Colclazier, Phillip (1766-1871)

COLCLAZIER

Posted By: Karon Velau (email)
Date: 6/13/2021 at 12:37:55

PHILLIP COLCLAZIER (1766 - 1871)

Pioneer Sketches – by Leonard S. Spencer [Advocate Tribune, Indianola, Iowa, Thursday, Mar 19, 1885]
Phillip Colclazier was one of the early settlers, having come to Warren county in 1846. He was born in the “Old Dominion” [Virginia] about the year 1766, as near as the writer can gather information. Having been born in those early days, previous to the Revolutionary struggle, with no advantage for an education, he neither learned to read or write, and could scarcely keep the record of his age; but near as the writer could find out he was born in the year 1766; ten years before the great American struggle commenced between us and the mother country. He grew up a wild boy; enduring all of the privations of those early days, and in a country where education was scarcely known. Thousand like himself never learned to read or write. Yet none of these early settler ever lost their kind, friendly feeling toward their fellow back- woodsmen.
If we take history for our guide, we find the labor of those that were born during that early period, one of toil and want, all done cheerfully and with spirits that never appeared to lose their tone and elasticity. Tradition ascribes to them a series of achievements, which, if they were small in comparison with the great performances of European war they were scarcely less important; yet, if they sometimes transcend belief must always delight the imagination. The adventures which they performed have given a rich coloring to fable and have stimulated many into activity of business life. The language of song and story have been employed to do them honor. Our children are taught, in lessons that they love, to lisp the deeds and the patriotism of these bands. Many of their adventures have passed into household words, which the young of today utter with enthusiasm, much more confiding then that which they yield to the wondrous performances of Greece and Rome. They recall when spoken a long and delightful series of brilliant exploits, wild adventures by day and by night, in swamp and in thicket, sudden and strange maneuvers and a generous, unwavering ardor that never found any peril too hazardous, or any suffering too unendurable for them to forego.
In an early day, soon after Boone’s adventure from Virginia in the “Corn Cracker” [Kentucky] state, we find young Phillip emigrating to this land of “Milk and honey,” settling in what is now Fayette County, in the town of Lexington, then composed of only two houses, now a town of 16,000 inhabitants. When we look for the records, we find but little authority to prove of their early pioneer life. The history of their early settlements has been badly kept. Documentary proofs of their sufferings are but few.
With the country thinly settled and frequently overrun with the barbarous enemy, was incapable of that patient industry and persevering care which could chronicle the passing events in giving place and date to the brilliant, the gallant struggle, the individual deed of audacity, which by a stroke and in a moment secure an undying remembrance in the bosom of a people. Their fame rests very much on tradition. There is but little in the historical records to justify the strong and exciting relish with which their names are spoken and remembered throughout the country. Their battle fields were never sanguinary. Their ardor was never of a kind to make them imprudent.
Young Phillip was but a boy when his parents settled in this new country, yet he was of a robust build, strong and athletic and quick as a cat. He had a large heart and would make any sacrifice to help any one when in trouble; but would resent an insult with the forfeiture of his life. On their arrival here they had to subdue the forest; of itself this implied the labor of a Hercules.
Accommodating themselves with a patient courage to the necessities before them, they cheerfully undertook and accomplished their tasks. The toil of felling trees, over whose heavy boughs and knotty arms the writers of centuries had passed; the constant danger from venomous reptiles and beast of prey, which, coiled in the bush or crouching in the brake, lurked day and night in waiting for the incautious victim; and most insidious and fatal enemy of all, the malaria of the swamps and river bottoms when first laid open to the sun, resisted their every effort.
After years of toil our Phillip took a notion to try the realities of another new country. We would think that after enduring the first settlement of such a country as Kentucky, this desire would have cooled down, and he would have wanted to spend his days there, having come to Lexington before the birth of the state, and during the perilous times with the red man, who so ardently defended his hunting ground, before Dinmore made his treaty at Point Pleasant in 1774, by which treaty the Indians surrendered all the territory of Kentucky to the whites. But not so. He could not live with ease, he must emigrate to a new territory. We find him settling in the territory of Indians.
After his settlement in this territory the war between England and the United States broke out, called the war of 1812. Young Colclazier readily volunteered for the defense of his country, with his knapsack on his back and musket upon his shoulder, and if we are rightly informed, was marching under Gen. W. H. Harrison.
After the close of the war we again find Phil at hard labor in the “Hoosier” state. For a great portion of his time while in this territory he made his living by teaming, hauling goods from the lakes and the Wabash River back into the country. From Indiana he came to Illinois, and from there to Warren county, Iowa in 1846.
The writer of this sketch has but little data from which he can make up the life of Mr. Colclazier. We became acquainted with him soon after our coming here in 1854. When he was married, or where, and to whom, we are not at present able to tell. At the time of our acquaintance he was up in years, having grandchildren nearly grown; yet he was as active as most men at twenty-five. This was in 1854. Longevity was predominant in the family of both himself and his wife. He had laid up some property during his long and eventful life. The writer interrogated them as regards their life, but could get but little information from them as to their birth or marriage.
At the age of 90 years, which was the age he claimed to be on our first acquaintance, the old gentleman could jump up and crack his feet together three times before he would come to the ground. How many young men at twenty-five can do it today?
He raised quite a large family of children, all of them making good citizens. The old gentleman was honest and upright in all his dealings. His language was not always of the purest, nor of a moral tone. He was a good neighbor and a good citizen. But few men reach the age of our subject. He lived to pass the five score mile stone. He went down on the plane of life, of 104 years, as near as we could count. His partner was not far in the rear, her annual revolution counting nearly the same. Although fifteen years have passed away, their ways and actions, the looks, and tact of this aged couple is still fresh in the memory of the writer as it was the day when he spoke. Let us all honor old age.[Note; Phillip Colclazier war born Mar 16, 1766 in Pennsylvania. He married Mary Gorrell (1758 - 1872) in Bath County, KY on June 7, 1819. They came to Warren County, Iowa in 1846. Phillip died May 11, 1871 at age 105 in Warren Co., IA. Both Mary and Phillip are buried in Linn Grove Cemetery, Warren Co., IA.]