Marvin Finton, b.1830, 1886 biography

FINTON, BENNETT, GOODENOW, JENKINS, POTTER, WHEATON

Posted By: LuAnn (Wentworth) Goeke (email)
Date: 11/26/2010 at 20:40:03

MARVIN FINTON. Prominent among the citizens of Clinton County who have distinguished themselves as men of honor and reliability, and who helped to advance and benefit the county's interest, is the subject of this sketch, who is highly respected for his worth and industry. From small beginnings he has made himself what he is at the present day, and is a notable example of what enterprise and energy may do. He is retired and living at Maquoketa.

Our subject was one of the pioneers of Clinton County, and his father, Jabin[sic] Finton, was born in Bolton, Warren Co., N.Y., in 1798, and his father, grandfather of our subject, Orange Finton, was born in Dutchess County, N.Y., and his father, Thomas Finton, as near as can be learned, was also born in Dutchess County. The Finton family were among the early settlers in Warren County. Thomas Finton died there at the advanced age of ninety-five years. Orange Finton was married in Dutchess County to Sarah Bennett, daughter of a soldier of Revolutionary fame. Her father was Washington's bodyguard for some length of time. A few years after her marriage to Orange Finton, he settled Warren County, N.Y., and lived there until his demise. The father of our subject grew to manhood in his native county and was reared on the farm. He was married, Oct. 22, 1827, to Miss Sarah A. Goodenow. She was born in Rockingham, Windham Co.,Vt., and was the widow of Alexander Jenkins (see sketch). Jabin[sic] Finton bought land in Bolton Township, Warren Co., N.Y., and employed himself at farming and in lumbering and milling. He died April 25, 1837. There were three children born of their marriage - Marvin, Marshall E., and Luke, who died at the age of ten years and four months.

Marvin Finton was but thirteen years of age when his parents removed to Michigan and settled in Oakland County. He was seventeen years old when they came to Iowa, and he lived with his parents till twenty-one, after which he employed himself among the neighboring farmers, and part of the time worked on shares. Subsequent to this he made his first start in life. He then had but eighty acres of wild land on section 12, Brookfield Township. It was the west half of the section, and he removed there and began a hand-to-hand struggle with fate and fortune which every heart must know and understand. He built a small frame house and a small straw stable. He also improved land, and in every way bettered the condition and appearance of the first piece of property he ever owned. In 1854 he sold out and went Jackson County, where he built a sawmill on the north fork of Maquoketa River. In the spring of 1855 he sold his mill and entered 400 acres of land in Brookfield Township. He did not however settle on the land, but bought a piece of property on section 19, Bloomfield Township, and lived there until 1882. His land was nearly all in a wild and unimproved condition and he built a frame house there, and in the spring of 1857 did the first breaking on the farm, with the exception of ten acres which was broken when he bought it.

Our subject continued to live on the last-named farm until 1882, and in the fall of that year he rented his farm and removed to Maquoketa. The estate contains 360 acres. Neat frame buildings stand upon it, and it is benefited by careful cultivation, tilling and improving. He also owns a farm of 120 acres on section 36, Brookfield Township, which is highly improved and under good culture. The residence he occupies at the present time is located on Eliza street, corner of Judson. It is a frame structure, modern in architecture, commodious and convenient, and stands in a beautiful and desirable location.

Mr. Finton was married, March 23, 1854, to Miss Maria E. Potter, who was born Harford, Trumbull Co., Ohio, March 13, 1838. She is the daughter of Nicholas and Eliza (Wheaton) Potter. Her father was born in Baltimore, Md., in 1814, and her mother in New York, July 6, 1818. They removed to Jackson County in 1840, and were among the earliest settlers in the county. They located in the timber at a point known as Emeline. In 1855 they removed to Minnesota and settled in Vermillion Township, Dakota County, where they now live.

Mr. and Mrs. Finton are the parents of one child, a son, Luke H., who is now about sixteen years old and resides at home: they have lost four by death. Mr. F. is a good, reliable citizen, and in politics he is a Republican.
- 1886 Portrait & Biographical Album of Clinton County, Iowa, pg 465-466.