WOLFE, Reece - 1912 Bio (1841-1871)

WOLFE, ELLIOTT, LOCK, BOAGE, BENNETT, ESTES, DELLINGER, STREET

Posted By: Debbie Nash (email)
Date: 7/22/2003 at 20:44:25

From the “History of Jefferson County, Iowa” – 1912, Volume II
Pages 361 – 362

REECE WOLFE

“Many of the early settlers of Jefferson county have passed away and it is a public duty and honor to perpetuate the memory of these men who endured the hardships of the pioneer and fulfilled their obligations to posterity by opening up new territories. The greater number of these pioneers were men of sterling worth, who lived and worked for the welfare of their families and community without seeking the applause of the outer world. Such a man was Reece WOLFE, whose birth occurred in Greene county, Ohio, on March 17, 1841, his parents being William and Margaret (ELLIOTT) WOLFE. The father was a native of New York state and in early life was engaged in school-teaching in Greene county, Ohio, but after coming to Iowa in the late ‘50s took up farming. He settled in Keokuk county, two miles northwest of Packwood, just across the line from Jefferson county, and here the son spent his early life, attending the district school and assisting his father on the home place. The latter passed away in 1863 and the mother’s death occurred in 1872.

When Reece WOLFE was twenty-one years of age he enlisted in Company F, Seventeenth Iowa Volunteer Infantry, at Mount Pleasant, Iowa, and served for three years, after which he again enlisted and was in service until the close of the war. He took part in many important engagements and skirmishes, among them being the battle of Jacksonville and the siege of Vicksburg. At one time he was taken prisoner and sent to Andersonville but was later transferred to Libby Prison, from which place he was exchanged just as the war drew to a close. During his service he was wounded only once but had many narrow escapes, in one engagement his hat being pierced by bullets five times although he received no injury. After the close of hostilities, in 1865, he returned to his father’s farm in Keokuk county but the same year removed to Polk township, Jefferson county, where he purchased eighty acres, upon which he resided until his death on the 10th of June, 1871.

On the 20th of November, 1865, Mr. WOLFE was married to Jane LOCK, a daughter of William and Mary (BOAGE) LOCK, both of whom were born in England, the former being of Scotch and the latter of English descent. They came to the United States in 1851 and located in Pennsylvania, near Pittsburg, where they lived for a short time before coming to Black Hawk township, Jefferson county, Iowa, and taking up their residence on a farm which he secured from the United States government by patent. Mr. LOCK was one of the pioneers of the township and resided upon his original farm until his death, which occurred in 1901. His widow still makes her home upon this place. Their eldest son, John B. LOCK, enlisted at the age of nineteen years and served in the Civil war three years in the Nineteenth Regiment of the Iowa Volunteer Infantry. To Mr. and Mrs. WOLFE three children were born. Margaret, the eldest, was married in 1885 to John BENNETT, and they are the parents of five children: Ray, who married Inez ESTES and is an agriculturist of Keokuk county; and Treba, Genevieve, Lela and Ava, all attending school in district No. 7 of Polk township. Mary Jane, the second member of the family was married in 1890 to Ed DELLINGER, a farmer of Davis county, and to them six children have been born, William, Ralph, Vera, Ada, Bernie and Pearl. Addie, the youngest, was married in 1889 to Alvin STREET, an agriculturist of Keokuk county, and they are the parents of one child, Leotta.

In politics, Mr. WOLFE cast his vote for the republican party and, although he never sought office, he took a keen interest in the issues of the day and did what he could to further all local measures relating to the improvement of the county. Both Mr. and Mrs. WOLFE held membership in the Pleasant Hill Methodist Episcopal church of Polk township. Throughout his life he was quiet and unassuming and devoted his leisure hours to the family circle rather than to lodges and social gatherings, but he held the respect and admiration which a community gives to its citizens who are strongest morally and most loyal and active industrially."

I am copying this information for the benefit of genealogical research and am not related to said individuals.