James, Stephen

JAMES

Posted By: Karon Velau (email)
Date: 6/29/2021 at 12:38:22

History of Warren County, Iowa from Its Earliest Settlement to 1908, by Rev. W. C. Martin, Clarke Publishing Co., Chicago, Illinois, 1908, p.646

STEPHEN JAMES
Stephen James, one of the veterans of the war of the rebellion and among the first settlers of this county, resides on a well improved and valuable farm of one hundred and sixty-six acres on section 30, Palmyra Township. He was born in Indiana, August 25, 1844, the son of Henry R. and Roxie (Myrick) James. His father was a native of Rhode Island. In early manhood he re­moved from his native state to Ohio, where he was married to Miss Roxie Myrick. There he was engaged as a teacher, which occupation he later followed in Indiana. He removed to Warren County, Iowa in 1845, where he entered one hundred and sixty acres of land. Here his family joined him in 1846, the same year that Iowa was admitted as a state into the Union. He spent the remainder of his days on this farm, passing away in 1901. His wife is still living at the age of eighty-three years and makes her home with her son, Stephen, of this review.
Stephen James was not yet two years of age when brought by his parents to Warren County and here he passed the days of his boyhood and youth, receiving his education in the district schools. He aided his father in the work of the farm until, at the opening of the Civil War, he responded to his country's call for volunteers to preserve the Union, enlisting in 1862, in Company B, Thirty-fourth Iowa Volunteer Infantry and was sent south. He participated in engagements at Chickasaw Bayou; Fort Blakeley, Alabama; and Arkansas Post. He contracted smallpox and was in the St. Louis hospital for about one year and a half, and was then assigned to hospital duty. He later returned to his regiment and served until the close of the war, being mustered out of service at Houston, Texas, and receiving his final discharge at Daven­port, August 15, 1865.
At the close of the war Mr. James returned to his father's home, where he remained for some years. On May 23, 1875, he was married to Miss Eleanor Redmond, a native of Ohio, and a daughter of Simon and Catherine (Owens) Redmond. Her father was born in Canada, and her mother in Ohio. Mr. Redmond joined Company G, Fifty-third Ohio Volunteer Infantry during the Civil War and was killed at the battle of Missionary Ridge. Mrs. James was brought by her parents to this county, where she was reared. Following their marriage Mr. and Mrs. James settled on his farm near Hartford, where they resided for eight years, at the expiration of which time he sold that place and bought the interests of the other heirs of the old home place. Since acquiring this property he has rebuilt the house and erected a residence in which his son lives, has divided the farm into convenient tracts for separate cultivation and has his farming operations reduced to a system. He keeps a good grade of horses and cattle and makes a specialty of raising hogs.
Mr. and Mrs. James are the parents of three sons and three daughters. The oldest son, Irving, is married and resides on his father's farm. Henry G., single, resides in Spokane, Washington, where he is engaged in the electric business. Arthur is located at Boise, Idaho, where he is connected with a lumber company. Mae, the oldest daughter, is the wife of Clarence Campbell, a harness manufacturer of Collins, Story County, this state. Katie and Ermile reside at home with their parents.
Politically Mr. James votes the Republican ticket at national elections, but at local elections he votes independent of party, endeavoring to support the best men for the offices. He has most creditably served as township trustee for two terms and has been appointed a delegate to the county conventions. He has also served as petit juror and has been a member of the school board for years. Fraternally he is a member of Hartford Post, G. A. R. His estimable wife is a member of the Christian Church, as are also his three daughters.