John Hindman

CLELAND, HINDMAN

Posted By: Judy Wight Branson (email)
Date: 10/12/2005 at 20:52:18

John Hindman, a retired farmer of East Peru and an honored veteran of the Civil war, was born on the 10th of December, 1840, in Brooke county, West Virginia a son of William and Jane (Cleland) Hindman. The father was born in Pennsylvania of Irish stock and the mother was a native of County Antrim, Ireland When fifteen years of age she accompanied her parents to America and her marriage occurred in West Virginia. In 1844 Mr. and Mrs. Hindman went to Washington county, Ohio, where she passed away in 1852. In 1854 Mr. Hindman removed with his family to Madison county, Iowa, and the following year entered four hundred acres of land in Walnut and Scott townships. Later he traded that property for two hundred acres on section 15, Walnut township, on Clanton Creek. He died there in September, 1868, but representatives of the family lived on that farm for a half century. To him and his wife were born the following children besides our subject: James, deceased; William, who has passed away, leaving a son, Frank, now a farmer of Nance county, Nebraska; Robert, Elizabeth, Mary, Sarah Jane and Margaret, all deceased; and Rebecca, who makes her home with our subject. She was born on the 24th of April, 1846, and is the youngest of the family.

John Hindman as a boy attended the Isaac Baker school, which was taught by Samuel Ruby, of Winterset. The greater part of his time, however, was taken up by assisting his father with the work of the farm until the 15th of August, 1862 when he answered the call of the president for troops by enlisting in Company A Thirty-ninth Regiment, Iowa Volunteer Infantry under Colonel Cummins The command went into rendezvous at Des Moines and later was sent to Davenport. On Christmas Day, of that year, it left the state for active service and on New Year's Day, 1863, our subject took part in the battle of Parkers Crossroads in Tennessee. He also fought in the battles of Stone River, Lookout Mountain and Missionary Ridge and was with Sherman in his march upon Atlanta. He was in the midst of much hard fighting, but escaped being wounded. He participated in the Grand Review at Washington, D. C., and was mustered out of the service on the 5th of June, 1865. The following day he started for Iowa and was discharged at Clinton, this state. He returned home and resumed agricultural work. At the death of his father he took charge of the farm and continued to operate it until 1913. He was quite successful as an agriculturist and accumulated a competence that enabled him in that year to sell the farm, which comprised one hundred and seventy acres, and to move to East Peru, where he and his sister Rebecca are now residing. In 1855 he and his brother William brought into the county the second threshing outfit ever used here. They had purchased it the year previous and first utilized it in threshing in the vicinity of Oskaloosa. For three years they did all of the threshing between Grand River and Indianola and the machine was considered a wonderful invention, although it would now seem very primitive, as it was of the old chaff piler pattern. While he was actively engaged in the work of the farm our subject raised thoroughbred shorthorn cattle and Berkshire hogs, having probably the best stock in the county. On 'the 8th of May, 1911, his home was destroyed by fire, burning to the ground, and but little of the furniture was saved. He immediately rebuilt, erecting a commodious and well designed residence.

Mr. Hindman and his sister are both members of the United Brethren church and are highly esteemed residents of the county, in which they have lived for a half century. He is a republican but has never felt any desire to hold office. For a number of years he was identified with the Grand Army of the Republic post at Truro, but has allowed his membership to lapse. He is public-spirited to a marked degree and was among those who gave one hundred dollars each to secure the first railroad in Winterset, realizing the immense advantage that would accrue to the town from having rail connection with outside points.

Taken from the book, “The History of Madison County, Iowa, 1915,” by Herman Mueller.