Edmund De Graw
Edmund De Graw, was born in
Ontario, Canada, August 16, 1847, but came to Clayton
county, Iowa, at the very early age of four years, with
his parents, Asa and Mary (Ferguson) De Graw, both
natives of the Old Dominion. They made the long and
toilsome journey overland, driving a team of horses from
Canada to McGregor, Iowa, thence to Monona, Clayton
county, arriving here in 1851, where they settled upon
the farm that was their home until the close of their
lives. They were the parents of two children, Edmund, the
subject of this review, and Alvina, the wife of William
Smith, residing in Hardin, Iowa.
Mr. De Graw dutifully cared for his parents during their
lives, but after their deaths he sold the old homestead
and came to Monona, Iowa, where he bought the place he
now owns, and upon which he is profitably engaged in
general farming and stock raising. He married Miss Ella
Butts, a native of Pennsylvania, and the daughter of
Andrew J. and Eliza (De Force) Butts. Mr. Butts was a
native of New York state, but his father, Samuel Butts,
removed to Iowa, where he resided until his death in
Fayette county. He responded to the call of his country
in the Civil War, and served in Company F of the Sixth
Iowa Cavalry. Mrs. De Graw was the eldest of six children
born to her parents, of whom she and her sister Anna, the
wife of William Skepreth, of Omaha, Nebraska, are the
only two living. Forand, Carrie, Lola, and Minnie have
all been taken by death.
Mr. and Mrs. De Graw have been blessed with ten children,
all of whom are living: Edith, the wife of Mr. Clark
Bothel, of Malcolm, Iowa; Ernest, of Cedar Falls; Earl,
of Waukon; Ross, of Monona; Grace, now Mrs. Charles
Bothel, of Madison, South Dakota; Ethel, the wife of W.
N. Carr, of Malcolm, Iowa; Glenn, residing with his
parents; Hazel, the wife of Mathew Wiley, of Montezuma,
Iowa; Cleo, wife of Asa Briar, of Waukon; and Lyal,
living at home. Mr. De Graw is a Republican in politics,
and is a member of the Methodist church.
pg 87
source: History of Clayton
County, Iowa; From The Earliest Historical Times Down to
the Present; by Realto E. Price, Vol. II; page 87
-OCR scanned by Sharyl Ferrall
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