Burton, Philander D.

BURTON, GRANT, MERRIMAN, WRIGHT

Posted By: Marilyn Holmes (email)
Date: 10/4/2012 at 17:02:11

The History of Poweshiek County Iowa
Publ. 1911
Page 516

PHILANDER D. BURTON

One of the older settlers of Poweshiek county, who for many years was actively and prominently identified not only with the agricultural but commercial development of the county is Philander D. Burton, who was born at Piketon, Ohio, on the 27th of September, 1840. His parents were William and Elizabeth (Grant) Burton, the father a native of Vermont and the mother of Connecticut. William Burton, who was a graduate of Dartmouth College, was a Presbyterian minister and a man of find mind and more than average power in the pulpit. His voice having failed, it at length became necessary for him to withdraw from his profession, and so, in 1854, in company with J.B. Grinnell and others he came west, purchasing six hundred and forty acres of land, which he expected to cultivate. He returned to Austinburg, Ohio, where he was living at that time, to dispose of his interests, intending to move his family to Iowa. However, he encountered more difficulty in settling up his affairs than he had anticipated and passed away before he had succeeded in adjusting matters so that he could move. Mr. Burton, who was sixty-eight years of age at the time of his demise on the 12th of March, 1858, was a veteran of the war of 1812. Some time after his death his wife and family came to Iowa, locating upon the farm near Grinnell, and later removing to that city, where Mrs. Burton passed away on the 1st of April, 1885.

Philander D. Burton, who was one of a family of seven children, was a lad of eight years when his parents removed from his native town to Ashtabula, Ohio, in the common schools of which city he acquired his education. Having attained manhood when the call came for troops in 1861, he enlisted in the Fourteenth Ohio Battery and went to the front on the 20th of August, that year. He saw much active service and participated in many sharp skirmishes and several notable battles, among the latter being those of Shiloh, Fort Donelson and Corinth. At Holly Spring, Mississippi, he was captured by the rebels, but paroled and sent to Memphis, Tennessee, in November, 1862, and from there to Columbus, Ohio. On the 24th of September, 1863, he was mustered out, having served a little more than two years. He then returned home, where he remained during the fall and winter, and in the spring of 1864 he and his brother, Edward came to Iowa. They did not remain here, however, but went back to Ohio and it was not until 1865 that they located permanently in Poweshiek county, where our subject and his brothers William and Theodore engaged in farming in Malcom township until 1869. William went to California in 1875 and now lives in Nebraska. In 1869 P.D. Burton purchased land in Grinnell township, two miles from the city of Grinnell, and there made his home until 1876, when he removed to Montezuma, having been elected clerk of the county court, in which capacity he served for two terms. He then embarked in the book and drug business at Grinnell, which he carried on successfully until, owing to ill health, he was compelled to withdraw from the firm of Johnson & Burton in 1884. He then removed to Armour, South Dakota, where he made his home for four years, but as the climate did not agree with him there and he had frozen his feet he returned to Iowa in 1889, purchasing land adjacent to Iowa College, Grinnell, where he now lives retired. He engaged in the real-estate business in Grinnell for five years at one time, and he was also vice president of the Grinnell Savings Bank for twelve, while he was one of the organizers of the Granger store as well as one of the directors and a stockholder.

In Madison, Ohio, on the 5th of February, 1868, was celebrated the marriage of Mr. Burton and Miss Ruby Merriman, a daughter of Dr. Andrus Merriman, of Ohio. Four children were born of this union: Frank M., a resident of Des Moines; Arthur M., who is married and living in Grinnell; Kate, the wife of the Rev. Wiley, of Fergus Falls, Minnesota; and Grace M., who graduated from Iowa College with the class of 1903, a teacher at Oberlin, Ohio. Mrs. Burton, who was a beautiful character and a woman of rare mental qualities, passed away on the 27th of May, 1893, and on the 12th of September, 1903 Mr. Burton was married in Des Moines to Miss Theresa W. Wright, of Grinnell, a daughter of William Wright, who was a farmer and veteran of the Civil war and died in New York. The family affiliate with the Congregational church and Mr. Burton is a member of Gordon Granger Post, No. 64, G.A.R., of which he was one of the organizers and has been adjutant for sixteen years. He is also entitled to membership in the society of the Sons of the War of 1812, in which conflict his father participated. The martial spirit has been prevalent in the family for several generations as the grandfather, Asa Burton, was a member of the English navy before becoming a citizen of the United States.

In his political allegiance Mr. Burton has ever been most loyal to the principles and policy of the republican party, for whose candidates he always casts his ballot. While he takes much interest in public affairs he has never actively participated in politics since retiring from the office of county clerk, to which he was elected over thirty years ago. During the forty-six years of his residence in Poweshiek county he has been much interested in observing its progress along various lines. Grinnell has delevoped from what was little more than a village in 1865 to an educational center of more than local reputation, while agriculturally the county is regarded as one of the best in the state.

A younger brother of our subject, Theodore E. Burton, was elected to the United States senate from Ohio two years ago, after having served for sixteen years in the house of representatives. Grinnell has always taken a warm interest in the career of Senator Burton as when a young man he resided here for several years, assisting his brothers in the cultivation of the homestead during the summer and attending Iowa College in the winter. Later he returned to Ohio, which was his native state, and attended Oberlin College, from which institution he was graduated.