Andrew Bennett

BENNETT, GIDEON

Posted By: Judy Wight Branson (email)
Date: 9/15/2004 at 09:36:16

“The History of Madison County, Iowa”
Union Historical Company, Des Moines, 1879
page 600

Andrew Bennett is a Douglas townshp farmer living on Section 2, P.O. Winterset. He owns 130 acres of land. He married Miss Mary E. Gideon in 1860 and they have seven children living: Zetta, Orzella, Sierra Nevada, Marquis A., Alfred L., Friend, George N. and Gerald.

Mr. Bennett is an intelligent, affable man, who stands high in the estimation of his neighbors. He has held various offices of trust in the township and has been a member of the board of supervisors several times.
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“History of Madison County Iowa and Its People”
Herman A. Mueller, Supervising Editor
Chicago, The S. J. Clarke Publishing Company, 1915

Andrew and Mary (Gideon) Bennett were born respectively in Marion county, Indiana, and in Ohio. His birth occurred October 22, 1835, and his death in Madison county, Iowa, on the 14th of December, 1905, but Mary, who was born April 24, 1841, is still living here.

Andrew’s father, Jacob Bennett, was born in Fayette, Pennsylvania, in 1800 and in 1851 removed to this county from Indiana, where he had previously settled, making the trip with ox teams and wagons. He was well-to-do and brought five thousand dollars in gold with him. Generosity was one of his salient characteristics and at times when his neighbors had no crops, nor money with which to buy, he gave them of his store, although he might have sold his grain elsewhere at a dollar a bushel. He became an extensive landowner, holding title to over one thousand acres. He was very public-spirited and took an active part in the betterment of conditions in his locality. He gave the ground for the first school building in Madison township and served as supervisor. His life was devoted to agricultural pursuits and he made further improvements on his place from time to time. His first residence was a log cabin, in which he lived in true pioneer fashion.

His son Andrew drove a team on the journey to Iowa and in the early days when deer and elk were plentiful he caught several young elk and broke them to drive. Many times he drove them into Winterset but finally traded them to his brother in Missouri for mules. Like his father, he had no political aspirations but was very active and energetic and did much to assist his poor neighbors. The big snow storm of 1855 caused the family considerable hardship and there were the usual discomforts of living in an unsettled region. There were eighteen children in the family, of whom he was the fifth in order of birth.

Mary (Gideon) Bennett’s parents were Henry and Nancy Gideon, who came to Iowa in October, 1854. The father was born September 28, 1798, and the mother September 28, 1806. They had a family of eleven children, nine sons and two daughters, all of whom were born in Ohio, namely: Jacob; Alfred; Sarah Ann, who died August 3, 1894; Joseph; James, who died August 31, 1903; Peter; Valentine; Sanford, who died December 28, 1902; David, who died October 3, 1861; Mary E.; and Oliver. The father of these children died on the 22d of November, 1882, and the mother passed away July 5, 1869.

Their son Oliver was married October 16, 1867, to Mary E. Kerrick, by whom he had five children, four sons and one daughter. They made their home on the banks of North river and during the flood of July 4, 1876, their house was washed away and the wife and three children were drowned. Oliver, with the two remaining children, managed to hold on to a little green sapling all night before he was rescued by a neighbor, William Terry. A search was then made for the other members of the family, and the wife and two children were found about a mile down the stream, but the body of the baby was not recovered until the following day. They were all laid to rest in what is known as the Bennett graveyard.

Transcriber's note: The 1915 biography of Andrew was extracted from that of his son, Alfred. It has been edited for readability.

Madison Biographies maintained by Linda Griffith Smith.
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