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STEPHEN A. MARINE, editor of the Observer, at Vinton, was born in Randolph County. Ind., in 1843. He came to this county with his parents in the summer of 1856, at the age of thirteen, and lived on a farm in Big Grove Township until 1862. On the 21st day of August of that year, he enlisted as a private in the 13th Iowa Infantry, and participated in the marches and battles of the famous Iowa Brigade. He was in the various engagements of the Vicksburg campaign and siege. At the battle of Atlanta, on the 21st day of July, I864, he received a gunshot wound in the right knee, which terribly shattered it and caused the loss of his limb. Mr. Marine spent eight months in the hospital after a very narrow escape from the battle-field, being borne off by fearless and resolute comrades, who risked their lives to save his. He was at Marietta, Rome, Chattanooga, Louisville and Jeffersonville, and finally at Cincinnati, where, by the aid of a distinguished physician, in the home of his uncle, J. I. Williams, he was restored to health, though his recovery had been despaired of by the doctors. He was discharged April 5, 1865, after two years and eight months of service. On his return home he resumed his studies at Cornell College, from which institution he graduated in 1870.In 1869 Mr. Marine was nominated for County Treasurer by the Republican Convention, was elected and entered on the discharge of the duties of the office Jan. 1, 1870. He was re-elected in 1871 and served four years. For the two years following, in 1874-75, he was editor of the People's Journal. From 1875 to 1881 he was engaged in the real-estate business. In April, 1881, he established the Vinton Observer, of which paper he is still the editor.
Mr. Marine was married Nov. 6, 1873, to Louise M. Freer, only daughter of Rev. S. C. Freer, the ceremony being solemnized by the bride's father. Three children have been born to them- Merle, Louise and Roscoe. Louise is with the silent and loved ones gone before.
Mr. Marine was appointed Postmaster at Vinton in September, 1884. and served till August, 1885, when he was suspended by President Cleveland on the charge of "offensive partisanship." Being a strong Republican and not ashamed of the faith that is in him, the sudden termination of his career as Postmaster was not unexpected. In the various State conventions of his party he has represented Benton County a number of times, and is always ready and willing to work for the cause. He is a member of P. M. Coder Post, No. 98, G. A. R., and of the Benton County Veteran Association. He and his wife are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church.
Source Citation: "1887 Benton County, Iowa Biographies" [database online] Benton County IAGenWeb Project. <http://iagenweb.org/benton/>
Original data: "Portrait and Biographical Album of Benton County, Iowa." Chicago: Chapman Brothers, 1887, p. 185.
Transcribed by: Sue Soden. Submitted to the Benton County IAGenWeb Project on June 16th, 2007. Copyright © 2007 The IAGenWeb Project.
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