Randleman, Martin C.

RANDLEMAN

Posted By: Karon Velau (email)
Date: 7/9/2021 at 17:19:02

History of Warren County, Iowa; Containing a History of the County, Its Cities, Towns & Etc., by Union Historical Company, 1879, p.720

RANDLEMAN, MARTIN C., Capt., farmer and stockraiser, Allen Township, Sec. 10; P. O. Carlisle; the subject of this sketch, whose portrait appears in another place, was born in Stokes county, North Carolina, December 9, 1830; the following year his parents emigrated to Lawrence county, Indiana, but he was principally raised near Spencer, in Owen county; he received the advantages of the common schools of that State, and at the age of fourteen he apprenticed himself to learn the tanner's trade, where he worked for two years and then enlisted in the Mexican war, in Co. D, Fourth Indiana Infantry, under Capt. J. I. Alexander; they rendezvoused at Fort Clark, on the Ohio river, for about four weeks, and then started for New Orleans; they were but two days out, coasting along via. Galveston, when a gale came up and the boiler of the steamer exploded, killing two men and scalding eleven; this occurred on the 12th of July, 1847; they were shipped on board the schooner Lavina, to the mouth of the Rio Grande; they then went up the river as far as Camp Belknap, and were then countermanded to Scott's lines, and then shipped to Vera Cruz, and thence to the city of Puebla; he was engaged in the closing battles of the war as follows: Humantla, Penal Pass, Siege of Puebla, Atlexaco, and was mustered out at the close of his enlistment service, at Madison, Indiana, July 16, 1848, and for the following year was engaged on public works; November 29, 1849, he married Miss N. J. Hicks, of Owen county, Indiana; in 1854 he emigrated to Johnson county, Missouri, and in September, 1856, he came to this State, and located in Polk county, where his wife died, April 17, 1857, leaving a family of three sons: Winfield S., Wm. M., and John H.; he married again January 17, 1858, to Miss Elizabeth Moredeck, a native of Ohio; they have by this union six sons and three daughters: Reed, Zouave, Charles, Lincoln, James C, Benj. F., Albert, Flora and Florence; in April, 1861, he aided in the organization of Co. B, Tenth Iowa Infantry, and at its organization was elected First Lieutenant, and mustered into the Uunited States service the following August, and was then elected their captain, which commission he held till October 2, 1862, when he resigned on the account of disability; while in the service he participated in the battles of Bloomfield, Missouri; Charleston, Missouri; Island No. 10; New Madrid, Missouri; Tiptonville, Kentucky; and the engagement at Farmington, and the siege of Corinth; after he had received his resignation papers, at the battle of Iuka, on the 3d and 4th of October, he took an active part in the second day's fight, for which he deserves great credit; on his return he organized a militia company, and equipped it, and was appointed by the Governor to organize the militia of the county; he organized two infantry regiments, and was elected lieutenant colonel of the Second Infantry of Warren county; after the war Mr. Randleman settled on his present farm, which contains 320 acres of well improved land; where he still resides, enjoying peace and plenty, and the good will of all who know him; from 1871 to 1874 he was engaged in shipping stock and grain from Carlisle, and at present is quite largely engaged in shipping stock; Mr. Randleman's grandfathers, Reed and Randleman, were both in the revolutionary war. The former as private and the latter as surgeon.