PRESCOTT, Alva Row 1834-1915

PRESCOTT, EASTON, PERET, WILLIAMS, HOLAHAN, INGALLS

Posted By: Reid R. Johnson (email)
Date: 11/16/2012 at 21:43:30

~Postville Review, Fri., 08 January 1915.

A message to Postville relatives last evening conveyed the sad intelligence that A. R. Prescott had passed away yesterday afternoon at the home of his daughter, Mrs. Sarah Peret, in Sheridan, Wyoming. Mr. Prescott spent fifty years of his life in Postville, living here from the close of the Civil War until four years ago when he went to Sheridan. He was one of Postville's best known and most beloved citizens. His body will be brought here for burial.

Watch for notice of the time and place of funeral.

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Submitter is not related.

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Added by S. Ferrall 3/23/2013:

A Soldier-Citizen Enters Eternal Sleep
Distinguished Former Citizen of Postville Passes to His Reward at Sheridan, Wyoming

The remains of A.R. Prescott, whose death in Sheridan, Wyoming, on January 7th was mentioned last week, arrived in Postville from the west Sunday afternoon and were taken at once to the Congregational church, where the funeral was held at 2:30 o'clock. His daughter, Mrs. Belle Williams, who had cared for him during his last illness, accompanied the body, being joined at Mason City by Ralph Prescott of Le Roy, Minn., and Mr. and Mrs. W.J. Holahan of the former city.

Mrs. Prescott, although in good health, did not feel equal to the long trip at this season of the year and remained in Sheridan.

The funeral was conducted by Rev. J.F. Childress. The casket was draped with a beautiful flag with a sword lying over it and there was also a profusion of flowers sent by relatives and friends of the deceased at Sheridan. The church was well filled with old friends of Mr. Prescott, many of whom had known and held him in highest respect for scores of years, while five of his comrades of the G.A.R., all now left in Postville, were given the place of honor. Interment was in the family lot in the local cemetery.

Alva Row Prescott was born in Newport, Maine, August 19, 1834, and died January 7, 1915, being in his eighty-first year. He was the son of Jeremiah and Mary Prescott, and traced his ancestry back through a long line of sturdy New England and still earlier English stock. He was a direct descendant through his mother of William Bradford of the Mayflower band and the first governor of Plymouth colony. With his parents he migrated west in 1846, their first home being on a quarter section of land which is now a part of Lincoln Park, Chicago. Later they moved to Roscoe, Ill., from which place the subject of this sketch, then a youth of eighteen, walked most of the distance across the state of Illinois, came to McGregor, where for several years he was employed as a clerk in the busy stores of that early day metropolis. Meanwhile his people had moved to Hardin, which place remained their home for many years thereafter.

By nature a student, the youth put in his spare hours with his books and also mastered surveying. In the later fifties he went to Charles City and worked at this profession, laying out the original plats of Charles City and Rockford while serving as county surveyor of Floyd county.

At the outbreak of the Civil War he with others started to organize a company at Charles City which was to be a part of the 3rd Iowa. It was never mustered in, however, and Mr. Prescott went to McGregor and enlisted with his brother Charles in the 1st Iowa Cavalry. A short time after, however, he was invited to join an engineer regiment being formed of civil engineers at St. Louis and cast his lot with it, known as the 1st Missouri Engineers. He served three years and after being mustered out when a lieutenant on account of his impaired health, remained in the south doing clerical work for the Louisville & Nashville railroad until the close of the war.

November 1, 1865, he married Lydia Easton, daughter of Harvey Easton, who resided in Bloomfield township, west of Postville. For a few years they lived on a farm near Hardin, but came to Postville in the late sixties, when the firm of Prescott & Ingalls engaged in the hardware business. Later Mr. Ingalls was replaced by Chas. Easton, the firm being Prescott & Easton and after the latter's death, Mr. Prescott conducted the business alone. Meanwhile he had been appointed postmaster of Postville in 1877, and a few years after retired from the hardware trade. He served as postmaster eight years, until the first Cleveland administration. After his retirement he engaged in various activities, devoting most of his time to the insurance business.

In 1909 he sold his Postville property and with Mrs. Prescott went to Sheridan to live with their daughter, Mrs. Sara Peret, spending a portion of the time also in Spokane with another daughter, Mrs. Belle Williams. The summer of 1912 they came back and spent [illegible words] in Iowa and Minnesota. They went to Spokane for the winter following and there Mr. Prescott contracted an illness from which he never recovered.

Throughout all his life in this community, which extended over a period of more than fifty years, the name of A.R. Prescott was held in highest respect. He was a christian gentleman of the type which is fast passing away - courteous, gentle, generous, helpful and kindly in all his relations with his fellow man. He was public spirited and gave gladly of his time to furthering those things which were for the best interests of his home community, as well as those of a wider field. For many years he was a deacon in the Congregational church and his service in this capacity was that of a sincere and devout follower of his Lord and Master. In these circles, next to his home, he was best loved and will be longest and most kindly remembered. His life was a reflection of the God in whom his faith was and many, both old and young, have received from him an inspiration for better and truer living. He was not rated among the successful businessmen, but the legacy he leaves his children and his fellow men is not to be compared with gold and silver.

Next to his church, his greatest pride was his bronze button of the G.A.R. and his record as a soldier. He was a patriot in the highest sense of the word and loved most devoutly his country and his flag. His comrades of the Grand Army were his most cherished friends and he ever took a keen interest in things which served to instill patriotism in the younger generation.

Besides his widow, there survive him two daughters - Mrs. Belle Williams of Spokane, Wash., and Mrs. Sara Peret of Sheridan, Wyo. - and a son, Ralph Prescott of Le Roy, Minn. J.P. Prescott of Heron Lake, Minn., a brother, is the only surviving member of a family of ten children.

~Postville Review, Friday, January 15, 1915 (the photo accompanied this obituary)

Allamakee Obituaries maintained by Sharyl Ferrall.
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