William L. Hulett (1818-1903)

HULETT

Posted By: Karon Velau (email)
Date: 11/3/2022 at 21:59:42

William L. Hulett
(October 12, 1818 – August 14, 1903)

William L. Hulett has almost reached the eighty-fourth milestone on the journey of life. His path has been the straight and narrow one, with no deviations from the right, and an honorable career has made him respected and venerated by all who know him. Almost half the width of the continent separates him from his birthplace — Chester, Vermont, in which city he first opened his eyes to the light of day on the 12th of October, 1818. His parents, Gordon and Lydia (Pollard) Hulett, were also natives of the Green Mountain state, while Joseph Hulett, the paternal grandfather, and John Pollard, the maternal grandfather, were both natives of Massachusetts and were soldiers of the Revolutionary war. The parents of William L. Hulett resided in Vermont for many years, and his father devoted his energies to agricultural pursuits there until 1870, when he removed to Illinois, where he remained until called to his final rest at the advanced age of ninety years. He made his home with a son in Whiteside County, Illinois, living in honorable retirement from labor. His wife also died in Whiteside county at the home of their son, passing away at the age of eighty-two. In their family were five sons and two daughters, and four of the number are yet living.
Those who have passed away are: Louisa, who died at the age of seventeen years; Sarah Jane, who passed away at the age of fifty; and Amos A., whose death occurred when he had reached the age of eighty-seven. Those who still survive are: Lucius, who resides in Whiteside county, Illinois, at the age of eighty-six years; William L., eighty-three years of age; Elias, who is living in Lohrville, at the age of eighty-one; and John, who makes his home in Whiteside county, Illinois, and is now more than seventy-five years of age. On the old family homestead in the Green Mountain state William L. Hulett was reared and educated, and at the age of twenty-six years he was married to Laura Farrington, whose birth occurred in Chester, Vermont, February 13, 1825, a daughter of Abram and Sophia Blanchard. The young couple began their domestic life in the state of their nativity, but in 1849 went to Morrison, Illinois, where Mr. Hulett purchased land from the government at a dollar and a quarter per acre. He and his brothers also bought other lands and the family then owned two hundred and forty acres. Mr. Hulett, of this review, controlled the farm and resided thereon for seven years. He then sold his interest and removed to Clayton County, Iowa, where he purchased three hundred acres, which he continued to cultivate for seven years. On the expiration of that period he returned to Illinois and purchased forty acres of the old homestead in Whiteside county, but wishing to give his children better educational advantages he once more sold out after seven years, and in 1870 came to Calhoun County, Iowa, making the journey with teams. Here he purchased one hundred acres two miles south of Lohrville. It was in its primitive condition, but nature needed only the aid of man to make this an arable tract. Wild game of all kinds was plentiful, including deer and various kinds of wild fowls. His nearest neighbor on the north was twenty miles away, and the nearest village was Gowrie. The trading was done at Jefferson and owing to the unsettled condition of the region many hardships and trials had to be borne.
With characteristic energy, however, Mr. Hulett began to break his land and develop his farm, upon which he resided until 1890, when he removed to Lohrville, where he is now living retired. He Still owns the old homestead, however, and is to-day the oldest settler in Union township. He can recall many interesting incidents of life on the frontier, when Calhoun County was just emerging from pioneer environments, and he has always borne his part in the work of public progress and improvement. Unto Mr. and Mrs. Hulett were born
five children, four daughters and a son: Mrs. Abbie McDonald, of Lohrville; Mrs. Lydia B. Colander, of Union township; Mrs. Eva Robeson, of Lohrville; Mrs. Gertie Middleton, who is also living in that place; and Ernest J., who was born in Whiteside County, Illinois, and is now justice of the peace in Lohrville. The wife and mother died June 12, 1890, and her loss was deeply regretted throughout the community where she was much beloved for her many excellencies of character. In his political views Mr. Hulett has been a Republican from the organization of the party, and his religious faith is that of the Christian church. So long has he been a resident of the county, so upright has been his life and so loyal his citizenship that no history of this community would lie complete without his life record. [Source – Biographical Record of Calhoun County, Iowa, by S.J. Clarke, 1902, p.426]