Henry F. Tracy, b. 28 Jun 1826

PATTERSON, FOSTER, GILMORE, MURRAY, TEMPLETON, SHOEMAKER, SNODGRASS, MCKIBIN, WAGONER

Posted By: Donna Moldt Walker (email)
Date: 2/20/2004 at 23:23:29

One of the finest hones in Brandon Township has been built up by the subject of this notice, who is the owner of 280 acres of land, which he has brought to a thorough state of cultivation, and upon which he has erected the most valuable set of frame buildings in the township. A pioneer of this county, he came hither with his parents when there were only two cabins on the road from Canton to the present site of Maquoketa, a distance of twelve miles, and the land mostly covered with timber.

No man has watched the growth and development of the Hawkeye State with greater interest than has Mr. Tracy, and none has contributed in a more generous degree to the building up of Jackson County. The enterprise and industry with which he labored in days gone by was not only an advantage to himself, but in many cases stimulated his neighbors to greater exertion, and assisted in keeping up their courage during the days which tried men's souls. He experienced in all its phases the difficulties of life on the frontier, but was blest by Providence with the courage and resolution requisite to overcome them, and now, sitting under his own vine and fig tree, can ruminate over the past, and look with a feeling of pardonable pride upon the results of the labor of his hands and brain.

Our subject received his first impressions of life in Fayette County, Pa., where his birth took place June 28, 1826. His father, Elisha Tracy, was a native of Maryland, and a blacksmith by trade. He was twice married. His first wife was Miss Catherine Patterson, a native of Scotland, and they became the parents of eleven children, all of whom lived to the age of maturity. After the death of Mrs. Catherine Tracy the father contracted a second marriage with Mrs. Isabel (Foster) Gilmore, and about 1832 the family emigrated to Ohio, locating first in Licking County. Thence they removed to Washington County, and from there, in 1846, wended their way to the young State of Iowa.

The journey of the Tracy family to this region was made overland with a team at a time when there were no stages or railroads, and when their path was frequently unmarked, save by a simple trail. Arriving at the Western line of this county, the father entered eighty acres of Government land in Brandon Township, and, with the aid of his sons, put up a log cabin amidst the heavy timber. Then they proceeded to fell the trees, clear the land, and prepare the soil for cultivation. The father lived and labored thus for nineteen years, and died March 1, 1865, at the age of eighty-three. His wife, Isabel, was the mother of our subject, and the daughter of Major and Elizabeth (Murray) Foster. She was born in the North of Ireland, and when but an infant was brought by her parents to the United States. They settled in Fayette County, Pa., where she was reared to womanhood, married John Gilmore, and became the mother of seven children. All of these lived to attain their majority, and with one exception still survive. Mr. Gilmore died in Pennsylvania.

The mother of our subject survived her husband until 1874, and died at the advanced age of eighty-four years. Of her marriage with Mr. Tracy there were born four children, viz.: Henry F.; Ellen, the wife of Robert Templeton, of Brandon Township; Mary, Mrs. Eli Shoemaker, who died in this township; and Isabel, the wife of Henry Snodgrass. The parents were active members of the Christian Church, and were know far and wide along the western line of this county as representing its worth and respectability.

The subject of this sketch was a young man of twenty years when he came with his parents to Iowa. He assisted in the opening up of a new farm from the wilderness, and six years later, in 1852, set about the establishment of a home of his own. February 14 of that year he was united in marriage with Miss Mary Snodgrass, who was born in Washington County, Ohio, Sept. 14, 1836. The parents of Mrs. Tracy were Ben and Anna (McKibin) Snodgrass, the latter of whom died soon after the birth of her daughter Mary. The father died in Ohio about 1848. Miss Mary, in 1850, came to Iowa accompanied by her brother, they settling in Brandon Township, where she made the acquaintance of her future husband.

Of the thirteen children born to our subject and his estimable wife four died in infancy, and one son, Theodore H., died at the age of twenty-five years. The eight survivors are all residents of this county, and are named respectively: Joseph S., Porter W., Hugh M.; Mary E., the wife of John Wagoner; David E., John A., Carrie L., and Cora L. The sons of Mr. Tracy each received about $1,000 from their father as a start in life, and as they possess in a marked degree the prudence and industry which has been the leading feature of his character, they are all well-to-do and respected citizens. David E. and John L. remain at the homestead, and carry on the farm. Both sons and daughters have been given a good education, and are well fitted to take their places in the community as the representatives of its best elements. The family residence is a roomy and substantial structure, and about it are the fruit and shade tres which naturally grow up around the well-regulated rural homestead. There is a very large barn upon the place, and all the other necessary outbuildings. The live-stock and machinery are sufficiently indicative of the character of thos who own and manage the estate. Mr. Tracy, politically, votes the straight Democratic ticket, and has held about all the township offices. Both he and his estimable wife are active members of the Presbyterian Church, to which they have for many years given their liberal support.

("Portrait and Biographical Album of Jackson County, Iowa", originally published in 1889, by the Chapman Brothers, of Chicago, Illinois)