D. W. C. Throop

As printed in 1888

D. W. C. THROOP, deceased, was for many years the senior editor of the Mt. Pleasant Free Press, owned by his nephew, James A. Throop, who had from boyhood been to him as a son, and whom he had followed to Iowa from his home in the State of New York. He was born in Hamilton, Madison Co., N. Y., Nov. 27, 1819, and was the youngest of a family of seven children, all of whom had preceded him to the farther shore. In early life he was designed by his friends for the ministry, for which his devout and reverent nature seemed especially to fit him. His own inclinations, however, led him to the study of the law, in which he spent three years. Too great.in absorption in the studies which he loved impaired his health, and a long.and dangerous illness resulted, compelling him to relinquish his cherished design, and seek a more active career for his life work, which he accordingly did.

May 4, 1847, he was married in his native town to Lydia A. Whipple, also of th.at place. The young couple began their domestic life in Preston, Chenango Co., N. Y., where they lived until about twenty years later, when they removed to Mt. Pleasant, Iowa. Their union was blessed by the births of three children, one daughter and two sons, namely: Eliza C, who became the wife of M. J. Blauding, and died in Henry County, in 1877, leaving two children, who were taken to rear by their grandparents, and on whom Mr. Throop lavished the love he had felt for his only daughter, whose death was to him the greatest sorrow of his life. The sons are: George E., a well-known resident of Mt. Pleasant, and Deputy Postmaster; and James H., who carried out the early ambition of his father, and is now a successful attorney at Norwich, N. Y., the town where his father had begun his studies, and of which James H. Throop has recently been elected as Mayor. Besides his own children, our subject had reared his nephew, James A. Throop, proprietor of the Mt. Pleasant Free Press, and had regarded him as one of his own, an affection fully reciprocated by its recipient. The latter settled in Mt. Pleasant in December, 1 856, and in March, 1 868, our subject decided to make that place his home, also, having likewise a sister and other relatives living there. On his arrival in Mt. Pleasant he engaged in the hard.are business with his nephew, the connection continuing until the latter became, in the summer of 1872, one of the proprietors of the Mt. Pleasant Free Press. He then became a regular contributor to the paper, a labor he loved, and on the retirement of the regular editor, Mr. Edwin Van Cise, he assumed the duties of editor-in-chief, a position he filled until the moment of his death, the proprietor giving his attention to its management. He was a ready and fluent writer, and his editorial work on the Free Press marked him as a man of no ordinary ability.

In politics Mr. Throop was in early life an ardent Whig, but on the formation of the Republican party, was equally enthusiastic in its support. Especially was he an admirer of Horace Greeley, who was his ideal Statesmau, and when the latter was nominated for the Presidency in 1872, he followed him into the ranks of the Democratic party, with which he afterward continued to act. He was also an ardent advocate of the cause of prohibition, and in his New York home was especially active in its support.

The death of Mr. Throop was sudden. He died as he had often expressed a wish to do, "with the harness on." On Saturday, March 10, 1888, he was cheerfully conversing with an old friend and former associate, Mr. Edwin Van Cise, in the Free Press office, when lie was seen to put his hand to his head and fall forward. Loving arms caught him and laid him gently down, and in a few moments the spirit of the just man winged its way to Him who gave it.

Mr. Throop was a man of rare purity of life, of deep religious feeling, honest in word and deed, of a cheerful, kindly disposition, beloved by all who knew him well, and his death was mourned by an unusually large circle of friends to whom his lovable traits of character had greatly endeared him.

As printed in Portrait and biographical album of Henry County, Iowa, containing full page portraits and biographical sketches of prominent and representative citizens of the county, together with portraits and biog (1888). See the original pages. Wording is the original; obvious scanning errors have been corrected, and a few may remain.