Harrison County Iowa Genealogy

HISTORY OF HARRISON COUNTY, IOWA, 1891
BIOGRAPHIES
Page 881
JACOB S. FOUNTAIN

Jacob S. FOUNTAIN, a retired farmer, living on section 14, of Cincinnati Township, came to Harrison County in the summer of 1857, and settled in the village of Cincinnati, which town site is now being farmed by our subject, who operated a general store there for about four years, and sold out in 1861, when he went to hauling logs to the saw-mill, and floated the lumber to Council Bluffs. During the construction of the Union Pacific railroad, he made ties and sent them down to Omaha by the river.

Upon coming to the county, Mr. FOUNTAIN bought fifteen hundred and two thousand acres of land, most of which was swamp land. He lived in Parish City, until the summer of 1880, when he moved to his present home. To our subject belongs the honor of naming Cincinnati Township. In about 1858, he took a contract to drain that township, by the construction of swamp land ditches. Capt. John NOYES has the contract for all the swamp land, and being the Swamp Land Commissioner, he sublet the contract of this township to our subject, who finished the contract in 1861. He has sold off all of his land but five hundred and sixty acres, which is improved and divided into several farms, one of which has three hundred and twenty acres in it, and is used for a dairy farm by our subject and his son A.M. They keep fifty head of cows and one hundred head of young stock, and expect to feed seventy head of steers this season (1891-92).

When Mr. FOUNTAIN came to this place (California Junction) the place was all improved and had a two-story brick house with corresponding improvements upon the place, which was indeed a great contrast to the time when he first came to the county, at which time this portion of the county was a vast sea of prairie grass, which stood as high as a man's head. The first house he built in the county, was of cottonwood lumber, and now does good service as a stable. It stands on the old site of Prairie City. The first school taught in Cincinnati Township, was also held at our subject's house, in the winter of 1858-59. Miss Phoebe J. HOLDZKOM, now Mrs. DILLEY, was the person who taught. The first religious services were also held in this house, and continued to for several years. Mr. FOUNTAIN donated a part of the lumber and hauled it to Calhoun, to help build the Magnolia Methodist Parsonage.

When our subject first came to the county, the teams used were almost universally the kind which worked best under a yoke, and were guided by the words "haw" and "gee", with sometimes the additional words Buck! and Bright! Many are the trips he made to Council Bluffs with his ox-team, which would indeed seem a slow way of transportation to the present generation.

Mr. FOUNTAIN held many of the local offices since coming to Harrison County, including that of Justice of the Peace, and Township Trustee, and during the Civil War, interested himself in getting allowances for soldiers and soldiers' families. Times were very hard and this good man would go before the Board of Supervisors and speak for soldiers' wives, in the matter of having a few dollars appropriated to them, to assist them in purchasing the necessities of life. He was appointed Postmaster, at Parish City, under James Buchanan's administration, and held the position eleven years, and a part of the time was compelled to go to Magnolia for the mail.

In relating pioneer hardships, Mr. FOUNTAIN states how that at the beginning of the Civil War, the principal diet was corn bread, and upon one occasion, this food had to be produced by grating the ears of corn on a tin grater. He also speaks of taking three bushel of corn fifteen miles to mill, and made three trips before he got his meal, causing him to travel ninety miles. It is no uncommon thing in those days to use browned rye and burnt bran as a substitute for coffee.

To go back to our subject's earlier life, and inform the reader as to his domestic relations, his parentage, etc., it may be stated that he was born in New Castle County, Del., April 2, 1817. His parents died when he was young, and about 1830, he went to Camden, N.J., where he learned the harness trade. In 1832, the man for whom he worked went to Baltimore, and took him with him, and there remained until 1836, and then returned to New Jersey, where for three years he worked at his trade, and also in Pennsylvania. In the autumn of 1839, he went to Cincinnati, Ohio, where he opened a shop, and carried on business until the fall of 1855, when he sold out. We next find our subject during the summer of 1856, on a visit in Kansas, and having a friend in Council Bluffs, he also visited him, and at the same time pre-empted a piece of land nine miles from that place, and returned to Cincinnati, Ohio, going by stage to St. Joseph, and from there by steamboat. The following spring he bought a horse team, and came overland, to Pottawattamie County, while his wife and family came by railroad, and boat to Council Bluffs. He remained on his claim a few weeks, proved up on it, and then came to Harrison County.

Mr. FOUNTAIN was married in Cincinnati, Ohio, March 20, 1845, to Miss Athalinda B. COOK, and they are the parents of eight children -- Mary E., William M., America E., Andrew N., Jacob (deceased), Charles A., and Rachel C., (twins), Anna L.

Athalinda B. (COOK) FOUNTAIN was born in Butler County, Ohio, September 26, 1826, and when small accompanied her parents to Indiana, and from there to Cincinnati, Ohio, where she remained until she grew to womanhood. Her father was Zachies COOK, who was born in New Jersey, and died in Indiana, about 1830. The mother, Mary A. (MURPHY) COOK, was also a native of New Jersey, and now lives with her daughter, Mrs. FOUNTAIN.

Our subject's father was Thomas FOUNTAIN, a native of England. He died in New Castle County, Del., in the autumn of 1829, at the age of forty-five years. Our subject's mother was Christiana (STREETS) FOUNTAIN, was born in New Castle County, Del., where she died in the fall of 1827. They were the parents of nine children, five sons and four daughters, of whom our subject was the fourth child. His mother was a member of the Christian Church, while Mrs. FOUNTAIN and her mother are members of the Methodist Episcopal church.

Mr. FOUNTAIN is a stanch supporter of the Republican party, believing that party best serves the interests of the masses.

Charles A. FOUNTAIN, of the firm of Fountain Bros., dealers in dry-goods and groceries at California Junction, (who also handles all kinds of general goods, such as are needed for the country trade), is a son of our subject. He was born in Harrison, Iowa, June 14, 1862, and has always made his home with his parents. He engaged in trade with his brother A.N., in August, 1883. He is a member of the Independent Order of Good Templars at Missouri Valley, and stands high as a young rising business man.

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