Hon. Moses Dean (1815-1904)

DEAN, EVANS, WHIPPLE

Posted By: Dorian Myhre (email)
Date: 10/12/2015 at 22:41:09

From Nevada Representative January 27, 1904

Hon. Moses Dean.

Mention was made in these columns last week of the death of Moses Dean, father of Arthur Dean of this city, at the age of almost 89 which event occurred at Sycamore, Illinois, January 18, 1904.

Mr. Dean's frequent and long visits to Story county won for him such acquaintance and esteem, that interest will be found in further facts concerning his ancestry and life which, per favor of Mr. Arthur Dean, we glean from "The History of De Kalb County, Illinois."

Moses Dean was of English lineage, and his length of years and staunchness of character seem also to have been traits of his ancestors. His great grand father, Moses Dean, was a preacher of note an Hartford, Connecticut, and reached the age of 104 years. His grandfather, Solomon Dean, was a soldier of the Revolution, a member of an engineering corps known in those days as "Sappers and Miners," was with the command of Washington at Newburg, Valley Forge and Brandywine, and witnessed the surrender of Cornwallis at Yorktown. His father, Reuben Dean, served in the War of 1812; and his maternal ancestors were pioneers, some of whom became almost centenarians.

Moses Dean, the subject of this sketch, was born in Sullivan county, N. Y., January 27, 1815. In his young manhood he worked on the paternal acres summers and taught school winters after the manner of the enterprising scion of the farm, till, at the age of twenty-five, he became the husband of Miss Rachel Evans. Thence occupation took in successively the varied experiences of farming, hotel keeping, milling, mercantile business and tanning, till, in 1856, he became a Westerner, devoted to improved agriculture and the raising of improved stock in De Kalb county, Illinois. Fourteen hundred acres in that county became the more valuable for his ownership, as have 500 acres in Story county, Iowa; and a plat of 20 acres in the city of Sycamore perpetuates his name. He likewise engaged in banking, but never loosed his hold on the interest in land which had grown with his growth and strengthened with his strength. He served the public at the head of the city government, on the board of education, as president of the county agricultural society, as member of the Illinois State Board of Agriculture and in many minor positions. His first Presidential vote was cast for Martin Van Buren, During the Rebellion he was a War Democrat, and he continued to be conservative counselor to the ranks of Democracy. His denominational affiliations were with the Universalists and his contribution to religious work were generous and wide. He indulged his taste for travel and for literature, and wrote for the publication a series of descriptive letters from California which are a valued legacy. His wife preceded him to the other life twenty years ago; his eldest son, Ira Dean, a member of the 17th Illinois Cavalry, lost his life during the Indian disturbances of 1865, and one of his daughters, Mrs. Mary Whipple, passed away six years ago.

Sturdy, energetic, conservative, generous and kind, Mr. Dean was a upbuilder of the community and of the state, and the ranks of worthy citizenship, as well as of family affection, regret his loss.