Albert J. Paddock, 1843-1919
PADDOCK, DAMON, ROGERS, STANTON, LOCKWOOD, SAVAGE
Posted By: Clay County IAGenWeb Coordinator (email)
Date: 1/15/2014 at 19:35:11
Pioneer and Old Soldier Dead
A.J. Paddock of Riverton Township Died Last Thursday. Came Here In 1869.
Albert J. Paddock, one of the pioneers of Clay county, and old veteran of the Civil War, and a man prominent in affairs of the county, died Thursday of last week, January 2nd, after an illness of but two or three days, at his farm home in Riverton township.
Mr. Paddock was one of the few remaining veterans of the Civil War and one of the real early settlers of Clay county.
He was born in Lake county, Ill., Dec. 6, 1843. He was reared on a farm, and when he was eighteen years of age, answered the call of his country and was assigned to duty with the boys in blue of Co. D, ninety-sixth Illinois infantry. He went south with the army of the Tennessee, later was with the army of the Cumberland. It was at Brentwood he was first under fire, and later participated in the battles of Chickamauga, Lookout Mountain, Missionary Ridge and the Atlantic campaigns, being with Sherman on the famous march to the sea. He saw much real service. Later he was at Franklin, Tennessee, where Hood charged the Union army, and Mr. Paddock was taken prisoner on Nov. 30, 1864, and was kept in southern prisons until the close of the war. He was honorably discharged from the service in Chicago in 1865.
After his discharge from the army he returned to his old home in Lake county, Illinois, and worked on a farm for about four years, but decided to seek a home for himself, and came to Iowa, taking a homestead in Riverton township, where he has since made his home. He came here in the year 1869, and broke the sod on his farm with an ox team, and during his first summer on the farm built and lived in a sod shanty. Later a little frame house was built, and from times to time Mr. Paddock has improved this farm, until today it is one of the real good farms of the county.
Mr. Paddock endured the hardships of the pioneer fathers of this county. The grasshoppers, droughts and floods, and all kindred things, he experienced, but with a firm determination to "stick it out" he lived to see this country develop into a richness that he never dreamed possible. It was men like A.J. Paddock who did remain and weather the hardships, that has made it possible for this richness of our county.
On December 27, 1877, Mr. Paddock was married to Miss Rosa Damon in Spencer, and to this union five children were born. Bert, who is at home, Lewis, a farmer in this county, Florence, the wife of Sewell Rogers of North Dakota, and Clara, the wife of Myron Stanton of south Spencer, and Walter, who died in 1891 at the age of four years.
Mr. Paddock was a very unassuming man. He never sought political preferment, but served for a number of years as township trustee, and also as assessor, and as school director. He was an active member of the Annett Post, Grand Army of the Republic, and attended when it was possible for him to do so.
When he enlisted in the army service a brother, George, enlisted in the same company with him, and shortly before they enlisted another brother, Marshall, had enlisted in another Illinois regiment.
In the death of this old veteran and citizen, the community has lost an excellent citizen, a good neighbor, and a most kind and indulgent husband and a father.
He leaves to mourn his departure, besides his wife and children, two brothers, Lewis of Antioch and Richard of Chicago, and two sisters, Mrs. S.T. Lockwood of Portland, Oregon, and Mrs. Lewis Savage of Antioch, Ill., who on account of the distance and infirmities of age, were unable to be present at the funeral.
The funeral services were held on Sunday afternoon at Grace M.E. church, the services being conducted by Rev. F.C. Taylor. Members of the Sons of Veterans acted as pall bearers, the members of the Grand Army attended the funeral, and gave their beautiful ritualistic services. The body was laid to rest in Riverside cemetery.
Source: Spencer Reporter, Spencer, Clay County, Iowa; January 8, 1919.
Interment in Riverside cemetery
Clay Obituaries maintained by Kris Meyer.
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