Hezekiah G. Doolittle

DOOLITTLE, SMITH, WALTERS, ALLEN, WYNNE

Posted By: Volunteer Transcriber
Date: 3/5/2007 at 21:15:11

Biographies from the 1914 "Past and Present of O'Brien and Osceola Counties of Iowa"

HEZEKIAH G. DOOLITTLE.

One of the finest and most distinguished men of Osceola county is Hezekiah G. Doolittle, a man who has been as intimately associated with the history of the county as any other resident. There is no phase of the history of the county with which he is not familiar and for this reason the biography of his life should be of intense interest to everyone in the county. He was born in Evans, Erie county, New York, June 18, 1838, and is the son of Anson S. and Frances (Smith) Doolittle. Anson Doolittle was born in Pine Creek, Delaware county, New York, February 28, 1809, while his wife was born in the same town August 25, 1810. Their marriage occurred in Bovina, Delaware county, New York, June 14, 1832.

The children of Anson and Frances Doolittle are as follows: Julia A., of Bovina, Delaware county, New York, born November 11, 1833, and now a resident of Sibley. Iowa; Houston A., born September 25, 1836, in Evans, New York, and now a resident of Sibley; Hezekiah G., with whom this narrative deals; Caroline R., born August 4, 1840, in Byron, New York, and now a resident of Fayette county, Iowa; William A., born in Oakfield, New York, October 19, 1842, and now a resident of Sibley; Charles S., born in Oakfield, New York, November 10, 1845, and now resides in Florida, near Tampa; Addison K., born in Aurora, Illinois, November 18, 1847, and died November 6, 1895, in Indian Territory; Jonathan A., born January, 1849, at Bradford, Illinois, and died in infancy; Albert G., born in Grand Detour, February 20, 1851, and died February 7, 1899; Esther Melinda, born August 19, 1853, and died in infancy, and Dayton S. and Fremont G., twins, who were born in New Amsterdam, Wisconsin, August 19, 1856, and are both deceased.

The Doolittles left New York state in 1846 and located at Aurora, Illinois. Anson Doolittle was a wagon-maker by trade. In 1850 the family moved to Bradford, Lee county, Illinois, and still later to Grand Detour, Illinois. In 1856 they settled in New Amsterdam, Wisconsin, and three years later moved to Delhi, Delaware county, Iowa. The parents later moved to Earlville, Delaware county, where they lived for twenty-two years and then moved to Osceola county, where they lived seven years, moving to Hancock county in 1888. Mrs. Anson Doolittle died in March, 1898, and Anson Doolittle in 1901.

H. G. Doolittle enlisted July 15, 1861, in Delaware county, Iowa, in Company K, Fifth Regiment Iowa Volunteer Infantry, and served over three years. He was in the battles of New Madrid, Island No. Ten, Pittsburg Landing, siege of Corinth, Itika, and was wounded in the right leg at the latter battle. The bullet passed through his leg and he was laid up three months in the hospital at Jackson, Tennessee. He later participated in the battles at Fort Gibson, Champion's Hill, Baker's Creek and all of the fighting around Vicksburg up until it was finally captured on July 4, 1863. He was then transferred to the East and followed Sherman to Chattanooga, participating in the battles of Chattanooga, Lookout Mountain and Missionary Ridge. He was captured at the battle of Missionary Ridge and taken, to the Rebel prison at Belle Island near Richmond. He was captured on November 25th and escaped on March 16, 1864, by cutting a hole in the bottom of a railroad car, while being transferred to Andersonville in Georgia. He and two others made their thrilling escape at Gaston, North Carolina, and spent the next twenty-four days in the swamps. On April 8th they arrived at Suffolk, Virginia, wading continuously through swamps for eighteen days during the rainy time of the year. They finally reached the Union line and in the summer of 1864 he was sent back to Chattanooga and thence to the camp at Indian Creek, and finally discharged at Chattanooga, July 30, 1864. He was elected sergeant of his company after being mustered in and was appointed first sergeant in 1863.

Immediately after the war Mr. Doolittle returned to Delaware county. Iowa, and was elected county surveyor, serving in that capacity until 1871. In the spring of that year he came to Osceola county, arriving on the first day of May, and spent the summer as a surveyor, locating the claims, of the settlers who were fast arriving. On July 4, 1871, a convention was called 011 section 24, township 99, range 42, on Culver's homestead, for the purpose of nominating county officers. Mr. Doolittle was made the chairman of the assembled settlers and F. M. Robinson was elected as secretary. The convention nominated A. M. Culver, Horace Fenton and Mr. Spalding for county supervisors. Captain Huff for treasurer, F. M. Robinson for auditor, Frank Messenger for sheriff, D. L. McCausland for recorder, and C. M. Brooks for clerk. It is interesting to note in connection with this convention that, a gang later came into the county and nominated Culver for treasurer and looted the county to the extent of twenty-two thousand dollars the first year.

After his experience in Osceola county as surveyor, in 1871, Mr. Doolittle went back to Delaware county where he taught school during the following winter and returned again in the spring. He was chairman of the first grand jury in Osceola county in the spring of 1872, when the grand jury returned twenty-two indictments against the gangsters who had been swindling for the past year. They were put under small bond of one hundred dollars each and no one was surprised when they skipped the country and never showed up again in the county.

From 1872 down to the present time Mr. Doolittle has been an important factor in the history of the county. He has served as county surveyor for twelve years, was postmaster at Sibley under. President Harrison, has been United States official weather observer since 1893, served as city assessor of Sibley two terms, was the census enumerator in 1900 for his town, served as rural carrier from 1902 to 1910 and has taught four years in the public schools of the county.

Mr. Doolittle had homesteaded on section 24, township 99, range 41, and lived here for twelve years after coming to the county. He then moved to Sibley, where he conducted a photograph gallery for the next eighteen-years. He has always taken a very prominent part in all the civic affairs of his city, as is shown by the offices which he has held. He has been an exponent of clean government and wholesome politics and has never supported anything which savors of dishonesty in municipal politics.

Mr. Doolittle was married January 12, 1885, to Alice A. Walters, the daughter of Harvey and Charlotte M. (Allen) Walters. Her parents were natives of New York and were married at Ravenna, Ohio. They subsequently settled in New Hampton, Iowa, where Alice A. was born. The Walters family came to Osceola county in 1872 and homesteaded on section 10, township 99, range 41, where they lived until 1877. The father died on August 10, 1901; the widow is still living. Harvey Walters and wife were the parents of six children: Nelson J., who is now living in the state of Washington: Sidney S., of Tacoma, Washington: Mrs. Julia T. Wynne, of Beloit, Wisconsin; Mrs. Alice A. Doolittle, the wife of the subject of this sketch; John F., born February 16, 1867, who strayed from home and was found dead two and three-fourths miles from home. He was only two years of age at the time; Willie S., the youngest of the six children born to Mr. and Mrs. Walters, is deceased. The Walters lived on the homestead farm for years and then moved to Sibley in 1877, where the father kept the Pioneer House for many years. Mr. and Mrs. Doolittle have two children living and one deceased: Jessie W., born August 5, 1888, graduated from Morning-side College and is now doing post-graduate work at the State University in Iowa City; Frances Charlotte, a graduate of Morningside College, is now teaching at Inwood. She is known among her friends as Margie Doolittle. Mr. and Mrs. Doolittle are both loyal members of the Methodist Episcopal church and Mr. Doolittle is a member of the Grand Army of the Republic and is commander of the L. G. Ireland Post at Sibley. Thus is outlined briefly the interesting career of Mr. Doolittle, a man who has been interested in his county for more than forty years, and in no position in which he has been found has he ever been delinquent to the slightest duty, and for this reason he has won the earnest approval of everyone who has known him.

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