Tostevin, Thomas

TOSTEVIN

Posted By: Karon Velau (email)
Date: 9/22/2019 at 20:46:11

Thomas Tostevin

(From the 1891 Biographical History of Pottawattamie County, Iowa, p.460)
THOMAS TOSTEVIN, civil and city engineer for the city of Council Bluffs, resides at No. 209 Park Avenue. He is now serving his third term in this office and has had a large experience in surveying many of the western roads and lands. Mr. TOSTEVIN was born on Guernsey (one of the group of islands south of England, known as the Norman Isles, which became part of the British Empire at the time of the Norman Conquest), on December 21, 1830, and is the son of John and Martha (LePROVOST) TOSTEVIN, also natives of that place. They trace their origin to the date of the early Norman occupation. The father of our subject came to America when a young man and resided in Germantown, Pennsylvania, for several years, after which he returned to his native isle. He there married and reared a family of seven children. When Thomas was four years old, he returned to the United States, bringing his family with him and locating in New York City. He was a firm and faithful member of the Friends' Church, and settled in that city in order to educate his children in the Quaker schools. In 1849, with his wife and two youngest children, he removed to Salem, Henry County, Iowa, that place being composed largely of the Quaker element. In 1856 he and his wife returned to New York, and died soon afterward at the home of their daughter, Mrs. Rachel L.P. ALEXANDER, in Brooklyn. They both rest in the old burial ground of the Quakers, now enclosed within the limits of Prospect Park, Brooklyn. Their children are as follows: Martha L.P., wife of George W. DAVIES, a resident of Cleveland, Ohio; John, who lives in New York city; Alfred, deceased; Rachel L.P., wife of George ALEXANDER, Brooklyn, New York; Peter L.P., formerly an architect of New York city, now deceased; Thomas and David, residents of Council Bluffs.

The subject of our sketch was educated in the Friends' College, Dutchess County, New York. In 1849 he came to Iowa with his parents, and at once commenced the practice of civil engineering. In 1854, he removed from Henry County to Pottawattamie County, where he has since made his home. He was married in Henry County, Iowa, October 31, 1852, to Miss Harriet GIBBS, a native of Summit, Schoharie County, New York, daughter of Friend and Lucinda (WETMORE) GIBBS, natives of Vermont and New York, also Quakers. Mrs. TOSTEVIN is now a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church. She was born June 17, 1832. To them nine children have been born, viz.: Clara, Charles, and Alice, deceased; Alfred and Alida; Walter J., a resident of San Francisco, California; Lou, wife of E. E. HARVEY, Denver, Colorado; Albert T., assistant city civil engineer of Council Bluffs; and Ida, wife of W. H. WAKEFIELD, Council Bluffs.

When Mr. TOSTEVIN came to Council Bluffs, it was by Government appointment to make the survey of the original squatter claims within the corporate limits of the city. He was then elected County Surveyor and served several terms, but previous to this, he had been appointed Deputy United States Surveyor of public lands in northwestern Iowa. In 1861 he was appointed both County Treasurer and Recorder to fill a vacancy one year. After that he retained in the Treasurer's office three successive terms by election, seven years in all. He was afterward elected Mayor of Council Bluffs, and the next year was elected Alderman. From 1867 to 1870 he operated a planning mill and furniture factory, which proved unprofitable. In 1870 he went to central Utah and engaged in mining gold and silver. While there, he was appointed United States Deputy Mineral Surveyor, remaining in that field until 1874. In that year, he returned to Council Bluffs. In connection with his work as surveyor, it should also be stated that, prior to his appointment to the County Treasurer's office, he went in 1857 to Southeastern Nebraska and laid out the town of Rulo, after which he was appointed by the Nebraska Legislature as Surveyor and Commissioner to locate and establish a Territorial road from Rulo to Fort Kearney. In 1876 Mr. TOSTEVIN engaged in the manufacture of a reclining chair of his invention in the city of New York, which he continued until 1879. Since then, his whole time has been devoted to his profession in Pottawattamie County. He is a stanch Republican; was a candidate for Treasurer and Recorder on the first Republican ticket placed before the people in this county. He was one of the first to organize the Union League in Council Bluffs, acting as president of the same. He was a delegate to and assistant secretary of the first railroad convention held in this state, at the capitol building in Iowa City in 1851, for a proposed railroad along the Mississippi River. It was then thought impracticable to construct a railroad running west, as the country was supposed to be too wild and barren. He was rodman on this first Iowa railroad. He made surveys on the site of Omaha, Nebraska, before anything in the form of a house had been erected there. During the war, Mr. TOSTEVIN was Captain of Artillery of the State Militia. Such, in brief, is a review of the life of one of Council Bluffs' worthy citizens.