Samuel L. Cutshall, 1845-1933

CUTSHALL, MOYER, PETERSON, JOHNSON, DAVIDSON, RIPELY, DORCAS

Posted By: Robert Blechl (email)
Date: 8/3/2006 at 08:11:50

SAMUEL L. CUTSHALL,
VETERAN AND PIONEER, DIES

Many Honor Memory in Service Here Wednesday

Samuel L. Cutshall, 87, one of the last surviving members of the Annett Post, number 124, of the Grand Army of the Republic, Spencer, and a pioneer of the Northwest Iowa territory, passed away about 10 p.m. Friday of a stroke of apoplexy. He had suffered previous strokes and the final attack proved too much for the weight of years he bore and he passed quietly to eternity.

His death brought sadness to the entire community as the aged veteran and pioneer was well known throughout the district. His passing leaves but four surviving members of the Annett post in Spencer, they being present at the funeral services held at the Grace M. E. church here Wednesday afternoon, Oct. 4.

Dr. H. E. Hutchinson, pastor of Grace M. E. church, was in charge of the final memorial, assisted by Rev. Forrest L. Richeson of the Church of Christ and Rev. W. O. Tompkins, Methodist minister.

Dr. E. G. Cutshall, nephew of Mr. Cutshall and chancellor of the Nebraska Wesleyan college at Lincoln, Neb., delivered the funeral sermon in which he eulogized the exemplary life of the deceased.

Mr. Clifford Thomas sang "The City Four-Square," Mrs. J. Elliot Gould sang "Saved by Grace," and Mr. and Mrs. S. R. Axe offered "Shall We Gather at the River" as musical tributes to the memory of Mr. Cutshall. Mrs. C. D. Eckerman was at the organ.

Among the organizations present was the Grand Army of the Republic, with the surviving members of the post being L. H. Sargent, C. W. Hoxie, John Runkle, and Aaron Jones of Dickens. Two other Civil war veterans not members of this post were present. They were C. A. Harriman and Fred P. Pettygrove. Major Odie, Spanish-American war veteran and chaplain of Annett post, was also in the group seated at the fore part of the church and in chairs at the grave at Riverside cemetery.

(part seems to be missing here) Womens Relief corps, the Sons of Veterans Legion color guard and firing squad. The Sons of Veterans performed the G. A. R. burial service at the cemetery as the colors of the nation for which he fought waved over head and the Legion firing squad sent a ringing volley over his final resting place.

Great banks of flowers and the American flag draped over the casket gave evidence of Spencer's esteem for its departed citizen.

Carrying his body to the grave were Frank J. O'Brien, August Groth, R. S. Brown, Minor Jones, Roy Kenny and Harry Helkens.

Those attending memorial rites from away were Mayor C. D. Findley of Fort Dodge; a niece, Mrs. Edna Conklin of Denver, Colo., a brother, E. G. Cutshall, and wife of Independence, Ia; a nephew, Charles Cutshall, and wife of Waterloo; a niece, Mrs. Carl Weltman, and husband of Hazelton, Ia.; a nephew, Charles Whitney, and wife of Sibley; A nephew, Harold Whitney, and wife of Rushmore, Minn.; a granddaughter, Mrs. R. J. Robertson of Hastings, Minn,; Mr. and Mrs. Melvin Lewis of Nemaha, and many friends and relatives from territory surrounding Spencer.

Born in 1845

Samuel L. Cutshall was born near Ft. Wayne, Ind., November 7, 1845. At the age of ten he came to Iowa with his parents in a covered wagon drawn by oxen. They settled in Buchanan county, nine miles west of Independence. On March 10, 1870, he was married to Laura Janette Moyer at Jesup, Ia. They farmed for one year in Black Hawk county and then came to Clay county, living near Spencer during the winter 1870-1871. In the spring of 1871, they located on a homestead in Lake township. He was probably with the exception of one, the only homesteader in the county who owned his homestead at the time of his death.

Endured Privations

He had been here eight years before the first railroad was built in Clay county. With his wife and family he endured all the privations and hardships of the pioneer. He went to Estherville to cut wood on shares selling it to help make a living; he burned prairie hay for fuel; his crops were devoured during the grasshopper years. Many times they were in danger of prairie fires, fever, and ague, yet strove on and conquered all the difficulties, including for years the marketing of produce and obtaining of supplies from Storm, Lake, Algona, and Worthington, Minn., their nearest markets. He was active in affairs and helped organize his township and held various offices on the school board.

Mr. Cutshall retired from the farm and moved his family in the fall of 1906 to Dickens. In the year 1915, he moved to Spencer where he resided until the time of his death on September 29, 1933.

Four years ago on July 24, 1929, his loved companion with whom he had lived for nearly sixty years preceded him to the better land.

Father of Eleven

He was the father of eleven children, two of whom preceded him in death, William dying in infancy and Mary Dorcas on October 17, 1926. The following sons and daughters survive: Fred B. and Ray L. of Los Angeles, Calif., Mrs. Martin Peterson of Whittier, Calif., Mrs. A. W. Johnson of Conrad, Mont., Mrs. J. O. Davidson, Dickens, Ia., Eugene H., Terrill, Ia., Alvin B., Samuel Guy and Inez Belle of Spencer. He is also survived by one sister, Mrs. Clarence Ripley, Springview, Neb., three brothers, C. W., Gordon, Neb., Joseph of Cedar Rapids, Ia., E. G. of Independence, Ia., thirty-two grand children, several great-grand children, many other relatives and a host of friends.

Civil War Veteran

Mr. Cutshall was a good and faithful soldier under two banners, First, a soldier of the cross of Jesus Christ, enlisting when a boy of sixteen and the following year voluntarily enlisting under the flag of his country in the 4th Iowa Cavalry, Company B., in which he served until the close of the Civil war. He served 2 years.

He was a member of the Methodist church for seventy-one years. For years he organized Sunday Schools and Superintended them, often having charge of two on a Sabbath and holding various offices in the church. He was the oldest member of the Methodist church in Spencer at the time of his death.

Commander of G. A. R.

Mr. Cutshall was a good soldier and a loved and honered member of the Annett Grand Army post, holding various offices at different times. At the time of his death he was commander of the post.

He had voted for Lincoln and for every Republican presidential nominee until his death, a fact of which he was very proud.

He was a familiar figure on the streets of Spencer and will be missed by every one who knew him.

Cutshall is Honored
by C. V. Findley

(The News-Herald presents the following tribute to the memory of Samuel L. Cutshall written by his friend of many years, Hon. C. V. Findley, Mayor of the city of Fort Dodge, Ia., and former pioneer of this city.)

By C.V. Findley
Mayor of Fort Dodge, Ia.

Sunday morning's radio brought the news of the death of our neighbor, Samuel L. Cutshall, of homestead days in Clay county.

In 1871 with his family, he entered a homestead near ours in what is now Lake township. Then it was Bridgewater township. My father entered his claim the same year.

Those pioneering experiences, common to the two families, would make an interesting and instructive story.

Met in Sod House

As a boy, I remember that Mr. Cutshall took charge of a Sunday school that met in our one-room sod house. The first school house built in the township was near our homestead and it became the meeting place for the whole neighborhood and that embraced a large area.

Within the past year, I had the pleasure of driving Mr. Cutshall and his daughter, Inez, to his and our old homesteads. What satisfaction came to me as we drove over well drained and well graveled roads to have him tell me in his modest way the part he had in laying out and improving certain roads, and the part he had taken in establishing good schools and building substantial school houses.

Years of Service

I left him at his home convinced that the sixty-two years he had spent in Clay county had left their impress for good in the social, religious, civic and educational institutions with which he has been so actively identified.

Breaking up and subduing the tough prairie sod, putting out back fires, watching nightly during the fall for the dreaded prairie fire, fighting the terrible blizzards that swept over those prairies, the fear of illness in the family with neighbors so far and a doctor not available, the neccessity of providing food, fuel and clothing from an extremely limited income, were some of the problems taxing brave hearts in those pioneer days.

Last of Neighbors

I wonder if Mr. Cutshall was not the last of our homestead neighborhood who sat silently in the shadows of swiftly declining years, and calmly waited the "Twilight and Evening Star."

His humble life was all service. At last his work is done. My feeble words of praise and appreciation can never do him justice. In the presence of death, homage is valueless and highest tributes fail.

(The following is a tribute to the memory of post commander, Samuel L. Cutshall, written by one of the four surviving members of Annett Post #124, G. A. R. Spencer, Clay Co. IA.)

A Tribute to Comrade Cutshall of Annett Post No. 124, Spencer, Iowa

Departed this life September 29, 1933 at the age of 87 years, ten months and 22 days.

Again our ranks are broken
There will be one vacant chair
In our post room we will miss him
When we meet together there.

Comrade Cutshall has departed
To a land of joy and bliss
To a home of many mansions
To a home more fair than this.

At a ripe old age he left us
For a mansion in the skies
Into joys of life eternal
Where the soul it never dies
In a land of joy and gladness
Over on that blissful shore
There to meet dear friends of earth
United there forevermore.

When the clarion call rang out
In the sixties long ago
Calling men to save the Union
That was menaced by the foe
Many comrades then enlisted
At the call for valiant men
Our dear comrade heard the call
And responded nobly then.

Now he sleeps beside the river
With his comrades gone before
Waiting for a glad reunion
Over on the glory shore.

May we meet him, may we greet him
When our life on earth is past
May we gather at the river
In the joys of heaven at last.

By C. W. Hoxie (13 Mich. Inf., 1st Div. 2nd Brig., 14th A. C.)

Contributed by great-great grandson of Samuel L. Cutshall.

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MARTIAL RITES FOR COMMANDER OF G.A.R. POST
Comrades Pay Last Tribute to S. L. Cutshall

The final tribute was paid to Samuel L. Cutshall, 87, commander of the Annett post, Grand Army of the Republic, at military rites held Wednesday afternoon at 2 o'clock from the Grace Methodist Episcopal church. In charge of the rites at the graveside were members of the Sons of Veterans, with the firing squad of the Glen Pedersen post, American Legion, firing the last salute and sounding taps.

Attending the funeral in a body were the Sons of Veterans, the Woman's Relief corps, the G.A.R. and the American Legion.

Officiating at the services were Dr. Hutchinson, pastor of the Grace church, assisted by Dr. E.G. Cutshall, nephew of commander Cutshall and chancellor of the Nebraskan Wesleyan school at Lincoln, Neb. The Rev. W.O. Tompkins, retired Methodist pastor and the Rev. Forrest L. Richeson, pastor of the Church of Christ, also assisted.

Burial was made in the Riverside cemetery, Spencer.

Commander Cutshall's death occurred Friday evening, Sept. 29, at his home in Spencer, and was caused from complications of old age. Samuel L. Cutshall was born near Ft. Wayne, Ind., on Nov. 7, 1845. At the age of ten he came to Iowa with his parents in a covered wagon drawn by oxen. They settled in Buchanan county, Iowa, nine miles west of Independence.

On March 10, 1870 he was married to Laura Jannette Moyer at Jessup, Ia. They farmed for one year in Black Hawk county and then came to Clay county living near Spencer during the winter of 1870-71. In the spring of 1871, they located on a homestead in Lake township. He was probably with the exception of one, the only homesteader in the county who owned his homestead ar the time of his death.

He had been here eight years before the first railroad was built, in Clay county. With his wife and family he endured all the privations and hardships of the pioneer. He went to Estherville to cut wood on shares selling it to help make a living, he burned prairie hay for fuel, his crops were devoured during the grasshopper years. Many times they were in danger of prairie fires, fever, and ague, yet strove on and conquered all the difficulties including for years the marketing produce and obtaining of supplies from Storm Lake, Algona, and Worthington, Minn. their nearest markets.

Mr. Cutshall retired from the farm and moved with his family in the fall of 1906 to Dickens. In the year of 1915, he moved to Spencer where he resided until the time of his death. Four years ago on July 24, 1929 his loved companion with whom he lived for nearly sixty years proceeded him to the better land.

He was the father of eleven children, two of whom proceeded him in death. William dying in infancy and Mary Dorcas on Oct. 17, 1926. The following sons and daughters survive: Fred B. and Ray L. of Lou Angeles, Cal., Mrs. Martin Peterson of Whittier, Cal., Mrs. A.W. Johnson of Conrad, Mont., Mrs. J.O. Davidson, Dickens, Ia., Eugene H. of Terril, Alvin, Samuel Guy and Inez Belle of Spencer. He is also survived by one sister, Mrs. Clarence Ripely, Springview, Neb., three brothers, C.W. of Gordan, Neb., Joseph of Cedar Rapids, Ia., W.G. of Independence, Ia., thirty-two grandchildren, several great grandchildren, many other relatives and a host of friends.

Mr. Cutshall was a good and faithful soldier under two banners, first a soldier of the Cross of Jesus Christ enlisting when a boy of sixteen and the following year voluntarily enlisting under the flag of his country in the 4th lowa Cavalry, Company H., in which he served until the close of the Civil War.

Mr. Cutshall was a good soldier and a loved and honored member of the Annett Grand Army Post holding offices at different times. At the time of his death he was commander of the Post.

He had voted for Lincoln and for every Republican presidential nominee until his death, a fact of which he was very proud.

Mr. Cutshall served his country for two years, in its struggle for freedom. After moving to Clay county he helped to organize the township in which he lived and held various offices on the school board.

He was a familiar figure on the streets of Spencer and will be missed by every one who knew him.

Source: The Reporter, Spencer, Clay County, Iowa; October 6, 1933.

Interment in Riverside cemetery.