Hyde, James A.

HYDE

Posted By: Karon Velau (email)
Date: 6/29/2021 at 12:09:43

History of Warren County, Iowa from Its Earliest Settlement to 1908, by Rev. W. C. Martin, Clarke Publishing Co., Chicago, Illinois, 1908, p.558

JAMES A. HYDE
The farming and stock-raising interests of Warren County are well repre­sented by James A. Hyde, who is living on section 28, Lincoln Township, where he owns and cultivates eighty acres of land. This constitutes a neat and well improved farm and the work which Mr. Hyde does year after year is manifest in the excellent appearance of the place, the fields being under a high state of cultivation, while substantial improvements have been made that indicate his careful supervision and progressive spirit. He is numbered among the honored pioneers, having lived here continuously since 1852. His birth occurred in Guernsey County, Ohio, July 12, 1839.
His father, John A. Hyde, was born in Ireland and was one of the pio­neers of Ohio, where he married Miss Martha Ann Adair, who was born at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. He was a farmer in Ohio for some years and in 1852 came to Iowa, making the trip down the Ohio River on the boat, Golden Era and thence up the Mississippi to Davenport. He located first in Scott County, where he farmed for four years, and then removed to Clinton County, settling near Dewitt. He entered a tract of land from the government in 1853 and began the arduous task of developing a new farm. He had no neighbors nearer than two or three miles. It is a work of much difficulty to break the sod and prepare the land for the first planting, but with char­acteristic energy Mr. Hyde continued his work and as a result his fields soon brought forth rich and abundant harvests. He became one of the influential residents of the community, served on the first board of supervisors and was justice of the peace. He died in 1861, while his wife survived him for a num­ber of years.
James A. Hyde was reared to manhood in Clinton County, no event of special importance occurring to vary the routine of farm life for him in his boy­hood and youth. He was married in that County on Thanksgiving Day of 1866 to Miss Mary J. Irwin, who was born in Belmont County, Ohio, February 12, 1839, but was reared in Monmouth, Illinois. After their marriage they located on a farm near Dewitt and Mr. Hyde continued to cultivate the fields there for several years. Eventually, however, he sold out and bought where he now resides, coming to Warren County in 1873, and becoming owner of eight acres. It was an old farm and the buildings were dilapidated, but he at once began the work of improvement and the original house was replaced by a substantial and neat residence. He also put up a good barn, planted an orchard, fenced the fields and in fact made many modern improvements and in connection with the tilling of the soil began the raising of stock. He has made a specialty of raising heavy draft horses and in fact has carried on an extensive business in this line, some of his animals selling as high as two hundred and fifty dollars. He has also raised high-grade cattle and hogs and is an enterprising and prosperous agriculturist.
Mr. and Mrs. Hyde have three daughters and one son: Joseph E., who is married and now follows farming in Lincoln Township; Martha E., at home; Della, the wife of Zade Wheeler, of this County; and Minnie M., the wife of Albert Wheeler, a farmer of this county. They also lost a son, John Edwin, who died in infancy. In his political views Mr. Hyde is a republican, but without desire for office as a reward for party fealty. He has for years been identified with the schools and served as president of the board for a long period. The cause of education finds in him a stalwart friend and he is, moreover, a man of high purpose whose life has been actuated by the most honorable principles. Both he and his wife are members of the United Presbyterian Church of Indianola and in the work of church and Sunday school take an active and helpful part. The integrity of his purpose and the reliability of his business methods have never been called into question. Men who know him trust him and he has a wide acquaintance among the best citizens of the county, whose respect he merits and receives.