Absalom Anderson

As printed in 1909

ABSALOM ANDERSON.

The name of Absalom Anderson is so closely, prominently and honorably interwoven with the history of Washington county that no record would be complete without extended mention of him and what he has accomplished. For more than a half century he has lived in this county. LTnfamiliar with the experiences of farm life when he arrived here at the age of sixteen, he was long associated with general agricultural interests and his ready adaptability enabled him to soon place himself in a position where success followed his labors as a legitimate and logical sequence.

THE iLV/ YORK lilSToRN I M' W ASIIIXtiTOX e'OL'X'l ' V.i9

He was born near Steubenville, Ohio, January 9, 1841, his parents being John T. and Sarah (Baxter) Anderson. In the paternal line he comes of Scotch descent. His grandfather, a native of Pennsylvania, was a river trade on the Ohio and Mississippi rivers, building boats which he floated down the rivers to New Orleans, trading with the planters along the way. After disposing of his goods he would then return on foot to the north. On one of these trips he lost his life through accident and his remains were interred at Natchez, Mississippi. He had married a Miss Craig, who was of Scotch-Irish lineage and both died in middle life. They were the parents of a son and two daughters: John Thompson: Eliza, the wife of Ezekiel Garrett; and one who died in infancy.

John T..Anderson was a native of Washington county, Pennsylvania, and a cabinetmaker by trade. He also gave his attention to the undertaking business in early manhood in Washington county, Pennsylvania. With the exception of two years spent in Ohio he remained a resident of the Keystone state until 1855, when he removed to Sauk City, Wisconsin, where he lived for a year and a half. In the spring of 1857 he came to Washington county, Iowa, settling on a piece of land eleven miles northeast of the city of Washington in Highland township. There he lived for twenty-nine years, after which he took up his above in the county seat, spending his remaining days in the enjoyment of well earned rest. He died in 1888 when nearly eighty-three years of age. His wife survived him for only five months and died in February, 1889, at the age of seventy-eight years. His people were all of the Presbyterian faith, while Mrs. Anderson belonged to the old-school Baptist church. Her birth occurred in Brooke county. West Virginia, and she was a daughter of Greenbury Baxter, a native of Maryland, who was of English descent. He followed farming as a life work and removed from the vicinity of Baltimore, Maryland, to Brooke county. West Virginia, where he engaged in farming. He, too. was a river trade and made seven trips down the Mississippi river. His death occurred at Natchez on his seventh trip. His wife bore the maiden name of Hannah Butler and was also of English lineage. The birth of Mr. Baxter occurred November 16, 1780, and his death on the ist of April, 1823, so that he was but forty-two years of age at the time of his demise. His wife, who was born December 30, 1784, died in April, 1829. They were the parents of eleven children: Absalom; Samuel; Susanna, the wife of Samuel Thorley; Sarah, who became Mrs. Anderson and the mother of our subject; Anne, the wife of Berry Haney; Charles O.; Mary, the wife of Dr. S. Gregory; William; Ruth, who died in childhood: Rachel and John, also both deceased.

Unto the marriage of John T. Anderson and Sarah Baxter there were born seven children, five sons and two daughters: Marion B., who was a member of Company A, Twenty-fifth Iowa Volunteer Infantry in the Civil war and lost his health in the army, his military experiences eventually terminating his Hfe; Anna E.. the widow of Bazil Wells, of Washington, Iowa; Sarah M., the widow of Thomas Craig and a resident of Washington; Absalom, Samuel and John Thompson, who are all living in Washington; and Charles O., who died in 1897.

1-io HIST(.)R\' i. \VASllI\iiT( )X COUNTY

In Washington county, Pennsylvania, Absalom Anderson spent the first fourteen years of his Hfe and then accompanied his parents on their removal to Wisconsin. In his sixteenth year he came to Washington county, Iowa. While in Pennsylvania and Wisconsin he had lived in towns, but on the removal to this state the family home was established on a farm, where he continued until twenty-two years of age. The surroundings were new and the experiences interesting. He became a factor in the early development of the locality in which the family lived, for from the outset he aided in the cultivation of the home place. He also engaged in teaching school for two or three terms in early manhood and after leaving the farm located in Ainsvvorth, Iowa, where he purchased and sold live-stock and grain. Subsequently he built a store there and carried on general merchandising in partnership with Samuel A. White for twelve years. On the expiration of that period he removed to Washington, where he continued to deal in live-stock for a few months, after which he turned his attention to financial enterprises, becoming cashier of the Washington County Savings Bank, which position he filled for twenty-three and one-half years, when he resigned. He is now vice president, but leaves the active management of the bank to others, while he gives his attention merely to the supervision of his farms and other properties. He is the owner of a tract of valuable land of two hundred acres in Washington township, has realty in Ainsworth and is likewise the owner of a fine home in the city of Washington. In all of his business affairs he showed keen discrimination and closely studied the possibilities and improved the opportunities of every situation. As the years passed he thus reached a prominent position in the community and now in well earned retirement is enjoying the fruits of his former toil.

On the 31st of July, 1869, Mr. Anderson was united in marriage to Miss Martha J. Stretch, of Muscatine county, a daughter of Andrew and Melinda (Purcell) Stretch. They became the parents of two sons, Marion Thompson and George Jay. The former, now well known as a dealer in coal and ice in Washington, married Lucy, daughter of Dr. Burroughs, and they have two children, Charles B. and Marion. Mrs. Martha J. Anderson died July 28, 1896, at the age of fifty-eight years. She was a member of the Methodist church, to which Mr. Anderson also belongs. Her Iiirth occurred near Urbana, Ohio, and during her girlhood days she was brought to Iowa by her parents, who were natives of Kentucky, while her grandparents were natives of Virginia.

On the 29th of May, 1900, Mr. Anderson was married to Mrs. Emma C. Ink. the widow of Parker P. Ink and the oldest daughter of Harrison Arnold Ball and Mary Ann (Ihrig) Ball. Mrs. Anderson was born near Wooster, Ohio, and in 1856, at the age of four months, was brought by her parents to Washington, where they settled, the father still living in the house which he built that year and in which the large family of nine children was reared. He was born in Jefferson county, Ohio, and is of English descent, his parents being Virginians and her mother was born in Wayne county, Ohio, of German descent.

Politically, -Mr. Anderson is a republican, having supported the party since age conferred upon him the right of franchise. Without invidious distinction he may be termed one of the foremost citizens of Washington, inasmuch as his activity in various lines has contributed largely to the material intellectual, social, political and moral progress of the community. In all his connections he has been actuated by high and honorable purposes and throughout his entire life it has been his habit to look beyond the exigencies of the moment to the possibilities and opportunities of the future so that his labors have been fraught with great good. He has never regarded any position as final but rather as a starting point toward further accomplishment, and it has been his intelligent appreciation of the possibilities of a situation that has constituted the foundation for his most gratifying and continuously increasing success.

As printed in History of Washington County, Iowa from the first white settlements to 1908. Also biographical sketches of some prominent citizens of the county (1909). See the original pages. Wording is the original; obvious scanning errors have been corrected, and a few may remain.