Nathaniel Noland

As printed in 1914

NATHANIEL NOLAND.

Nathaniel Noland, deceased, was for a considerable period a well known farmer of Boone county. He was born in Highland county, Ohio, seventy-five years ago, a son of Benjamin and Elizabeth (Staley) Noland, who reared a large family. The father was a farmer by occupation and spent his last days in Iowa, whither he removed with his family during the childhood of his son Nathaniel.

The family home was established in Dallas county and later a removal was made to Boone county. In this state Nathaniel Noland was reared to manhood, sharing with the family in the usual experiences, hardships and privations of pioneer life. His education was obtained in one of the oldtime log schoolhouses when the methods of instruction were very primitive as compared with the advanced educational standards of the present day. School was held for only about three months in a year and throughout the remainder of the time Nathaniel Noland worked upon the home farm, early becoming familiar with all the duties and labors incident to the cultivation of the soil and the development of the crops.

As a young man Nathaniel Noland heard and answered the country's call for men, enlisting in Company D, Tenth Iowa Volunteer Infantry at Boone in 1861. He served throughout the war, participating in many battles and going with Sherman on the march to the sea. At the close of the war in 1865 he received his honorable discharge and returned to the life of a civilian.

On the 15th of March, 1866, in Peoples township, Mr. Noland was united in marriage to Miss Angeline Peoples. Her ancestor, John Peoples, was brought to the United States in childhood by his parents, the family home being established in Pennsylvania near Brownsville, where the grandfather of Mrs. Noland engaged in farming. John Peoples was quite old, being nearly eighty years of age, when he sought a new home in Coshocton county, Ohio, where he lived with his son William until the time of his death. He married Henrietta Jones, a native of Pennsylvania, in which state she died, leaving a large family. Their son, David Peoples, born in Pennsylvania, was educated in the district schools and married Lavina Peart, of New Jersey, a daughter of Thomas and Mary (Fisher) Peart. Lavina (Peart) Peoples died in September, 1886, at the age of seventy-eight years. The children of that family were; Melvina, who became the wife of Jesse Vernon and is deceased; Mary, who became the wife of Levi Colvin and has passed away; Amanda, who married William Tarr and is deceased; William, who was killed at the battle of Pleasant Hill, Louisiana, during the Civil war; Henrietta, who became the wife of Enos Rhodes and has passed away: Angeline, who married Nathaniel Noland; Sarah E., the wife of John W. Kirby of Boone; Ann Eliza, the wife of Luke Becket of Spencer, Iowa; and Rachel C, who married Miles Becket and is also deceased.

Following their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Nathaniel Noland settled on a prairie farm in Peoples township. He became the owner of a tract of eighty acres, which he brought to a high state of cultivation, carefully tilling the soil as the years passed on. He died May 9, 1886, and was laid to rest in a cemetery in Peoples township.

Unto Mr. and Mrs. Noland were born six children: Hallie L., now the wife of C. A. Steelsmith; William, who died in childhood; Levi C.; Fred P., who has departed this life; Clyde, a practicing physician in Ogden, Iowa; and Retta, at home. The death of the husband and father occurred May 9, 1886, and he was laid to rest in a cemetery in Peoples township. His political support was given to the republican party, but, while interested in the welfare of the community, he never desired public office. He sought the moral progress of the community as a member of the Methodist Episcopal church. His many sterling traits of character endeared him to all who knew him, and his upright life left to his family a memory that is cherished and which serves as an inspiration and a benediction to those who knew him.

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