Thomas J. Chew

CHEW, SABINS, BEMIS, ONEILL, SHERMAN, BURT, THOMAS

Posted By: Cheryl Moonen (email)
Date: 1/5/2014 at 22:58:01

Thomas J. CHEW

THOMAS J. CHEW, Cascade; is a son of Samuel Chew and Mary Sabins, and was born Dec. 6, 1806, at New Haven, Conn.; his father was Captain of a merchantman, and young Thomas, at the at the age of 18, shipped as a "boy", and, for eight years, followed a seafaring life, during which time he has visited the most noted islands and cities on the globe. He was first mate, for three years, before leaving the service, in 1832; he spent a few years in Allegheny Co., N.Y. and, in 1836, went to Franklin, Mo., and afterward located in Licking Co., Ohio; in each State he engaged in farming; in the spring of 1845, he came to Whitewater Township, Dubuque Co., Iowa, and settled on a quarter section of land now in limits of Cascade, where he has since resided; in 1847, he bought his present homestead of Arthur Thomas and J.W. Sherman. The same season, he purchased the Cascade Mills of J.W. Sherman and the Alvin Burt estate; in 1851, his mill was destroyed by a fresher, but he immediately rebuilt on n enlarged and improved plan; the mill is now rented to William Moore. He was married, in Dubuque, April 23, 1851, to Mrs. Margaret A. Carter, daughter of Nathan S. Bemis; they have no children of their own, but, in 1858, they adopted Miss Fannie O'Neill, who is still with them; he built a saw-mill neat his flouring mill in 1856; it is still in service, and is now rented to Thomas Crawford; his fine stone residence, on the hill east of Cascade, was completed in April 1861; since that days he has not engaged in severe manual labor, but has leisurely superintended his farming and other interest; he was influential and liberal in securing the building of the Cascade & Bellevue Narrow Gauge Railroad, which was completed in January, 1880; the depot and railroad grounds are located on his land, in the grove north of his residence. He has been a Republican ever since the formation of the party, and still takes a deep interest in political affairs. Mrs. Chew is an acceptable member of the Presbyterian Church; Mr. Chew was early trained as an Episcopalian, but is quite liberal in his religious views. He is a benevolent, public-spirited and valued citizen; he is temperate and moral- a fried to the needy and to every good cause. “The History of Dubuque County"