Dey, David B.

DEY, BARD, BLACKWOOD

Posted By: mjv (email)
Date: 10/8/2020 at 17:22:30

David B. Dey, Brighton, is one of the early settlers of Washington County. He is the son of Lewis and Mary (Bard) Dey, and was born in Monmouth County, N.J., March 14, 1812. His grandfather, David Bard, held a commission as Captain in the Revolutionary War, and served as such until its close. In 1825, Lewis Day emigrated with his family from Monmouth County, N.J., to Franklin County, Ohio, where he subsequently died. Of the nine children of Lewis and Mary Dey, five are yet living; David B., our subject; Mary, the widow of Thomas Abercrombie, now living in Schuyler County, Ill.; Lewis resides in Seward County, Neb.; Richard is a resident of this county, and Sarah is the wife of Henry E. Wycoff, of Jefferson County, Iowa. Mr. and Mrs. Dey were members of the Methodist Episcopal Church. After the death of Mr. Dey, Mrs. Dey married Lewis Boyer, and old Revolutionary soldier, at one time one of Washington’s body guard.

The subject of this sketch went to Ohio in 1825, and there worked upon his father’s farm during the summer months, and attended school for three months during the winter. He was married in Shelby County, Ohio, in 1835, to Miss Mary Blackwood, a daughter of Joseph and Esther (Croe?) Blackwood; the former was a native of Ireland, but was reared in Pennsylvania. They were the parents of seven children, four of whom are living: William, now residing in Wayne County, Ohio; Mary, the wife of our subject; Margaret, the wife of Thomas Scillan, of Shelby County, Ohio, and Eliza, the wife of Henry Young, of Quincy, Mich. Mr. and Mrs. Blackwood were members of the Presbyterian Church, and both died in Ohio. In 1845, Mr. Dey came with his family to Washington County, Iowa, and located on section 29, Brighton Township, and there improved a farm on which he remained until 1875, when he came to Brighton, and has since been living a retired life.

Mr. and Mrs. Dey are the parents of seven children: Margaret A., deceased; Lewis E., a farmer in Norton County, Kan.; Mary, the wife of John Holipeter, of Mexico, Mo.; Sarah, the wife of David M. Robinson, of Norton County, Kan.; Lydia C., the wife of Charles A. Cooper, of Keokuk County, Iowa; Joseph S. an attorney-at-law, of Wellington, Kan.; and William S., a teacher in Des Moines County, Iowa. Mr. and Mrs. Dey are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and are numbered among the oldest members of that Church in Brighton Township; both take and active interest in Church work. In early life, Mr. Dey was a Whig of the Henry Clay stamp, but has voted with the Republican party since its organization. At the time they came to Washington County, there were bands of Indians passing and repassing from time to time, and the country was full of wild game.

When Mr. Dey landed in this county, his total cash capital was fifty cents. By hard work and strict economy, assisted by his good wife, he has accumulated a competency, and they are now resting from their hard labors, and living a retired life in the beautiful village of Brighton. For nearly half a century they have been citizens of the county, and in all the changes that have taken place from the day they landed here until the present, they have been eye witnesses and active participants. As pioneers, those enduring the toils and privations of that early day, they are entitled to the respect of the younger generation. None enjoy the respect and confidence of their fellow-citizens in a greater degree.

Source: Portrait and Biographical Album of Washington County, Iowa (1887). Excerpt from Biographical Sketch of David B. Dey, pages 423-424.