Walter H. Vance

KNOX, VANCE, WAUCHOPE

Posted By: Judy Wight Branson (email)
Date: 8/8/2004 at 22:05:06

Walter H. Vance, who is filling the office of deputy clerk of Madison county, and makes his home in Winterset, was born in Washington county, Indiana, April 19, 1857. Tradition shows that the family comes of Scotch ancestry. The grandparents, however, were natives of West Virginia and became pioneer settlers of Indiana, in which state William M. Vance, the father of our subject, was born in the year 1818. He was reared to the occupation of farming and lived in Indiana until 1865, when he removed to Illinois. Fourteen years were there passed, at the end of which time he came to Madison county, Iowa, establishing his home in Winterset. After a time he removed to a farm in Union township and his remaining days were devoted to general agricultural pursuits. He wedded Mary M. Knox, who was born in North Carolina. She was twice married and with her first husband went to Texas, where his death occurred. She afterward returned to her parents' home in Indiana and it was there that she formed the acquaintance of Mr. Vance. Following their marriage they removed westward and in 1879 became residents of Madison county, where they both lived until called to their final rest. The death of Mr. Vance occurred when he was sixty-eight years of age, while his wife died at the age of seventy-four. They had two children, but the daughter, Sarah E., died at the age of forty years, leaving Walter H. Vance as the only surviving member of the family.

In his native state Walter H. Vance spent the first eight years of his life and then accompanied his parents on their removal to Knox county, Illinois, where he was reared to manhood upon the home farm. He attended the district schools and also the high school at Oneida, Illinois, and later he entered Monmouth College at Monmouth, Illinois, where he remained as a student for two years. In the periods not devoted to education he worked upon the home farm and was connected with farming interests in Illinois until 1878, when he made his way direct to Madison county, Iowa, taking up his abode in Madison township. He had little capital at that time and rented a farm, devoting the summer months to its cultivation, while the winter seasons were given to school teaching. He followed farming in Madison and Penn townships and for four years was in Polk county, where he took charge of a large shorthorn breeding establishment upon a farm of sixteen hundred acres, which he managed for four years. In 1892 he established his home in Winterset and taught school for two terms. In 1900 he was elected county recorder on the republican ticket and was reelected to that office in 1902. He afterward spent about three years in the study of law under a Mr. Steele and in 1908 he was appointed postmaster at Winterset, which position he continued to fill until June, 1913. Two years later, or in 1915, he was made deputy county clerk and is now filling that position. When he was upon the farm he had a large herd of shorthorn cattle. He is well informed on everything relating to stock-raising and speaks with authority on many questions bearing upon that subject.

On the 24th of December, 1880, Mr. Vance was united in marriage to Miss Lucy M. Nichols, a native of this county and a daughter of George T. and Mary (Johnson) Nichols, who arrived in Madison county in 1854 and settled in Madison township, where they spent the remainder of their days. Mr. and Mrs. Vance have become the parents of eight children: Alice P., the wife of J. M. Wauchope, of Salt Lake City, Utah; Charles R., who is in the post office at Winterset; Claude A., who is connected with the post office at Des Moines, Iowa; George V., a farmer of this county; Harry, a clerk in the post office at Winterset; and Lynn, Mary and Robert, all at home.

Mr. Vance has always voted with the republican party since age conferred upon him the right of franchise and his belief in its principles makes him one of its stanch advocates. He is a prominent Mason, holding membership in the lodge and chapter, and he has been deputy custodian of the grand chapter of Iowa, serving for one year, after which he resigned. He is likewise a member of the Knights of Pythias and he and his wife belong to the Methodist Episcopal church. Their circle of friends is almost coextensive with the circle of their acquaintance and they are both widely and favorably known in this county, where Mr. Vance has now lived for about a third of a century. He has ever worked hard, making, industry the basis of his success and advancement and many there are who esteem him highly for his genuine worth of character.

Taken from the book, “The History of Madison County, Iowa, 1915”