Crawford County IA Archives Biographies.....Whitcher, S. E. 1849 - ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net//copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net//ia/iafiles.htm ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Joy Fisher sdgenweb@yahoo.com January 9, 2007, 2:41 am Author: Lewis Publishing Co. (1893) S. E. WHITCHER, who resides on a farm of 160 acres in section 34, Iowa township, Crawford county, is located a half mile from Botna, Shelby county. Mr. Whitcher dates his birth in Holland, Erie county, New York, December 13, 1849. He comes of a family distinguished as pioneers and soldiers. His father, Chauncey Whitcher, a man of wealth and influence in his county, is a son of Obadiah Whitcher, a soldier of the war of 1812. Obadiah Whitcher's father, Obadiah Whitcher, Sr., served in the Revolutionary war. Chauncey Whitcher married Eliza Jane Reed, a native of Toronto, Canada, and a daughter of William Reed. They have three children, namely: Charles F., a prominent attorney of Buffalo, New York, now employed as attorney for the New York & Erie Railroad Company; Idella, of New York; and S. E., with whose name we head this article. The parents are still residents in Holland, New York. At the age of thirteen the subject of our sketch entered the army as a drummer boy in the Forty-fourth New York Volunteers, known as Ellsworth Avengers. He was a participant in the battle of Gettysburg. Having been honorably discharged, he enlisted February 16, 1864, in Company H, Fourteenth United States Regulars, and belonged to the Fifth Corps, Army of the Potomac. After the war his regiment was ordered to the far West, and young Whitcher was on the Pacific coast for a time, and was under the command of General Crook in the Apache war in Arizona, where he had many skirmishes and hairbreadth escapes. He still has wounds on his body that were received from the Indians' arrows. For some time he was a mounted scout for General Crook, being on duty 480 miles from any railroad and in a desert country. He was honorably discharged at Skulls Valley, Arizona. Retiring from the Government service, Mr. Whitcher went to California and was engaged in staging in Santa Clara, Monterey and Santa Cruz counties for fourteen years. In 1880 he came to Iowa and settled on wild prairie land in this county. He now owns 160 acres, well improved, with nice cottage home, grove and orchard, farm buildings, good fences, etc. Mr. Whitcher was married in Santa Cruz county, California, to Alice A. Moon, who was born in Augusta, Des Moines county, Iowa, her parents being William and Nancy Moon. They have eight children, viz.: Emma L, Mary, Flora N., Edna, Willie, Gracie, John L. and Ruby. Mr. Whitcher is a Republican. He is a member of the G. A. R., McPherson Post, No. 33, Manning, Iowa, and also of the I. O. O. F., No. 122, at Manning. Such is a brief sketch of one of the worthy citizens of Crawford county. Additional Comments: Extracted From: BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY OF Crawford, Ida and Sac Counties, Iowa. Containing Portraits of all the Presidents of the United States, with accompanying Biographies; a Condensed History of Iowa, with Portraits and Biographies of the Governors of the State; Engravings of Prominent Citizens of the Counties, wth [sic] Personal Histories of many of the Early Settlers and Leading Families. "Biography is the only true history."—Emerson. CHICAGO: THE LEWIS PUBLISHING COMPANY. 1893. File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/ia/crawford/bios/whitcher105nbs.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.net/iafiles/ File size: 3.7 Kb