Nutting, David H.

NUTTING

Posted By: Karon Velau (email)
Date: 6/13/2021 at 16:29:48

DAVID H. NUTTING
born Sep 30, 1823, Mass.

D. H. Nutting - No one is more deserving of representation in the history of a country than a soldier who went to its defense in the hour of its peril; no one more deserves mention in the record of a community than the pioneers who have opened up the region to civilization and laid the foundation for its future prosperity and progress. Mr. Nutting belongs to both classes and his name is inseparably connected with the development of this section of Iowa.. He was born on his father's farm in Franklin county, Massachusetts, on the bank of the Connecticut river, September 30, 1823. His parents, Porter and Anna (Fitts) Nutting, had a family of five children, three sons and two daughters, of whom he was the fourth in order of birth. The others are: Phoebe, widow of Foster Dexter, and a resident of Franklin county, Massachusetts; Polly, widow of L. H. Moore, also of Franklin county; William P., who died in his twenty-fifth year; and Sarah Ann, widow of Paris Childs, of Franklin county, Massachusetts. The Nuttings are descended from an old Puritan family that was established in the Colony of Massachusetts in the seventeenth century. Porter Nutting was born in Hampden county, Massachusetts, followed farming throughout his life, and died in the old State. The paternal grandfather, David Nutting, also spent his entire life in Massachusetts, and the family was prominently identified with its early development. Mr. Nutting of this sketch spent his boyhood days under the parental roof and acquired his education in the district schools of the neighborhood. In the pretty little city of Palmer, Massachusetts, sixteen miles distant from Springfield, he served an apprenticeship as a moulder and then worked as a journeyman for some time, being employed in various places in his native State, as well as in New Haven, Hartford, and Middletown, Connecticut and Cincinnati, Ohio. While in Worcester, Massachusetts, on the 30th of September, 1846, Mr. Nutting led to the marriage altar Miss Mary Fitts, who was born in that State, and is also descended from an honored Puritan family. Her parents, Robert and Lucy (Bangs) Fitts, were natives of Worcester county, as was the grandfather.
There Mrs. Nutting spent her girlhood days, and in the public schools acquired a good education. She is a lady of superior ability, of culture and refinement and has indeed been to her husband a helpmeet. They came to Warren county, Iowa, in 1854, and purchased a farm of 320 acres of wild land. On this Mr. Nutting erected a log cabin 17x19 feet, with a clapboard roof and puncheon floor, and then returned to his home in the East. The following year, with an ox team he brought his family to the little home that he had prepared, and they began life in the West in true pioneer style. Here in 1856 Mrs. Nutting opened a school and many of the now prominent men of the county began their education under her able instruction. Mr. Nutting in his spare hours also aided in this work, for both were deeply interested in the cause of education. They had many hardships and privations to endure in those early days. It was not an easy task to develop the farm on which not a furrow had been turned or an improvement made when Mr. Nutting located thereon. After a long and hard day's work in the field he would return to his little cabin at night and often his sleep was broken by the howling of wolves, which frequently made depredations on the chicken-yard and sheep-fold. Herds of deer were often seen, but Mr. Nutting would not allow his family to molest those noble animals. The few settlements were widely scattered and the praries were covered with grass that frequently grew as high as a man's head. Mr. Nutting started out in life for himself a poor boy, but by industry and economy succeeded in getting a start in life, and has steadily worked his way upward to a position of affluence. Today he owns about 1,700 acres of valuable land, enclosed in over forty miles of fence. The home is improved with all the accessories of a model farm, a comfortable residence, barns and outbuildings which are models of convenience, and the latest machinery. Mr. Nutting also engaged quite extensively in stock-raising, but today he is living retired, enjoying a rest that he has truly earned and richly deserves. To Mr. and Mrs. Nutting have been born three children: William P., who owns a fine farm on section 25, Otter township, Warren county; Frank O., who also follows farming and has a good home with his father; and Sadie L., a young lady of pleasing address and many accomplishments who resides with her parents.
In politics Mr. Nutting is a Republican, but maintains an independent attitude in local affairs. He has served as Trustee of his township, but has never cared for the honors or emoluments of public office. He manifested his loyalty to the Government during the late war by enlisting, September 28, 1864, in Company E, Fourth Iowa Infantry. He was honorably discharged in Washington, D.C., May 31, 1865, and participated in the grand review at the national capital. He and his family are members of the Presbyterian Church, of Milo, and are numbered among the most prominent and honored people of Warren county. As citizen, a soldier, a pioneer, and a business. Mr. Nutting deserves the confidence and respect of all. Source: A Memorial and Biographical Record of Iowa, Lewis Publishing Co., Chicago, Illinois, 1896, vol.1, p.487

History of Warren County, Iowa from Its Earliest Settlement to 1908, by Rev. W. C. Martin, Clarke Publishing Co., Chicago, Illinois, 1908, p.504
DAVID H. NUTTING
The history of the life of David H. Nutting is replete with the spirit of pioneer days and in reading it one almost forgets that in these modern times cities are linked to each other by ties of steel, so that but a few hours need intervene in traveling from one to the other. He was born in Franklin County, Massachusetts, September 30, 1823, the son of Porter and Anna (Fitts) Nutting. There were five children in the family, two sons and three daughters, of whom David H. was the fourth in the order of birth. He was named for his paternal grandfather, David Nutting, who was of an old Puritan family that settled in Massachusetts in the seventeenth century, and was prominent in the affairs of that state.
David H. Nutting received his education in the common schools of the locality where he was born. He served an apprenticeship as a molder at Palmer, Massachusetts, and worked as a journeyman for some time at Hartford, Connecticut; at Middletown, Connecticut; at Cincinnati, Ohio, and elsewhere. While at Worcester, Massachusetts, he was married to Miss Mary Fitts, daughter of Robert and Lucy (Bangs) Fitts, natives of Worcester County, Massachusetts, as was also the grandfather, who traced his ancestry back to an honored Puritan family. Mary M. Fitts was born in Worcester County, Massachusetts, May 30, 1822. She was of a bright, studious nature and readily mastered the curriculum of the schools of the community. From the time of her marriage to David H. Nutting their lives are so closely interwoven as to make the history of the one appear as the history of both.
Impatient of the monotonous and restricted life of a journeyman, and the impossibility of getting ahead in life on the earnings of his trade, Mr. Nutting left his family in Cincinnati in 1854 and started west for the purpose of securing a home and brighter future for his loved ones. His wanderings led him to Warren County, Iowa, where he purchased a farm of three hundred and twenty acres of wild land on sections 15 and 16, Otter Township. On section 15 he found a long cabin, seventeen by nineteen feet in dimensions, with a clapboard roof and a puncheon floor. He then went to Lexington, Missouri, and sought work in a foundry which was building there, in the meantime sending for his family to come on from Cincinnati. His wife and children took the boat from that city to St. Louis, where they had to change boats in order to get to Lexington, the time spent enroute being fourteen days. They remained there for one year, saving their earnings and planning for their future home in the wilderness. While a resident of Lexington the issue arose as to whether Kansas should be admitted as a free or slave state, on which question Mr. Nutting cast his vote for the cause of freedom.
Oxen were used as a means of travel in those days and Mr. Nutting bought his team of oxen in Warren County and ferried them across the Missouri river, hitched them to a wagonload of goods in Lexington and set out from there with his family to travel to his new home. The hardships were undoubtedly many, but who shall say that the pleasures were not also great to these adventurous young people, and let us hope that on the occasion of the oxen getting loose and running away from the camp the sense of the ludicrous came to their rescue and that mixed with the excitement of the chase and the satis­faction of the recovery of the runaways no small amount of amusement was afforded them. They arrived at their new home in the latter part of August 1855, when they began life in true pioneer style. At that time there were but two stores in Indianola, no sidewalks excepting a footpath and but one hotel—the Barnwell. Mr. Nutting began the work of improving his farm, dividing it into fields and building fences, preparatory to its cultivation the following year. The educational advantages of the community were very poor at that time and in the spring of 1856 Mrs. Nutting, doubtless prompted thereto by the require­ments of her own children, opened a subscription school, and many of the now prominent men of the county began their education under her able instructions. In his spare hours Mr. Nutting also assisted, for both were deeply interested in the cause of education. In the meantime the work of improving the farm was going on and it was beginning to yield substantial returns. Mr. Nutting combined with general farming the industry of stock-raising, which proved a ready source of income and, with an eye to the future, the proceeds of his sales he invested in additional land. For this he paid various prices, as the value of the land was increasing all the time, owing to the rich returns which the soil yielded. On his first coming here he secured about two hundred acres of land at five dollars per acre. Following the war and the coming in of new settlers the surrounding land rose in value to seventeen dollars per acre; later it advanced to twenty-two dollars and twenty-three dollars per acre. In the fall of 1875 Mr. Nutting bought the southeast quarter of section 25, Otter Township, for twenty-five dollars per acre. Four hundred acres which he owned in Squaw Township he secured at prices ranging from ten to eighteen dollars per acre. In all, during his lifetime he acquired about seventeen hundred acres of valuable land, enclosed by over forty miles of fences. He also erected a modern home and equipped the farm with comfortable buildings and up-to-date machinery.
Unto Mr. and Mrs. Nutting were born three children, namely: William P. and Frank 0., both of whom are engaged in farming in Otter Township; and Sarah L., the wife of S. J. Burnett, who now resides on the home farm in section 15, Otter Township, where she was born.
In national politics Mr. Nutting was a Republican, though in local affairs he voted for men and measures rather than for party. He served as trustee of Otter Township, but never cared for office. During the dark days of the Civil War he enlisted on September 26, 1864, in Company E, Fourth Iowa Infantry. He was honorably discharged at Washington, D. C., May 31, 1865, participating in the grand review at the national capital.
On February 12, 1907, David H. Nutting was called to his eternal rest, having survived his wife, who passed away on March 14, 1904, a little less than three years. As a citizen, a soldier, a pioneer and a business man Mr. Nutting deserved and enjoyed the confidence and respect of all, and his death left a void in the community that will be felt for many years to come. His funeral was conducted under the auspices of the Presbyterian Church of Milo, of which himself, wife and family were members.