WILLIAM L SHRIGLEY, b 7 Sept 1833

SHRIGLEY, SHAW, MARKHAM, SMITH, SPRINKLE, THAYER, CHURCH, RHODES

Posted By: Donna Moldt Walker (email)
Date: 11/13/2004 at 12:53:48

William L. Shrigley, Sheriff of Jackson County and a resident of Maquoketa, is well and favorably known in this section of the State, where many years of his life have been passed. He is a man of straightforward, resolute nature, possessing sagacious judgment and clear common sense, and is in every respect thoroughly fitted for the responsible office which he fills with perfect satisfaction to the people.

Our subject was born in Bellows Falls, Vt., Sept. 7, 1833. His father, William Shrigley, was a native of England, and born in the town of Delph, Saddleworthshire, Dec. 10, 1809. His father, John Shrigley, was a manufacturer of woolen goods in the old country, emigrated to the United States about 1830, accompanied by his wife and six of their children, the other one having preceded them to the New World. He located in Winchester, N.H., and established himself at his trade, and there passed the remainder of his life. The maiden name of his wife was Mary Shaw. She died some years before he did. The names of their children were William, John, James, Charles, Frederick, Betsy, and Ann. John located in Chicago. James became a minister in the Universalist Church, and resides in Philadelphia; Charles is a farmer in Kansas; Frederick died in Bellows Falls; Betsy married twice, her first husband's name being Markham, and that of her second, William Smith, and she is living in Winchester, N.H.; and Ann, who married Simon Sprinkle, and is living in Ohio. The father of our subject was reared in his native country, and there learned his trade of tailor, and at the age of seventeen years came to America. He located in Bellows Falls, and was engaged at his trade there for many yars, but subsequently opened a shop in Winchester, N.H., and carried on business there until 1861, when he engaged in a woolen mill in Ashuelot Village, and worked there some years. After the war closed, he opened a clothing store in Winchester, and managed his establishment in that town for some years with good financial success. He then retired from business, and coming to Maquoketa in 1878, died here Dec. 19, 1878, and thus was brought to a close a pure and upright life. The maiden name of his wife, mother of our subject, was Harriet Thayer, and she was, like her son, a native of the Green Mountain State, her birth occurring in the town of Athens, in Windom County, May 5, 1806. She came to Maquoketa with her husband, and died here, in 1886, at the venerable age of eighty years. She was derived from a good old New England family, and her father, Dr. Zepheniah Thayer, was a celebrated physician in his day, who practiced medicine in Athens, Vt., and there his useful career was brought to a close. The maiden name of his wife, grandmother of our subject, was Mary Church. There were seven children born to the parents of our subject: William L.; James A. lives in Arkansas; Lee H. lives in Maquoketa; Charles H. lives in Hinsdale, N.H.; Plara T. lives in Maquoketa; Arthur M. died young, and also a daughter who died young.

The subject of this sketch was the eldest child, and was but five years old when his parents removed to Winchester, and there he was reared until he was fifteen years old. At fourteen years of age he commenced clerking in a general store in Winchester, and later in Brattleboro, Vt., for Pratt, Wheeler & Co., with whom he stayed five years. He then went to Lyonsville, Crawford Co., Pa., but a year later he returned to Brattleboro, and was a clerk in a store there another year. In 1855 he came to Maquoketa, coming by rail to Fulton, and thence by stage to this city. Here he found employment as clerk in a general store, and was thus engaged for two years. At the expiration of that time he obtained employment of the Air Line Railway Company, and a year later returned East, and became clerk in Horace Hastings' dry-goods store in Brattleboro. He was there three years, but in 1861 again took up his residence in Maquoketa, and engaged in teaming to DeWitt, the nearest railway station, to Davenport, Dubuque, and other points. He continued teaming several years, and then established himself in the livery business, which he carried on six years. During that time he had been appointed Deputy Sheriff, which office he continued to hold for fourteen years, his last term expiring in 1885, when he was appointed Sheriff to fill a vacancy. In the fall of that year he was elected to that office, and in 1887 was re-elected, and has served ever since. He has also taken a part in the city government, having been elected Councilor in 1865, and serving many years. He is discharging the duties of his present office with conscientious fidelity, without fear or favor, and is considered by all to be the right man in the right place. He has always borne a good reputation both in public and private life, and is looked up to by all in the community. In him the Democratic party finds one of its firmest supporters, althought it is due to him to say that his official acts are never biased by his political beliefs. He is an esteemed member of the Timber City Lodge No. 9, A.O.U.W.

Mr. Shrigley was married Nov. 3, 1858, to Miss Frances S. Rhodes, a native of Dresden, N.Y., and a daughter of Dr. F.B. and Hanna Rhodes. She is devoted to the interests of her husband and children, and makes their home comfortable and attractive. Of their pleasant wedded life five children have been born, namely: Flora B., William A., Delos B., Elena J., and Bessie Maud.

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