A. G. Beatty

As printed in 1914

A. G. BEATTY.

A. G. Beatty, an honored veteran of the Civil war conducting a real estate, collection and insurance agency at Independence, was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1842, a son of James and Grace (Stewart) Beatty, both of whom were natives of Ireland. The mother was born in 1819. The father, whose birth occurred in County Tyrone in 1818, was sixteen years of age when he came to the United States, making his way to Philadelphia, where he began learning the machinist's trade, which he followed for fifteen years. During eight years of that period he had a machine shop of his own. In 1849 he removed westward to Iowa, making the journey by water, rail and stage coach until he reached Jones county. Pleased with the prospects of the country and believing that he might earn a good living here, he sent for his wife and three children, who joined him in June, 1850. ]\Mr. Beatty had entered land from the government in Jones county and was one of its pioneer settlers. There were no railroads west of the mississippi and the entire country was wild and undeveloped. All around were Indians but they were peaceful, belonging to the tribes of Sac and Foxes and others who were leaving for reservations farther west.

James Beatty continued to engage in farming in Jones county until 1876, when he purchased land in Buchanan county, where he owned about four hundred acres at the time of his death, which occurred in 1893 when he was seventy-five years of age. He was an active and exemplary member of the Baptist church and he and his brothers built a church of that denomination in Cascade, Iowa. At the time of the Civil war he responded to the country's call for aid and became corporal in Company I, Twenty-first Iowa Infantry. He participated in the battle of Helena, Arkansas, and various other important engagements until he was discharged on account of physical disability in 1864 due to camp sickness and general breakdown in health from which he never recovered. His life was an active, busy and useful one, and his influence was always on the side of right and progress. His family numbered five sons, the eldest being James Beatty, deceased, who was a resident of Philadelphia and who served as commissary sergeant in a Pennsylvania regiment during the Civil war.

As printed in History of Buchanan County, Iowa, and its people (1914). See the original pages. Wording is the original; obvious scanning errors have been corrected, and a few may remain.