Biographies: Lincoln Twp, Clinton County, Iowa

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BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES OF LINCOLN TWP.

From the book "The History of Clinton County Iowa" by L. P. Allen 
(1879)

JOHN CRAPSER, Sec. 32; P.O. Lyons; was born in Livingston Co., N. Y., in 1837. 
In 1850, 
he removed thence with his parents to Cleveland, Ohio, and remained there till 
1860, when he 
removed to Iowa, locating in Clinton Co., where he has since resided. He 
married, in 1857, Miss 
Kate Tyler, in Cleveland, Ohio. They have six children——Anna, Edward, Samuel, 
Charles, 
Bertha and Earl. Mr. C. has held the office of Justice of the Peace for a number 
of years. His 
family are members of the Lutheran Church. Mr. C. was engaged in the lumber 
business at 
Cleveland prior to coming West; is a stanch Republican.

DANIEL EARHART, farmer, Sec. 33; P.O. Clinton; was born in Indiana Co., Penn., 
in 1822. 
In 1851, he removed thence to Clinton Co., Iowa, where he has since resided. He 
improved the 
fine farm on which he now resides, consisting of 125 acres. He married at 
Freeport. Penn., in 
1849, Miss Mary H. Bowman, a native of Crawford Co.; they have had two children—
Mazilpha J. 
(now Mrs. L. C. Granpher), and Elfleda V. (now Mrs. Frank Crapser). Mr. B. has 
held the office of 
Magistrate for many years. Members of the M. E. Church; he has for many years 
been a very 
influential member of that Church; has held the offices of Steward, Class Leader 
and Trustee; has 
devoted the greater part of his life to the Church and the upbuilding of 
Christianity. He is a stanch 
Republican, and was ever an uncompromising foe to human slavery.

GEORGE HOUKE, farmer, Sec. 9; P.O. Clinton; was born in Lycoming Co., Penn., in 
1818, 
where he resided till 1851; then be removed West, settling in Clinton Co., Iowa, 
on the farm on 
which he has since resided and improved, containing of 180 acres. In 1844, 
married Miss 
Margaret Polhamus; she was also a native of Pennsylvania. They have seven 
children—Samuel 
W., William H., Margaret A. (now Mrs. McComb), Martha L., George E., Mary Ida 
and Thomas J. 
Mr. H. 's family are members of the M. E. Church; his parents were natives of 
Pennsylvania, and 
resided there till their death some years since. Mr. H. has ever been a stanch 
Republican.

JAMES KING, farmer, Sec. 11; P.O. Clinton; was born in Roscommon Co., Ireland, 
in 1830. 
In 1849, he took ship on the 17th of December, and on the 15th of January, 1850, 
landed in the 
city of New York, remaining there till the summer of 1852, removing thence to 
Chicago, Ill. In 
1858, he came to Iowa, locating in Clinton Co., on the farm on which he now 
resides, consisting 
of 328 acres. On the 21st of August, 1853, Mr. K. married Miss Anna Winn, from 
the same county 
as himself. They have had ten children, six of whom are now living—Patrick, 
Ellinor, Mary, 
Elizabeth, Catherina and Thomas. Mr. K. and family are members of the Catholic 
Church. Mr. K. 
is a Democrat.

MRS. MARTHA S. McDANIEL, nee Beck; Sec. 5; P.O. Clinton; daughter of John and 
Nancy 
(Patton) Beck, was born in Jefferson Co., Penn., in 1833. When she was about 3 
years old her 
parents removed to Pittsburgh, where she remained till her marriage. While 
attending the female 
seminary at Cannons-burg, in Washington Co., Penn., she met Mr. McDaniel, a 
native and 
resident of Cannonsburg, at that time attending Jefferson College there. They 
were married at 
Pittsburgh, in 1837, and the same year came to Iowa, locating at Clinton, where 
he engaged in 
the dry goods business, starting the second store in the city of Clinton, which 
he carried on very 
successfully for eleven years, during and after which time he was engaged in 
various 
speculations. He was for some years prior to his death engaged in the live-stock 
business quite 
extensively. He died in 1878, in the 45th year of his age. Mrs. McD. has reared 
a family of five 
children—John, Mary, Rudolph, Dorsa and Nannie. The parents of our subject are 
still living in 
the city of Pittsburgh. Mrs. McD. is a consistent member of the Baptist Church. 
Mr. McD., while 
living, was a stanch Republican.

S.	T. PERIN, farmer, Sec. 3; P. O. Clinton; is a native of Indiana; born in 
1833, near the city 
of Indianapolis; came to Iowa with his parents in 1836; he made the principal 
improvements on 
the farm on which he now resides, consisting of 168 acres; he has improved 
several farms since 
he came to the State; Mr. P. was engaged in freighting on the plains of the West 
for several 
years. Married, in 1856, at Clinton, Miss Malvina Star, a native of Ohio; they 
had four children—
Lulu, Marion, Noble and Annie; Mrs. P. died in 1866; Mr. P. again married, in 
1868, Miss Nellie 
Burton, of this county.; they have three children—Earl S., Samuel and Bruce. Mr. 
P. has for some 
years been quite extensively engaged in the cattle business in this State and 
the West. Enlisted 
in the 20th I. V. I., Co. C, and served through the war. Is a stanch Republican 
in his political 
views. His parents, Noble and Sarah G. (Nixon) Perin were natives of New Jersey, 
and came 
West in a very early day, settling near Indianapolis, Ind.; resided there till 
1836, when they 
removed to Iowa; his father was killed by the explosion of the steamboat Potosi, 
on the 
Mississippi River, at Quincy, Ill., in 1844; he was a blacksmith by trade, and 
had been carrying on 
a shop at Clinton for some three years, and, at the time of the explosion, was 
returning from St. 
Louis, where he had been to purchase stock. His mother is still living.

THOMAS POLHAMUS, shoemaker, Sec. 10; P. O. Clinton; was born in Lycoming Co., 
Penn., in 1825; resided there till 1851,then removed to Iowa, locating on the 
farm on which he 
has since resided, which he improved, consisting of eighty acres. He married 
Miss Matilda, 
daughter of Reuben and Marinda (Weatherbee) Lacock; they have two children—
Hannah M; 
(now Mrs. Harvey) and Rachel R. Mr. P. is a shoemaker by trade, which calling he 
followed prior 
and for some time after he came to Iowa. He has held the offices of Township 
Trustee and 
Collector for a number of years. The parents of our subject, Evan and Hannah 
(Star) Polhamus 
were natives of Pennsylvania, where they resided till the death of Mr. P.; he 
died of hydrophobia, 
caused by a bite from his own dog; his wife then came to Iowa; she is now 
deceased. Mr. P. was 
formerly a Whig, and, since the organization of the Republican party, has acted 
with it.

CHARLES L. SEYMOUR, farmer, Sec. 15; P. O. Clinton; son of Reuben and Almira 
(Haynes) Seymour, was born in Genesee Co., N. Y., in 1818; in 1842, he came 
West, and after a 
year's traveling in quest of a place for a future home, he located in Clinton 
Co., Iowa, in 1843, 
locating and improving the farm on which he has since resided, consisting of 108 
acres. In 1840, 
Mr. Seymour married Miss Clarissa Day, at Hartland, Niagara Co., N. Y., a native 
of Vermont; 
they had nine children, seven of whom are living—Charles S., Julia E. (now Mrs. 
Charles 
Seymour), Oscar W., Martha J., Marcus D., Alfred L. and Edgar D. Mrs. S. was a 
consistent 
member of the Congregational Church until the time of her death in 1861. Mr. S. 
again married, in 
1864, Miss Mary J. Wilson, of this county, but a native of Pennsylvania. Mr. S. 
and wife are 
members of the M. E. Church; Mr. S. is a Democrat. His parents were natives of 
New York and 
Massachusetts, and were married in New York Jan. 1, 1817;  came to Iowa in 1841, 
and laid 
claim to quite a tract of and, and afterward purchased another tract of school 
land. He was for 
many years Judge of Probate in the county. He departed this life in 1873, having 
attained the 
79th year of his age. His wife is still living with her son, having attained the 
ripe old age of 84 
years.

A.	C. SMITH, farmer and stock-dealer, Sec. 34; P. O. Clinton; owns 360 acres 
of land in Clinton 
Co., and 800 acres in Monona Co., Iowa; he was born in Madisonville, East Tenn., 
Dec. 21, 1824, 
where he lived until 12 years old, when his parents removed to White Oak 
Springs, Iowa Co., 
Wis.; in 1839, they removed to Jackson Co., Iowa, where he received his 
education; in the fall of 
1866, he moved to Clinton Co., on the property now owned by him., He has often 
been solicited 
to run for office, but has constantly refused, as he has no desire to be 
associated with any 
political office-seeking. He has always been a staunch Republican, taking pride 
and pleasure in 
thus following in the footsteps of his forefathers. He married Martha E. 
Hawkins, a native of 
Washington Co., Penn., in Jackson Co., Iowa, Feb. 25, 1847, and had five 
children, four now 
living—Nancy Ellen (married J. H. Walliker, of Clinton), J. W. (married Chloe 
Hart, a daughter of 
Hiram A. and Mary Jane Hart, of Clinton Co., and resides in Crawford Co.), Sarah 
N. and George 
F. Mr. Smith was brought up in the Baptist Church; his wife in the Presbyterian. 
When he first 
started in Iowa, Mr. S. was penniless, and, his family being only in moderate 
circumstances, 
could not give him any aid; his life shows the results of will, determination, 
hard work, economy 
and enterprise. He has a beautiful homestead, costing some $20,000, and a 
fortune estimated at 
about $75,000.

WILLIAM L. SMITH, farmer, Sec. 3; P. O. Lyons; was born Aug. 9, 1816, in South 
Wales; 
emigrated to the United States in 1850, settling in New York State; remained 
there nine years; in 
1859, he removed thence to Iowa, locating a short distance west of Lyons, where 
he has since 
resided; he improved a farm of 162 acres, on which he now resides. He married 
Miss Sophia 
Thomas, a native of the same part of the country as himself; they have seven 
children—John, 
Elizabeth (now Mrs. Thomas) James, Mary, Benjamin, Isaac and Anna. Mrs. S. is a 
member of 
the Episcopal Church. His eldest son, John, served four years in the war. Mr. S. 
is a stanch 
Republican.

CHAS. THOMAS, farmer, Sec. 15; P.O. Clinton; was born in Lewis Co., N. Y., in 
1825; in 
1835, his parents removed to Chicago, and, in 1837, to Iowa, locating in Clinton 
Co., on the farm 
they entered and improved, consisting of 160 acres, and which Mr. Charles Thomas 
now 
occupies. Mr. T. married, in 1858, Miss Ellen Little, a native of Ireland; .she 
came to this country 
in the fall of 1856; they have six children—Francis, Maggie, Bennie, Lucy, 
Fannie and Nettie. Mr. 
T. is independent in politics. His parents, Robert and Elizabeth (Cady) Thomas, 
were natives of 
New York and came to Iowa in 1837, where they resided till their death—Mr. T. in 
1862, in the 
74th year of his age; Mrs. T. in June, 1876, in her 85th year. They were noted 
for their hospitality 
in the early settlement of the country, and a weary emigrant was never turned 
from their door 
tired and hungry. He was a wagon-maker and wheelwright, and, owing to his 
cunning 
workmanship in wood, the early settlers came from far and near to have their 
plows made, as the 
wooden mole-board plows were the style in that early day.

JAMES WHITE, farmer, Sec. 6; P. O. Elvira; was born in Derbyshire, England, in 
1818; 
emigrated to the United States in 1842, locating first at Pittsburgh, Penn., 
remaining there till 
1851;  removed thence to Iowa, locating in Clinton Co. He entered and improved 
the farm on 
which he now resides, consisting of 160 acres. In 1848, he married at 
Temperanceville, near 
Pittsburgh, Miss Keziah Dixon, a native of Pennsylvania; they have seven 
children living—Lydia, 
A. (now Mr. Striley), Cynthia S. (now Mrs. Willson), Martha J. (now Mrs. 
Wilson), Ida A., William 
S., Harry J. and Fannie M. Mr. White held several of the most important township 
offices. He is a 
stanch Republican.

EDWARD VOSBURG, farmer; P. O. Clinton; he owns 240 acres of land; he was born in 
Schoharie Co., N. Y., Dec. 31, 1828, where he was educated; he removed during 
the fall of 1855, 
to the property now owned by him, where he has erected a beautiful homestead and 
amassed a 
fortune of about $20,000, after having begun life without capital, save in being 
strong in health, 
will and determination. He has always been a strong supporter of true Jacksonian 
Democratic 
principles. He married Nancy Perrin, of Indiana, in Clinton, Oct. 9,1857, and 
had six children, 
three are living—Noble Edward, Paul Bruce and Veleria Mabel. He and his family 
are all 
members of the Methodist Church. He is a carpenter and joiner, but some years 
ago dropped his 
profession and has been a farmer ever since.