E. S. Gould

GOULD, LIVINGSTON, LINDSAY, BOONE, BAIRD, GRAHAM, BROWNFIELD, PRICE, CARSON

Posted By: Fran Hunt, Volunteer
Date: 10/5/2001 at 06:51:08

From the Portrait and Biographical Album of Jefferson and Van Buren Counties – 1890
E.S. GOULD
E. S. Gould, a farmer of Union Township, Van Buren County, residing on Section 19, was born on a farm in Franklin County, Ohio, on November 1, 1831, and is a son of Samuel and Mary Livingston Gould, natives of Washington county, New York, the former born in October of 1894, and the latter August 15, 1800. They were married in the Empire State, and in 1827 removed to Franklin County, Ohio, where they experienced all the toil and hardships incident to hewing out a farm from the midst of a heavy beech and oak forest. The trials of pioneer life became familiar to them, and in a measure fitted them for a similar experience in Iowa, where they arrived in the autumn of 1846. They located in Lick Creek Township, Van Buren County, where during the remainder of their lives they continued to make their homes, exerting an influence for good in the community, which has not yet ceased to have its effect. Both are life-long members of the United Presbyterian Church, and gave liberally of their means to the support of the Gospel. For many years he was a Ruling Elder. Politically he was a Whig until the rise of the anti-slavery party, when, his sympathies reaching out to the oppressed of every class and especially to those held down by the galling chains of servitude, he took an active part in the promotion of the scheme which came to be known as the Underground Railroad. He considered it wrong that a man should be deprived of his property without compensation, but he accounted it a far greater wrong that men should be deprived of their God-given liberty without their consent. He voted for James G. Birney, the Abolition candidate, and continued to support that party until it was merged into the Republican Party, which he thenceforth identified himself. He died March 24, 1873, and his wife died April 24, 1879. In their family were five children: Mrs. Agnes Lindsay and Mrs. H. Boone reside in Van Buren County; Mrs. Margaret C. Baird, is living in Madison County Iowa; and Mrs. Mary A. Graham makes her home in Lamar Colorado.
E.S. Gould, the other member of the family, and the only son yet living, was the second in order of birth, and in the usual manner of farmer lads the days of his boyhood and youth were spent. Mid play and work his time was divided and in the pioneer schoolroom of that day he acquired a limited education. A marriage ceremony performed on December 1, 1859, united his destiny with that of Miss Rebecca Brownfield, a native of Decatur County, Indiana, born April 5, 1840, and a daughter of Robert and Sarah Price Brownfield, whose residence in this county dates from 1847. Upon their marriage they settled upon the farm where they still reside, and ten children came to gladden their presence, of whom seven are yet living—Agnes, wife of W.L. Carson, a resident of Van Buren County; Emma, Cora, John, Ruth, Orpha and Robert who are yet with their parents.
Farming has been the life work of Mr. Gould, and he is now the owner of a rich tract of land of one hundred and ninety-seven and one half acres, which is under a high state of cultivation and well improved. He also raises a good grade of stock, and his barns and outbuildings, necessary to the care of the same, are in keeping with the advanced ideas of the nineteenth century. Politically, he was a strong anti-slavery advocate before the war, and his services were often called into requisition in transporting passengers on the Underground Railroad, and although only a youth, he felt that he had a part to play in “setting the captive free.” He is a warm advocate of prohibition as a patty movement, is a valued citizen, and one who manifests a commendable interest in such enterprises as are calculated to build up the community and promote the general welfare.
I am not related, and am only copying this for the information of those who might find this person in their family.