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 August 20, 2020

Harvey B. Haselton, a wealthy agriculturist and prominent citizen of Carroll county, is the owner of four hundred acres of rich and productive land and makes his home on section 1, Grant township. His birth occurred in Chenango county, New York, on the 4th of April, 1845, his parents being Parker and Lodena (Barden) Haselton, who were likewise natives of that county. His paternal grandfather, David B. Haselton, was a native of Vermont and a farmer by occupation. He passed away in Ogle county, Illinois, when eighty-four years of age, while his wife, who bore the maiden name of Lucy Parker, died in early womanhood. Their children were four in number, namely: Lewis, Parker, Jane and Betsey. Samuel Barden, the maternal grandfather of our subject, was a native of Connecticut and an early settler of Chenango county, New York. He participated in the war of 1812 and carried on general agricultural pursuits throughout his active business career. Removing to Wisconsin, he died in Columbia county, that state, when sixty-four years of age. His wife, who in maidenhood was Miss Olive Crandall, afterward removed to Minnesota, her demise occurring in Rochester, that state, when she had attained the age of seventy-eight years. They were the parents of ten children, as follows: Eliza, Marcus, Lodema, Harvey, Rowland, Persis, Nancy, Lovisa, Catharine and Samuel.

Parker Haselton, the father of Harvey B. Haselton, was actively engaged in general agricultural pursuits throughout his entire business career. He removed to Wisconsin in 1849, settling in Green Lake county, while in 1860 he went to Ogle county, Illinois, where he passed away in 1861 at the age of forty-three years. His widow, who still survived him until April 5, 1911, attained the age of eighty-seven years. They belonged to the Baptist church in the early days but Mrs. Haselton was later identified with the Presbyterian church. Unto them were born seven children, four sons and three daughters, namely: Harvey B., of this review; Mary F., the deceased wife of Herbert Mayberry; Joseph W., who is a resident of Grant township; Ellen, who has passed away; David B., of Grant township; and two who died in early life.

Harvey B. Haselton spent the first four years of his life in New York, was a resident of Illinois for eighteen years, lived in Wisconsin for eleven years and has made his home in Carroll county, Iowa, for thirty-three years. He obtained his education in the district schools at a time when the teacher “boarded round” among the pupils. He remained under the parental roof until thirty years of age and, being the oldest child, kept the family together for several years after his father’s demise. On starting out as an agriculturist on his own account he rented a tract of land, devoting his attention to farming during the summer seasons and teaching school in the winter months, being thus identified with educational interests for ten seasons. In 1878 he purchased one hundred and sixty acres of land in Grant township and began improving the property. As his financial resources increased, owing to his untiring industry and capable management, he added to his holdings until they now embrace four hundred acres of rich and arable land. The place is lacking in none of the conveniences and improvements of a model farm of the twentieth century and in its neat and thrifty appearance gives evidence of the practical and progressive spirit of the owner. The fields bring forth good crops and in the autumn golden harvests are garnered.

On the 25th of March, 1873, Mr. Haselton was united in marriage to Miss Jan Gibson who was born near Castle Douglas, in County Galway, Scotland, in the year 1849 and who in 1860 came to America with her parents, Samuel and Margaret (Adamson) Gibson. The family home was established in Ogle county, Illinois, where Miss Gibson gave her hand in marriage to Harvey B. Haselton, with whom she came west in 1878. Samuel Gibson passed away in Ogle county, Illinois, at the age of seventy-three, having for a number of years survived his wife, who was fifty years old at the time of her demise. They reared a family of eight children, namely: Jane, John, Agnes, James, William, Robert, Isabel, and Samuel. The paternal grandparents of Mrs. Haselton, William and Agnes (Henry) Gibson, had the following children: James, William, Robert, Alexander, John, Betsey, Mary Ann, Agnes, Jane and Samuel. Unto our subject and his wife were born five children. Florence M., living in Council Bluffs, is the wife of J. H. Beveridge, the superintendent of the city schools. They have two children, Lenore and Wendell. Samuel G., the next in order of birth, passed away when a young man of twenty-two years. Parker H., a graduate of Ames College, at Ames, Iowa, is an electrical engineer of Fort Wayne. William R., also a graduate of Ames College, is likewise an electrical engineer by profession. Harvey B., Jr., who wedded Miss Fleta Trainer, is a practicing dentist of Tama, Iowa.

Mr. Haselton is a democrat in politics and has been honored by official preferment on various occasions, now serving as chairman of the board of supervisors. He was elected supervisor in 1887 and served during a part of two terms. In the fall of 1891 he was elected to the legislature, serving in the state assembly for two terms and giving earnest thought and consideration to every question which came up for settlement. He was chosen chairman of the board of supervisors in 1904 and holds that office at the present time, having been reelected for the third term. The cause of education finds in him a stanch champion and for many years he served as a school director. He is widely recognized as a public-spirited citizen who places the general good before personal aggrandizement and the welfare of county and commonwealth before partisanship.

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