mill.

S. C. Van Ness left the Keystone state in 1857 and arrived in this county. He became one of the prosperous men of this township.

Peter Sidles, born in Ohio, became a resident of this county in 1859. He located on section 3 in this township, and soon had one of the finest farms in the community. He was a veteran of the Civil War and very prominent both in church and lodge circles.

A. S. Van Dorn, after four years' experience in the gold mines of California, settled down to farm life in this township in 1855. He prospered and attained a place in the estimation of his neighbors that was enviable.

John Maning [Manning], an Ohioan, settled here in 1854 and became prosperous and influential. His son Harvey was a member of the Eighth Iowa Volunteer Cavalry.

Jonathan Rinker, a Kentuckian by birth, came to this state from Indiana in 1845, bring with him his wife, Elizabeth. They first settled in Van Buren county, removing from there to Appanoose in 1851 and entering a tract of land. The family, consisting of eleven members, traveled to their new home in a wagon drawn by oxen, and when he arrived at his destination Mr. Rinker had but eleven dollars remaining. The boys of the family were Robert F., Oliver C., Franklin, Leander, Walter and George W.

C. R. Jackson located in this township in 1854, coming from Indiana.

Robert S. Lowry was born in Indiana. The year 1847 found him in Illinois and from that state he removed to Appanoose county in 1853, locating on section 20, this township. He became one of the largest landholders in the county, owning at one time over a thousand acres. Mr. Lowry dealth largely in live stock and reaped a generous profit from his operations, part of which he invested in bank stock.

M. Darrah and his father, Henry Darrah, were early in the county, coming here in 1856. In 1858 the son married Susannah Lawrer, daughter of William and Catherine Lawrer, early settlers in the county.

Addison Pendergast was born in Ripley county, Indiana, in 1848. In 1858 he settled in this township with his parents. He was a veteran of the Civil war.

Henry Moreland [Morlan], who married Belinda C. Jones, daughter of an Appanoose pioneer, settled in this town in 1852. In the following spring they removed to Independence township.