Emanuel Wolverton

CHOATE, FORD, JOHNSON, KITT, SULGROVE, WOLVERTON

Posted By: Judy Wight Branson (email)
Date: 10/14/2005 at 10:38:25

“History of Madison County Iowa and Its People”
Herman A. Mueller, Supervising Editor
Chicago, The S. J. Clarke Publishing Company, 1915

Emanuel Wolverton, a farmer of Jackson township, was born on the 10th of April, 1863, a son of George W. and Minerva (Sulgrove) Wolverton, the former born in Ohio on the 2d of December, 1839, and the latter in Marion county, Indiana, November 2, 1842. The father came with his stepfather, Irvin Baum, to Madison county, Iowa, in 1846, making the journey with ox teams and encountering many difficulties on the way. Settlement was made in Douglas township and the first task was to break the sod, as the land taken up was still in its natural condition. The nearest neighbors were a few miles away, Indians were plentiful and there was an abundance of all sorts of game. There was little to indicate the wonderful progress that the next half century was to bring about and there was much to make the life of the early pioneer one requiring much courage and determination. Added to the necessity of arduous labor was the discomfort of living in a small house and of doing without most of the conveniences of life. There was also a sense of loneliness and of isolation that was at times very depressing. However, the pioneers allowed nothing to dissuade them from their purpose of developing the land and making homes for their families and most of them lived to see their dreams fully realized. When George W. Wolverton was married he and his bride used a dry-goods box for a table and their other furniture was equally crude, the bed being made by fastening two boards to adjoining walls of the house, the boards forming two sides of the bed and the walls the other two, and by running ropes from one wall to the opposite board. There were then no schools or churches but as soon as possible these were provided for. Mr. Wolverton enlisted in a company of Home Guards but never saw active service. He devoted his entire time to farming in his later years but in early manhood also freighted goods to the west. He was a member of the Church of Christ and his influence was always on the side of right and justice, although he never sought to figure prominently in public affairs, being of a retiring disposition. He passed away in 1889, when about fifty years of age.

Emanuel Wolverton received a common-school education and during his boyhood and youth was also trained in agricultural work. When twenty-one years of age he began farming on his own account and has continued to follow that occupation, operating a fine farm of one hundred acres. He is energetic and practical and his income from his land is a gratifying one. Mr. Wolverton has been twice married, his first union being with Miss Minnie Johnson, who died, leaving a son, Earl, who is now farming in Madison county. He married Stella Kitt, and has three children, Merl, Roy and Daisy. For his second wife Mr. Wolverton married Miss Clara Ford, a native of this county and a daughter of William Miner and Diana (Stickler) Ford, the former born on the 28th of July, 1832, in Virginia, and the latter on the 8th of September, 1833. Both have passed away, the death of the mother occurring on Christmas Day, 1877. Mr. Ford farmed in Indiana, where in 1854 he was married but soon after that event he and his bride came to Madison county, Iowa, making the journey with ox teams. Here they found conditions those of a pioneer region He began farming in Jackson township and became the owner of four hundred acres of excellent land. Being very progressive, he was one of the first men to raise pure bred shorthorns, and he fed, bought, sold and shipped cattle, deriving a handsome profit from his operations in those lines, and he also raised good horses. He was one of the organizers of the West Star Methodist Episcopal church of Douglas township and took an active part in all movements that sought the welfare of the community. He had nine children, of whom Mrs Wolverton is the eighth in order of birth. By her marriage she has become the mother of two sons: Ray, a farmer of Jackson township, who married Miss Elna Choate; and Ott, who is assisting his father with the farm work.

Mr. Wolverton leans toward the Prohibition party but is not an aspirant for public office. He is a member of the Church of Christ and takes a great interest in furthering the work of Early Chapel. He is a native of Jackson township, in which he resides, and is a representative of one of the earliest pioneer families of the county. It is not strange, therefore, that he has identified himself with the welfare of the county and has done much to promote its development along both material and moral lines.

Madison Biographies maintained by Linda Griffith Smith.
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