Zachary, L. E.

ZACHARY, BLEE

Posted By: Volunteer Transcriber
Date: 11/23/2008 at 17:50:19

ZACHARY, L. E.; President of the Banking House of DRAPER & ZACHARY; Prairie City; was born in Madison Co., Virginia, March 20, 1818; came to this county in the Fall of 1852; has 1,620 acres of land, valued at $48,000. Married Eliza BLEE; she was born in Highland Co., Ohio, August 16, 1819; mother of seven children-William James, Martha, Catherine, Larkin E., Emily F., Robert B., Eliza J., Left Virginia in 1839; came to Highland CO., Ohio; lived there eleven years; thence to Jasper Co., Iowa, where he has resided since; from Ohio came down the Ohio River to Cairo, Illinois, thence up the Mississippi to Keokuk, Iowa; thence to this county by wagon and one horse; had $80 in his pocket and $129 due him in the East; was a poor man, but by his exertions has made a fine property, and is one of the largest land owners in the State; has about $40,000 in bank stock. ~ "The History of Jasper County" (Chicago: Western Historical Company, 1878), 649
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Larkin E. Zachary

The pursuits of life are as varied as are the tastes and capabilities of men, and it is an interesting and useful study to observe the degree of their assimilation. The confidence of the public in any business enterprise must be measured by its tangible attitude toward that enterprise. Measured in that way the banking house of L. E. Zachary, of Prairie City, Iowa, has a strong and unassailable hold upon the business and financial men of that city. Mr. Zachary, who is without doubt the wealthiest man in Jasper County, was born in the grand old mother of states, Virginia, his birth occurring in Madison County, November 20, 1818. The ancestors of this family came originally from France, and settled in this country at a period antedating the Revolutionary War. The grandfather of our subject was a native of North Carolina and was at one time an extensive slave owner in the south. He was a soldier in the Revolution and fought bravely for independence. William Zachary, father of our subject, was born in the Old Dominion and was a Sergeant of artillery in the War of 1812. He married Miss Frances Deer, also a native of Virginia, but of German extraction; she was the daughter of Morton Deer, who was also a revolutionary soldier, and who was present at the surrender of Lord Cornwallis. The father of our subject died about 1820, and the mother subsequently married a man by the name of John Skinner, and lived in her native state until her death in 1856. Our subject was the only child, and was but two years of age when his father died. When he reached the age of fourteen he was bound out to learn a trade. This was to toke him four years and he was to have six months' schooling. He learned the painter's trade, after which he started out for himself, he first went to Highland County, Ohio, and was there married to Miss Eliza Blee, whose father was born on the Emerald Isle. Mr. Blee came to America at an early date and settled in Pennsylvania, but subsequently moved to Highland County, Ohio, where he was among the pioneers. After his marriage Mr. Zachary followed his trade in Ohio until the spring of 1850, when he started with his family in a one-horse rig for Iowa, having at that time about $80 in money. All his household effects were brought in the one-horse rig, and he first settled in Fayette, Polk County, where he worked at painting when he could find anything to do, for the settlers in those days had but little use for painters. After being there one year, the high water of the spring of 1851 washed his cabin away, and he was obliged to look for a new home. He bought a claim in Jasper County, south of what is now Prairie City, for which he went in debt, and the neighbors helped him build a log cabin. After this was completed, he had only a small amount to support his family on until he could earn more. Working at his trade when he could get anything to do, but not depending on this alone, he began improving his land and finally got a start. He could look ahead and see that land would be valuable some day and every cent that he could spare went into cheap land. Thus was laid the foundation of his subsequent prosperity. He now the owner of three thousand acres of excellent land. In 1876 he moved from his farm to Prairie City and established the banking house of which he is now the head. This has had a prosperous history from the beginning, and the wealthy men of this county know that when their money enters his bank it is in safe hands. Many have left their money with him without interest when they could get good interest at other banks, but security was what they wanted principally. Mr. Zachary's has been a most remarkable career. Coming into the new state with limited means and meeting with misfortune from the start, he displayed the energy and perseverance for which he has since been noted, and by his push and remarkable foresight has amassed a quarter of a million dollars. He is no ordinary businessman. All his life he has been a Democrat, but has never aspired to or accepted any office. He is a prominent Mason and is a Knight Templar in that order. To this marriage were born seven children, as follows; R. B., in the clothing business at Colfax; James, farmer; Edward, also a farmer; Martha C., the widow of Hartwell Hayes, Emily F., single and at home, Eliza Jane, the wife of H. Cochran, who is Vice-President of the bank, and William, the eldest, a farmer. p. 245.