Gilbert, Sarissa E.

GILBERT

Posted By: Karon Velau (email)
Date: 6/29/2021 at 00:20:01

History of Warren County, Iowa from Its Earliest Settlement to 1908, by Rev. W. C. Martin, Clarke Publishing Co., Chicago, Illinois, 1908, p.488

SARISSA E. GILBERT
Mrs. Sarissa E. Gilbert is a well-known resident of Milo, and we take pleasure in presenting her life record to the readers of this volume, knowing that it will be read with interest by her many friends. She was born in Huron County, Ohio, July 13, 1843, a daughter of Lyle and Anna (Hayes) Kerr, who were natives of Washington County, Pennsylvania and in about 1840 removed to Ohio, where they remained until 1860. They then came to Iowa, settling a half mile from Palmyra, in Warren County, where they spent their remaining days. The mother died June 12, 1861. Her birth occurred January 27, 1808, so that she was fifty-three years of age at the time of her death. The father was born September 1, 1808, and died on the 23d of April, 1876.
In tracing the ancestry of Mrs. Gilbert we find the dual strains of a Scotch and Irish lines. When united these have produced a distinctive type which has played an important part in the history of the American Republic, for with the alert mentality and versatility of the Irish has been combined the sturdy integrity and indomitable perserverance of the Scotch. America owes much to her Scotch-Irish citizenship, and has honored and been honored by noble men and women of that class. The maternal grandfather of Mrs. Gilbert was Thomas Hayes, a native of Washington County, Pennsylvania, as was his wife who bore the maiden name of Elizabeth Grimes. He was a soldier of the Revo­lutionary war, and probably of the war of 1812. The paternal grandfather was William Lyle. The ancestry of the Lyle family has been preserved in direct line from John Lyle, the Scotchman, through Robert Lyle, the Scotch-Irish American, who lived from 1681 until 1765.
About 1681, in the reign of Charles II, a young Scotchman, John Lyle, left Scotland on account of the persecution of the Presbyterians, and settled on a farm in County Antrim, Ireland, where he married and reared a family, includ­ing Robert Lyle, who was born in 1698. According to the family traditions he not only clung to his religion, but to his death retained his Scotch dress. On one occasion when going to pay his rent to the lord of the manor he was required to remove his Scotch cap, stand uncovered and wait his turn for admission. This exposure to the weather brought on a severe illness. His son Robert, who had accompanied him, was so indignant over the treatment of his father that he declared he would not remain in a country where citizens were subjected to such indignities. He came to America, accompanied by his young brother, John Lyle, who sailed from Belfast in the latter part of the year 1741 and landed in New York in the spring of 1742. With little capital they purchased a small tract of land in New Jersey, near New Brunswick, where John Lyle spent his remaining days.
In 1747 Robert Lyle wedded Mary Gilleland and removed to Northampton County, Pennsylvania, where he purchased a farm. He was prosperous and was highly respected, being for some years a ruling elder in the Presbyterian Church, in which he and his wife held membership, his name appearing on the roll of the first grand jury summoned from Northampton County, October 3, 1752, and he was also a justice of the peace. He died December 9, 1765, in his sixty-seventh year. It was from this family that Mrs. Gilbert is descended.
Three of her brothers answered to the call of the country in the dark days of the Civil War, two being members of the same company. William enlisted in the First Iowa Cavalry and after about two and a half years of service became ill, and died at the age of thirty-four. Levi enlisted in Company G, Fifteenth Iowa Regiment, and served throughout the war. He was a perfect specimen of health and strength when he entered the army but the hardship, privation and exposure of military life greatly undermined his health and he was never again the same vigorous man. However, he lived to the age of seventy years and died in Warren County, May 15, 1905. Thomas enlisted in Company G, Fifteenth Iowa, and after a year and a half of service died from illness contracted in the army at the age of twenty-six years. Mrs. Gilbert has a surviving brother and sister. Her brother, Orville Kerr, resides with her. When young he received an injury that has left him totally blind, but with that peculiar instinct of the blind he is capable of going about town alone and can recognize all of his friends by their voices. The sister, Elizabeth, is the widow of John Harbitt, of Findlay, Ohio, who died July 19, 1906.
Sarissa E. Kerr, spent her girlhood days under the parental roof and on the 6th of March 1872, became the wife of Lyman P. Creighton, a son of John and Anna Creighton. His mother was born in midocean while the parents were coming to America from Ireland. Mr. Creighton was a prosperous and successful farmer and owned one of the best tracts of land in Warren County, about a quarter of a mile from Hartford. It contained one hundred and fifty-six acres, all under a high state of cultivation, and is still the property of Mrs. Gilbert. On the 8th of June 1889, Mr. Creighton passed away at the age of fifty-eight years, and Mrs. Gilbert then assumed the management of the farm. On the 23d day of May, 1894, she became the wife of James Gilbert, a highly respected and prosperous citizen of Warren County. In November, 1895, they established their home in Milo, where Mr. Gilbert died September 25, 1907, at the age of eighty-two years. Mrs. Gilbert still resides at the old home, which is one of the most desirable and attractive residences of Milo, surrounded by beautiful and well kept grounds. She is a member of the Presbyterian Church, and is descended from a long line of ancestry who had been loyal to this faith. She has been an earnest and active worker in the church and its teachings have been the rule of her life, while the Christ like spirit is manifested in her daily conduct. From her youth she has labored earnestly in the church, but more than that, she has put into practice its teachings in her association with friends and neighbors day after day. Her many good qualities have won her the sincere respect and love of all with whom she has come in contact, and her circle of friends is therefore co-extensive with the circle of her acquaintances.