Dodd, Samuel P.

DODD, MILLION, STOCK, THOMPSON, DEETER, MCNORRIS, CAPRON, WALKER, SIGNS, HAND, CORBETT, TRAMEL, KENYON

Posted By: Volunteer Transcriber
Date: 8/28/2009 at 22:15:37

Dodd, Samuel P.

One of the sterling individuals who has contributed largely to the material welfare of Clear Creek Township, Jasper County, is Samuel P. Dodd, who has come down to us from the pioneer days, he having spent his life in this locality. Public spirited as a citizen and progressive in all that the term implies, he has forged his way to the front with little aid or influence from others and at the same time has performed his just share of the work of public improvement, consequently his name well deserves a place in this history.

Mr. Dodd was born at Adamson's Grove, this County, on July 18, 1852. He is the son of Joseph and Amelia (Million) Dodd, the father born in Illinois, September 27, 1817, and the mother was born in Kentucky, November 6, 1821. They came to Clear Creek Township, Jasper County, Iowa, in 1852, and settled on the wild prairie, where they developed a good farm and here they spent the rest of their lives, the father dying in the spring of 1897, his wife having preceded him to the grave on August 17, 1889. There were ten children in the Dodd family, six of whom are living, namely: Charles E., farmer of Collins Township, Story County, Iowa; Sarah J., born January 9, 1843; William, born March 23, 1845, and Mrs. Amelia Stock, are all three deceased; G. W., born September 23, 1847, is living in Washington; J. H., born February 5, 1850, is deceased; Samuel P., of this review; Frank J. lives in Clear Creek Township; Mark, born November 21, 1860, lives in Wisconsin; Fred lives in Marshall County, Iowa.
Samuel P. Dodd grew up on the home place and when he became of proper age assisted with the work, for there was plenty for all to do in bringing the raw prairie land up to a productive farm. At that time were to be seen the unbroken plains and the unscarred forests, knowing no sound save that the Indian's whoop and the wanton wail of the wild beast. There was much game. The subject can recall when deer was abundant, droves of large numbers being frequently seen going from one grove to another and wild turkeys were so abundant as to be considered almost a pest. Thither to this wild region came hundreds of poor people from the East and south, seeking homes, and these they soon found themselves in possession of, if they were willing to work. Mr. Dodd has devoted his life to agricultural pursuits and has been very successful. He is now the owner of two hundred acres of choice land in Clear Creek Township, which he has placed under modern improvements and on which he carries on general farming on a large scale. He has a modern, well furnished home and many goods farm buildings and he always keeps a good grade of live stock, in fact, he devotes considerable, time to buying and selling stock of all kinds.

Mr. Dodd has been a member of the school board in his district and he is at present treasurer of the same. Fraternally, he belongs to Unity Lodge No 520 Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, at Baxter, and of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows at Mingo. Both he and his wife are members of the Rebekah lodge, and Mrs. Dodd belongs to the Methodist Protestant Church. Politically, he is a Democrat.

On March 17, 1878, Mr. Dodd was united in marriage with Margaret Thompson, who was born in Clear Creek Township, this County, February 22, 1854. She is the daughter of Samuel and Harriet (Deeter) Thompson, the father born in Venango County, Pennsylvania, March 17, 1830; the mother's death occurred when Mrs. Dodd was an infant, and subsequently Mr. Thompson married a sister of his first wife, the second wife being known as Catherine H. Deeter. Mrs. Dodd was the only child born to the first union, but there were eleven children by the second wife, namely: Mrs. Alma McNorris of Valley Junction, Iowa; Mrs. Anna Capron is deceased; Samuel lives at Olathe, Kansas. Mrs. Lillie Walker is deceased; Mrs. Jennie Signs, of Olathe, Kansas; Mrs. Rose Hand lives in Colo, Iowa; Mrs. Sadie Corbett lives in State Center, Iowa; John lives at Clyde, Iowa; a son died in infancy. Samuel Thompson, the father, was ten years old when he moved to Wayne County, Ohio, and there he remained until 1851, when he came to Jasper County, Iowa, and he has made this section of the Hawkeye state his home ever since, being now a resident of Marshall County, owning a good farm of over two hundred acres in Clear Creek Township, Jasper County, but he now makes his home at State Center in the former County. He was a member of the famous band of "forty-niners" who went to California in search of gold in 1849, and when the Civil War came on he enlisted in Company E. Fortieth Iowa Volunteer Infantry, and served nearly three years in the Army of the Potomac, and he was wounded in Tennessee.

To Mr. and Mrs. Dodd five children have been born, three of whom are living, namely: Mrs. Blanche Tramel, born December 25, 1879, of Independence Township, this County; Maud Kenyon, born November 18, 1883, died June 21, 1903; Leo, born May 7, 1887, lives in Clear Creek Township; Jesse, born June 4, 1889, died in February 1892; Chloe, born May 17, 1894,is at home. There are six grandchildren. Past and Present of Jasper County Iowa B. F. Bowden & Company, Indianapolis, IN, 1912 Page 1109.