Harrison County Iowa Genealogy

HISTORY OF HARRISON COUNTY, IOWA, 1891
BIOGRAPHIES
Page 409
WILLIAM E. CUTLER

William E. CUTLER, a farmer living on section 8, of Magnolia Township, (township 79, range 43,) came to Harrison County in the spring of 1853, with his parents, who were among the earliest pioneers and who settled in Magnolia Township, on section 7. He remained with his parents until the spring of 1864, when he purchased forty acres of his present farm which was partly improved, having twenty-five acres broken, and a five-room cottage upon it; also a double log stable. In 1870 he built his present residence, which is a brick structure, 28x29 feet, and two stories high. In 1885 he built a barn 40x54 feet, which holds about twenty-five tons of hay. From time to time he has added to his farm until he now has three hundred and sixty-four acres, one-third of which is under the plow, one hundred acres in timber, forty acres in meadow and the balance in pasture land.

At the time he came to Magnolia Township there were but few settlers and their nearest postoffice and trading point was Council Bluffs, while their nearest gristmill was seven miles this side of the Bluffs. During the long, never-to-be-forgotten winter of 1856-57, they lost considerable live stock by reason of the deep snow and severity of the winter. Our subject was here before a single district school house had been erected in the county, the first one being erected on section 7, directly opposite to Mr. CUTLER's barn. Our subject hauled a log to Honey Creek, ten miles north of Council Bluffs, to get lumber for the gables of this building. The first house built in the village of Magnolia was erected the same summer they came, the same being the hotel building erected by Mr. Bates; a postoffice and general store soon followed. Our subject's father paid forty per cent. interest for money with which to enter his land, but, when our subject bought his first land he paid $25 per acre for one "forty" and from $5 to $21 for the balance per acre. Nearly all the settlers the CUTLER family found when they came to the county were Mormons.

Our subject was born in Michigan, February 20, 1838, and when a small child his parents moved to Montgomery County, Ill., and when he was five years of age they moved to Fairfield, Iowa, and in 1851 to Pottawattamie County, and purchased a claim near Council Bluffs, but left the same in the spring of 1853, and came to Harrison County.

Mr. CUTLER was married in Taylor Township, September 17, 1863, to Miss Violet HALL, by whom ten children were born -- William I., September 25, 1864; Albert B., April 13, 1866; Frank E., March 5, 1868; Hattie M., February 16, 1870; George M., April 1, 1872; Charles I., January 16, 1874; Henry C., March 31,1876; Florence V., January 1, 1878; Nettie M., March 20, 1880, and Mollie G., August 20, 1882; William I. died May 5, 1865.

Violet (HALL) CUTLER was born in Muskingum County, Ohio, June 26. 1847, and in 1849 her parents moved to Tipton County, Ind., where they remained until the faIl of 1852, and then moved to Mills County, Iowa, and the spring following came to Harrison County and settled in Taylor Township.

Mr. and Mrs. CUTLER are both members of the Congregational Church, he uniting in 1863, and his wife in 1867.

Robert HALL, father of Mrs. CUTLER, was born in Armstrong County, Pa., November 2, 1808, and about 1845, came to Muskingum County, Ohio, and died in Harrison County, Iowa, May 18, 1868. He was a member of the Dunkard Church. His wife, Catherine (WARTINBEE) HALL, was also born in Armstrong County, Pa., October 5, 1818, and remained there until the day of her marriage. She left Iowa in 1881, and is now living in Crook County, Wyo. They were the parents of eight children, Mrs. CUTLER being the second child.

When her father came to Harrison County he bought a claim upon which was a double log house. He first preempted about two hundred and twenty acres. After securing his land and purchasing two cows, he had but twenty cents left. He left Indiana with a horse-team, but lost one of them on the way out. In December, 1856 -- the hard winter -- John Ingerson and his brother, (neighbors to Mr. HALL) went out hunting; it commenced to rain and sleet, then turned to snow, and set in one of the worst storms of the season, and one of the brothers was frozen to death, as was also a man by the name of Barrett. That same day Mr. CUTLER was at Calhoun, to mill, but after much trouble succeeded in making his way home.

The space is all too short in which to give an account of the many hardships endured by the pioneers of this section. But this was in their favor -- they came to a good country and the toil of their hands was usually rewarded by a bountiful harvest and provided with a good living. Doing their part manfully, Nature came to their rescue and crowned their every honest effort, making them successful husbandmen.

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