Samuel M. Hightower (1928)

HIGHTOWER, HOCKETT, MILLS, SMITH, THOMPSON, WILLIAMS

Posted By: Pat Hochstetler
Date: 10/14/2007 at 08:49:46

Earlham Library Obituary Collection
Earlham, Iowa
October 1928

PIONEER RESIDENT IS CALLED HOME

Mr. Samuel Hightower Passed Away Saturday Evening in His 90th Year. Tribute to Man Who Saw Earlham Grow From Tiny Village, to Present Size.

To live and serve for almost ninety years and with the passing of the years grown more serene, more gentle, more appreciative of friends and loved ones and their ministries, more confident that life is precious and worthwhile, more trustful of a Heavenly Father’s never failing love and care and more assured that at the end of the way there was eternal joy and reward, reveals the greatness of the soul and proves that such a life was one long journey upward, a continuous reaching out for the highest and best in life, and that the life had been a preparation for the eternal years.

With the passing of Samuel Hightower on October 20, 1928, earth lost one such a soul and Heaven to loved ones and friends will be sweeter and more beautiful, more to be desired because of his entrance through its shining portals. It will be easier for us some day to let go this life and go to be with the multitude who have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.

Samuel Hightower son of John and Rachel Mills Hightower, was born in Tennessee on November 10, 1838. When five years of age he with his parents came by covered wagon to Salem, Henry County, Iowa, and thus began a long and eventful life. Early in life he was made acquainted with some of the sorrow and struggles of life and also some of life’s compensations for it’s sorrow and losses. Soon after coming to this new country amid new surroundings and strangers, the father and sister were called by death from the home, but later the mother was married to Stephen Hockett who proved a true father to the two brothers. We can be grateful for the coming of such a type of character as this one along with the other pioneers, who brought rare gifts of person, heart and mind into our state, where to turn this wilderness into peaceful, prosperous homes called for men and women brave and strong of heart and with a fixed resolute purpose that led them on and up step by step to the realization of that purpose in spite of laborious toil, privation and hardship.

Samuel Hightower in coming to Iowa adopted it as home and became actively interested in all its doings and welfare, and he took real joy in all its progress and achievements. He came when the inventor had given only to rude primitive type of tool machinery to till the soil, reap the grain and carry on the work of a pioneer country. He saw the mode of travel evolve from the ox cart into the horse carriage, bicycle, automobile and aeroplane.

To visit with this man made Iowa history alive and real and inspired one with a greater appreciation for our inheritance. His memory reached back to the time when Iowa became a state and the first capital was located at Iowa City.

But with the toil, struggle and privation of this early pioneer there was joy and high adventure. He knew the thrill of chasing deer across the prairie, and the friendships formed in those early days were such as to outlast long years and death’s partings.

He not only in days of health kept daily interest in those about him, but in others whose lives had touched his life in the past. The friends who came here in early days were friends always.

Samuel Hightower was married to Elizabeth Smith in 1862, at Salem, Iowa. Three years later they came to the vicinity of Earlham, locating on a farm in a sparsely settled country. There was no railroad nor town of Earlham, the nearest postoffice was Adel, and Winterset the trading place. But in a few years the railroad came and the town of Earlham was located and started and much of love, interest and effort of this man has entered into the building and life of our little town. He with his family lived in the first farm purchased, which was one half mile from town and later moved to town and for many years was one of Earlham’s business men.

He was born and reared in a Quaker home and while primarily a man of home, giving to it a wealth of affection and taking great comfort in his children, rejoicing in their every accomplishment, naturally his interests were with the church of his birth and training and later from choice and he was faithful in attendance at its services and took as active interest in all its work. He was especially interested in the bible school, being a teacher for many years until declining strength and impaired hearing made it impossible to continue in that capacity. But after he could no longer attend or take active part in the work of the church, he continued to give up his means and take great interest in its work.

Four children, three daughters and one son came into the home of Samuel and Elizabeth Hightower and these parents had a wealth of affection for these and each other. There dwelt in this home a tender spirit of helpfulness, a grace of soul which forgets self in the ministry to others. This made of home a place of joy, indeed the very joy and spirit of this man’s life.

He would have died for his children and his ardent love for the companion of fifty-four years and through all those years and he lore a tender memory of her whom he lost in 1916 and whom he now has found again.

Samuel Hightower has been in failing health the past four or five years, but with the loving faithful care of a true hearted daughter, the unusual strength of so many years and a gracious Heavenly Father’s love and care which held through all the years, he continued to be up in the home until a few weeks ago. He began to fail rapidly and during these weeks the two daughters living at Earlham watched by his bedside and gave all that loving hearts could give for his every comfort and care, but on October 20, 1928 he passed from works to reward.

In his death he leaves one son Clyde of Eagle Rock, Calif., three daughters Clara Thompson, Los Angeles, Calif., Leona Williams and Alice Hightower, of Earlham, Iowa; four grandchildren, and two great grand children and many who claimed him as a friend.

Funeral services were held from the Friends Church on October 22nd at 2:00 p.m. conducted by the pastor S. N. Hester, assisted by Lenna Hadley.

Note: Burial was made in the Earlham cemetery.
_________________________

Winterset Madisonian
Winterset, Iowa
Thursday, October 25, 1928
Page 1

Death of Samuel Hightower

Samuel Hightower, a prominent pioneer citizen of Earlham, passed away Saturday, October 20th at the age of 90 years. He was a son of John and Rachel Hightower, and was born in Tennessee on November 10, 1838. When five years of age, he with his parents came by covered wagon to Iowa and located-----. His mother married Stephen Hockett.

Mr. Hightower was married to Elizabeth Smith in 1862, and three years later they came to the vicinity of Earlham, locating on a farm nearby. At that time there was no railroad nor town of Earlham, the nearest post offices being Adel and Winterset. After the town of Earlham was settled, Mr. Hightower became one of the town’s prominent citizens. The family took an active interest in the affairs of the Quaker church.

Four children were born to this couple and they survive their father, Mrs. Hightower having died in 1916. The children are one son: Clyde, of Eagle Rock, California; and three daughters, Clara Thompson of Los Angeles, California; Leona Williams and Alice Hightower of Earlham. He is also survived by four grandchildren and two great grandchildren.

The Rev. Simon Hester conducted the funeral services at the Friends church in Earlham, and Mrs. Lenna Hadley read the obituary. Interment was made in the Earlham cemetery.

Gravesite
 

Madison Obituaries maintained by Linda Griffith Smith.
WebBBS 4.33 Genealogy Modification Package by WebJourneymen