Hon. A. V. Stout

STOUT, VOORHEES, SUTTON, HAMILTON

Posted By: Tammy (email)
Date: 11/12/2011 at 09:46:35

HON. A. V. STOUT came to Grundy County in 1868 a young man with a determination to succeed in the far west, and that he has succeeded is evidenced by the fact that he is living a retired life on a fine estate of three hundred and sixty acres located in Beaver Township, of which he is the proprietor. He is a native of Greene County, Ill., his birth occurring November 29, 1841. His parents, natives of New Jersey, were Jacob V. D. and Helen (Voorhees) Stout. They reared a family of six children, of whom those living besides our subject are P. D. and J. V. D.

The father of our subject was reared on a farm in Somerset County, N. J., and after acquiring a fair education in the district school, learned the trade of a carpenter, which he followed for many years. He was a young man of twenty-two years when he started for the then far west; he made his first stop in Greene County, Ill., whence he later removed to Morgan County, where he was residing on a farm at the time of his decease in 1893, at the age of seventy-seven years. He was a member of the Presbyterian Church, and was an Elder for forty years. In early life a Democrat, after the repeal of the Missouri Compromise, he joined the ranks of the Republican party, for whose candidates he afterward voted.

Peter Stout, the grandfather of our subject, was also a native of New Jersey, where he followed the occupations of a miller and millwright. He was the son of Maj. Thomas Stout, who likewise hailed from New Jersey, and served during the entire period of the Revolutionary War. He was a very intimate friend of Washington’s, and at the close of hostilities refused to accept a pension. Our subject comes of English ancestors on the paternal side, while on the maternal side he is of Dutch descent.

Mrs. Helen Stout, the mother of our subject, received a fair education in her native place in New Jersey, and on accompanying her parents on their removal to Greene County, Ill., in 1837, was nineteen years of age. There Mr. Voorhees located on a farm which is now the site of the city of Roodhouse. Mrs. Stout was a member of the Presbyterian Church, and died at her home near Jacksonville, Ill., at the age of sixty-four years.

Our subject remained under the parental roof until reaching his majority, in the meantime having received his primary education in the district school of Morgan County. Later he prosecuted his studies in the Jacksonville High Schools, and when starting out in life for himself, hired out as a farm hand by the month. Later he became traveling agent for an insurance company, but did not follow this occupation longer than five months, when he again returned to farm work.

January 1, 1866, A. V. Stout and Miss Sarah E. Sutton were united in marriage. The lady was the daughter of Stephen and Mary F. (Hamilton) Sutton, natives respectively of New Jersey and Kentucky. Their union has been blessed by the birth of nine children, all of whom are living, namely: Helen V., John H., Mary F., Gennetta, Fred V. D., Jennie, Maggie C., Earl V. D. and Charles R. Mrs. Stout’s father was Clerk of the Circuit and District Courts of Morgan County, and up to the time of her marriage she assisted him in his office work. She is a lady of fine education.

At the time of his marriage, our subject owned a thirty-one acre farm near Jacksonville, Ill., which tract he afterward sold, and coming to Iowa in 1868, purchased over five hundred acres in Beaver Township, Grundy County, where he now makes his home. He has since disposed of some of his property, but still keeps in his possession three hundred and sixty acres, which constitute one of the most valuable tracts in the township.

Believing in the ability and trustworthiness of Mr. Stout, his fellow-citizens have at various times called upon him to fill local positions of more or less responsibility and honor. For three years he was County Supervisor, and has been Township Assessor and also Justice of the Peace. Socially, he is a member of the Legion of Honor. He holds membership in the Methodist Episcopal Church, and is serving as Trustee and Steward. Politically, he is a strong Republican, and as a member of that party was elected to the Legislature in the year 1880. During his term of four years he served on various important committees, and was a member of the Committee on Constitutional Amendments at the time the Prohibition clause was first introduced, and was also Chairman of the Committee on Agriculture. He was candidate for State Senator in 1893, and was only defeated by a small majority. He is actively interested in agricultural matters, and in 1887 was appointed by Governor Larabee a delegate to the National Farmers’ Congress. In 1893 he held a similar appointment to the World’s Farmers’ Congress. He has also been representative to the Iowa Stock Breeders’ Association, of which body he is a prominent member.

Source:
Portrait and Biographical Record
of Jasper, Marshall and Grundy Counties, Iowa
1894