Vandike, Wm. R.

VANDIKE, CUSHATT, AULTMAN, RIDGEWAY, LOGSDON, THOMPSON, BAIR

Posted By: Volunteer Transcriber
Date: 12/3/2008 at 10:20:49

VANDIKE, Wm. R.

Farmer; Sec. 27; P. O. Baxter; born in Delaware Co., Ohio, Oct. 1, 1835. Married Miss Sarah F. CUSHATT in Jasper Co., Iowa; she was born in Kentucky Sept. 4, 1842; they had six children; three are living - John A., Henry Walter and Austa Jane; Charles Andrew died at 2 years of age; Della died at 6 years; Samuel Clarence died at 2 years. Has 150 acres of land, mostly improved, valued at $30 per acre; has 500 apple trees, and other small fruits. Has held the office of Secretary of the School Board several years. Mr. VANDIKE followed school teaching eighteen terms; run a ditcher several years, and run a threshing machine twelve seasons. They are members of the M. E. Church, and he is a member of the A., F. and A. M. Lodge. Mr. VANDIKE moved into Iowa in August, 1856; he came here in limited circumstances, and has given his attention to the advancement of education; is a man with unbounded generosity, has the respect of all that know him, a great reader, a very hard-working man and a worthy citizen. ~ "Independence Township Biographies," The History of Jasper County, Iowa, (Chicago: Western Historical Company, 1878)
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Vandike, W. R.

All honor is due the courageous pioneers who were willing to leave their ancestral homes in the East and come to the new State of Iowa when it was little known to civilization, when the wild beasts of various types and scarcely less wilder tribes of red men here held the balance of power. They were truly hardy spirits, but they braved the dangers, underwent the hardships always incident to pioneer life and in due course of time became well established, making the wild plains blossom and bring forth abundant harvests and now their homes and those of the latter generation are seen on every hand, all pleasant and inviting. Of this worthy band of early settlers the name of W. R. Vandike is inseparably linked with the early history of the locality of which this volume treats. He was born in Delaware County, Ohio, October 1, 1835, and there he spent his early childhood, leaving his native hills on August 26, 1856, and came by team in a tedious overland journey to Jasper County, Iowa, and he has been a continuous resident here ever since. His first settlement was made in Clear Creek Township and his life has been, for the most part, spent in agricultural and educational pursuits, in which he has met with very satisfactory results. In the spring of 1891 he with his estimable helpmate retired from the active duties of the farm and moved to their cozy home in the town of Baxter, where they are enjoying the fruits of their former years of endeavor.

Mr. Vandike is the son of John and Elizabeth (Aultman) Vandike, the father a native of Saline County, New Jersey, and the mother was born in Pennsylvania, grew to womanhood in Ohio and died in 1851. The father of John Vandike having died when the latter was quite young, he was reared by his grandfather near Philadelphia, and his death occurred in Benton County, Iowa, in 1880. His family consisted of seven children, namely: Henry W., ex-mayor of Belle Plaine, Iowa, died there in August 1899, at the age of eighty years; Jane B. Crawford died when twenty-five years old; Hanna A. Ridgeway died in California in June 1909, at the age of seventy-seven years; W. R., of this review; J. P. lives near Elberon, Iowa; S. P., who was County Auditor of Benton County, Iowa, for five years, lives at Belle Plaine, this state; Mary E. Walton lives in Custer County, Nebraska.

W. R. Vandike grew up on the home farm and worked hard when a boy. He was married in Independence Township, this county, on November 1, 1860, to Sarah F. Cushatt, who was born in Hart County, Kentucky, September 4, 1842. Her father, Aquilla Cushatt, was born in Alabama in 1816. He migrated to North Carolina, thence to Kentucky, later to Jasper County, Iowa, as a pioneer. When the Civil War came on he enlisted for service in the Union Army in Company I, Tenth Iowa Volunteer Infantry, and served four years, receiving an honorable discharge, after which he returned to agricultural pursuits; his death occurred in Independence Township, this county, on April 14, 1889. He married Osee Logsdon, who was born in Hart County, Kentucky, and died in Baxter, Iowa, February 3, 1889. They settled in Jasper County in 1848, when the country was wild and there were few settlers. There were eleven children in their family, all but four dying when quite young; those who grew to maturity were Sarah F., wife of Mr. Vandike, of this review; Andrew, born March 19, 1844, is living in Colorado; Robert W. was born July 30, 1852, and he lives in Jasper County, Iowa; Isabelle Thompson, born July 14, 1855, died at Rocky Ford, Colorado, February 14, 1909.

To Mr. and Mrs. Vandike seven children have been born, four of whom died in infancy; those living are John Aquilla, born in Jasper County July 29, 1861, who, after completing the common school work, entered the University of Iowa, from which he was graduated, later taking up teaching as a profession, at which he has been very successful and was formerly superintendent of schools at Plainview, Wabasha, Fergus Falls, Minnesota, and he is at present superintendent of schools at Coleraine, that state. H. Walter Vandike was born November 6, 1868, was graduated from the common schools, later attended college at Iowa City and Mt. Vernon; he became an actor and has met with a large degree of success. Austa Jane Bair, born December 11, 1874, is residing in Newton, Iowa.

These children were all reared in Independence Township. Their father gave them every advantage of education and was of much assistance to them personally in this, for he was for a long period one of the leading educators of this locality, having taught twenty-four terms, during which time his services were in great demand and he was universally popular with both pupils and patrons. He has always been a student, has kept well abreast of the times on all current questions. He has all his life manifested an abiding interest in public school work and has been a director for many terms. Perhaps few have done so much for local educational affairs as he. He was president of the board of education at Baxter for a period of twenty years, and still holds that office, and was secretary of Independence Township for an equal period. He has been justice of the peace for ten years, and assessor of the town for the same length of time. He has filled all public trusts in a manner that has reflected much credit to himself and satisfaction to all concerned.

This worthy and highly esteemed pioneer couple moved to Baxter in 1891, where they own nine acres of valuable land besides a commodious and neatly furnished home. Here they celebrated their golden wedding on November 1, 1910. Mr. Vandike is a member of Unit Lodge No. 520, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, at Baxter and he has been master of the same for two years. ersonally, he is well informed, public-spirited, broad and liberal-minded, charitable and advocates the simple life. Politically, he is a Democrat and belongs to the Congregational Church. It is doubtful if any couple in Jasper County can claim a broader acquaintance or more friends than they. It is interesting to hear them recall reminiscences of pioneer days and of the subsequent work in bringing this favored section up to a level of any in the great Hawkeye Commonwealth. Past and Present of Jasper County Iowa B. F. Bowden & Company, Indianapolis, IN, 1912 Page 1232.