Carroll County IAGenWeb

HISTORY OF CARROLL COUNTY IOWA

A Record of Settlement, Organization, Progress and Achievement

VOLUME II ILLUSTRATED

CHICAGO THE S. J. CLARKE PUBLISHING COMPANY 1912

Transcribed by Sharon Elijah July 15, 2020

Moses M. Culver

Moses M. Culver, who is now living retired in Glidden, was born in Ontario, Canada, on the 15th of August, 1835, and is a son of Moses and Sarah (Merritt) Culver. The father was also a native of Canada, his natal day being the 25th of December, 1802. He was a son of Aaron Culver, a native of New Jersey, from which state he removed, in company with four of his brothers, to Ontario, Canada, where the brothers married four sisters and established quite a colony. Aaron Culver built and operated the first grist mill in Ontario, continuing to be identified with this business until he passed away at the venerable age of eighty-four years. He was the father of six children: David, Martha, Timothy, Moses, George and Aaron, all of whom are deceased.

Moses Culver was reared in his native town, remaining a member of the paternal household until he had attained his manhood at which time he was united in marriage to Miss Sarah Merritt, also of Ontario, and a daughter of Isaac Merritt. Subsequently Mr. Culver entered his father’s mill, where he continued to work for fourteen years. At the expiration of that period he developed lung trouble and was compelled to withdraw from business, his demise occurring in 1835. Nine children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Culver, in order of birth as follows: Daniel, who was born on the 2d of March, 1821, died on the 12th of April, 1821; Dudley, born on the 10th of February, 1822, died on the 23d of July, 1823; Levi, born on the 23d of September, 1823, died on the 6th of December, 1836, Loder, who was born on the 4th of November, 1825, died in 1900; Jane, born on the 29th of October, 1827, died on the 30th of May, 1841; Mary, born on the 19th of September, 1829, died in 1868; William, born on the 3d of September, 1831, died on the 1th of March, 1841; Nancy, born on the 2d of November, 1833, died in 1896; and Moses our subject. In 1842 Mrs. Culver was married to the Rev. William Appleford and they became the parents of two children: Ruth, who married Belford Slater of Ogle county, Illinois; and has four children; and Jane, who is deceased.

Moses Culver was reared at home acquiring his education in the common schools of Canada. At the age of fifteen years he came to Illinois, where he worked by the day until he had acquired the means to continue his studies and then entered the Mount Morris Seminary, where he was a student for a few terms, teaching in the meantime. In 1860, subsequent to his marriage, he removed to a farm of eighty acres which he had purchased in Carroll county, Illinois. He remained there engaging in general farming until 1866 when he sold his farm and removed to Nebraska. At that time the capitol was located at Omaha, but there was no certainty of its being the permanent seat of the state government, so Mr. Culver decided to locate at Lincoln. He purchased three hundred and twenty acres of land about twenty five of which he planted for a grove and in 1874, when the legislature was seeking a farm upon which to establish the state experimental station, it decided upon Mr. Culver’s property, paying him fifty-five dollars per acre for his land, which at that time was considered to be an excessive price.

On October 11, 1860, Mr. Culver was united in marriage to Miss Katherine Lawrence, a daughter of John and Lydian (Johnson) Lawrence, the father a native of England, from which country he emigrated when a youth, and the mother of Canada. Three children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Culver: Stella, who married the Rev. S. W. Lauck of Western Canada and has three children, Lorin, who is married and has one boy; Vera; and Edith, who is at home; John, also of Western Canada, who married Miss Addie Stevens and has four boys, Merritt, Eugene, Robert and Lewis, and F. G., who is living in Glidden and married Miss Ella Wheeler and has four children, Emery, Jessie, Stella and Margaret. Mrs. Culver passed away in 1868, while they were living in Lincoln, Nebraska, in which city she is buried.

Mr. Culver’s eldest son, John, has a very good start in life for a young man. He used to be a draftsman in the employ of the McCormick Harvester Company, which firm sent him to Paris in charge of their exhibit in 1900, but his health failed and he was compelled to seek outdoor employment and went to Western Canada, where he is farming.

On February, 21, 1870, Mr. Culver was again married, his second wife being Miss Rachel Payne, a daughter of Henry and Jane (Boak) Payne, natives of West Virginia and the parents of eight children. One child, a boy, who died in infancy, was born to Mr. and Mrs. Culver. In 1875 they removed to Colorado where they resided for a year, when they returned to Iowa and settled in Glidden where he owned one hundred and sixty acres of land. They have resided here now for thirty-five years continuously, being among the old settlers of the town.

Mr. and Mrs. Culver do not affiliate with any particular church but give their support to all. In fact they are in full accord with anything that will tend to advance the moral worth of county, state and nation. In politics Mr. Culver is a republican but he has never been an office seeker. Both he and his wife are highly regarded in the town where they have lived for so many years, during which time they have noted the rapid progress and development of Carroll county, which has become one of the agricultural centers of the state.

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