George W. Dellinger (1840-1910)

DELLINGER

Posted By: Karon Velau (email)
Date: 11/3/2022 at 23:56:25

George W. Dellinger
(April 10, 1840 – December 2, 1910)

Among the pleasant rural homes of Calhoun County, Iowa, is that of George W. Dellinger. a resident of Garfield Township. He is a veteran of the Civil war and bears an honorable record for brave service in the cause of freedom and union, and in the paths of peace he has also won an enviable reputation through the sterling qualities that go to the making of a good citizen. Mr. Dellinger was born in Adams County, Ohio, April 10, 1840, a son of Jonathan and Margaret (Campbell) Dellinger, the former also a native of the Buckeye state, and the latter of Scotland. The father spent his life in Adams County as an industrious and energetic farmer, and his course in life was ever such as to gain for him the confidence and high regard of all with whom he came in contact. He died there at the ripe old age of eighty-four years, having long survived the mother of our subject, who was only twenty-eight years old at the time of her death. They had two children who reached years of maturity: Mrs. Elizabeth Hamilton, a resident of Carroll County, Iowa: and George W. of this review. The Dellinger family came originally from Pennsylvania, and was of German lineage. They were among the early settlers of Adams County, Ohio. George W. Dellinger was reared and educated in his native county and spent his early life upon a farm, aiding his father in its operation when not in school. When the Civil war broke out, he joined the hoys in blue, enlisting on the 18th of October, 1861, in Company A, Seventieth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, under Captain W. B. Brown. He was wounded in the battle of Shiloh, and was honorably discharged August 22, 1862, but again enlisted in 1864 in the one hundred day service, this time becoming a member of Company K, One Hundred and Sixty-second Ohio Volunteer Infantry. He remained at the front until the close of the war, taking part in a number of important engagements. On leaving the service Mr. Dellinger returned home, and later spent six years in La Salle County, Illinois, where he was engaged in farming on rented land, He also made his home in Grundy County, Iowa, for the same length of time, his time being similarly
employed, and from there came to Calhoun in 1882. His first purchase of land consisted of eighty acres which he still owns. In his farming operations he has steadily prospered during his residence here, and is to-day the owner of four hundred and twenty-six acres of valuable land in Elm Grove, Garfield and Twin Lakes townships. He farms all of this with exception of a quarter section and raises from eighty to ninety acres corn and the same amount of small grain, leaving the remainder for hay and pasture. He keeps considerable stock, including about fifty head of cattle, mostly of Hereford breed. His home farm is a well improved place in Garfield Township, and its neat and thrifty appearance plainly indicates the supervision of a careful and painstaking owner. Mr. Dellinger was married on the 6th of February, 1878, to Miss Ruth Anna Griffith, who was born in Wisconsin, February 6, 1861, a daughter of James and Antoinette Griffith, now residents of Iowa. The father, who is a farmer by occupation, was born in England, in 1836, and the mother's birth occurred in New York in 1839. Their family consists of seven children, five daughters and two sons, namely: Ruth A., Archie, Lydia, James, Tressie, Lena and Jennie. Unto Mr. and Mrs. Dellinger have been born six children, as follows: Lucinda. Jonathan, George W., Gladys. Tressie and Arthur. Politically Air. Dellinger is an ardent Republican, but has never been an aspirant for office. He is what the world terms a self-made man, his success in life being due entirely to his own industry, perseverance and good management, and he well deserves the prosperity that has come to him. He is a man of good business and executive ability, is upright and honorable in all his dealings, and is widely and favorably known through-out this section of the state. [Source – Biographical Record of Calhoun County, Iowa, by S.J. Clarke, 1902, p.462]