James
Doty, the paternal grandfather of the subject of this sketch, was born
near Wheeling, West Virginia, in 1802, and was of Scotch-Irish descent,
his ancestors having settled in that region prior to the close of the
American Revolution. His father was Abraham Doty, who moved with his
family in 1815 to Milton township, Richland (now Ashland) county, Ohio.
In 1834 James Doty married Miss Sarah Croninger. Ten children were born
of this union, eight of whom (five sons and three daughters) survived
up to 1880. James Doty died January 4, 1879, aged seventy-seven years.
Lewis
Martin Doty, the father of our subject was born May 18, 1825, in
Ashland County, Ohio, and died at Oxford, Iowa, September 26, 1901. He
made the trip from Ohio to Iowa in 1849 on horseback and located land
in Oxford township, Johnson County, taking up two quarter sections,
purchasing one with Mexican land warrants. The region was raw prairie
at that time; Iowa City being the post office for the entire district.
The nearest neighbor was three miles and others from seven to ten miles
distant. Indians were numerous. Mr. Doty’s first dwelling was a rude
structure built of round logs without the use of a nail in its construction. Game was plentiful, the prairies | 
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being literally filled
with wild turkeys and prairie chickens, and with occasional deer.
Lewis
M. Doty was a citizen of progressive and public-spirited ideas. One of
his first enterprises was the erection of a sawmill in Oxford township
from which he supplied the settlers with lumber – a greatly needed
commodity. Later, he owned a sawmill at Boone, Iowa.
Mr. Doty is
on record as one of four settlers who, in the fall of 1852, erected a
school house on the site of what was known as “Wolf Corner,” west of
the residence of L. R. Wolf. The house was a small log affair, and in
addition to its use for school purposes was used as a place of worship
until 1861. Up to the latter date, no regular organization had been
perfected. In that year, 1861, school house, District No. 2, was built.
Mr. Doty interested himself in the cause of religion also, and was
among the original members of the Methodist Episcopal church in the
township.
Lewis M. Doty
was married to Hannah Mason, daughter of Martin and Mary Mason, born in
Ashland County, Ohio, March 19, 1828. Mrs. Doty’s sister, Anna Mason,
was a pioneer school teacher in Oxford township in 1851. For two
winters she taught in a room of Mr. William’s residence. Mrs. Doty
reached Oxford township with her son, Elmer A., in 1851, having
remained in Ohio during her husband’s preliminary work in the new west.
The other children of the family are: Charles F., auctioneer, Oxford,
Iowa; Vilda Ann, wife of Dr. F. R. Ward, Omaha, Nebraska, at whose home
Mrs. Lewis M. Doty now resides; Ida C., wife of Charles E. Frost,
Wapello, Iowa; Arta M., deceased. All these, with the exception of
Elmer A., were born in Oxford township.
Charles
F. Doty, our subject’s only brother, was born in the original log cabin
on the homestead in Oxford township, November 2, 1852. He was raised a
farmer and educated in the district schools and the Iowa City Academy.
In 1876 he began business as an auctioneer and has been engaged therein
ever since. He was married in 1875 to Miss Amanda Bobcock, daughter of
Orville G. and Julia (Steele) Babcock, of North Liberty, both deceased.
Mr. and Mrs. C. F. Doty have one son, Fred E., living at San Diego,
California and an adopted daughter, Belle, graduate of the Oxford high
school and the Capital City Commercial College, of Des Moines, who is
not a stenographer at Portland, Oregon. Mr. Doty is a member of the
I.O.O.F.
Dr.
Elmer A. Doty, our subject, was born in Ashland County, Ohio, in 1850,
and as heretofore stated, came with his mother to Johnson County in
1851, his father having left for the west before the birth of his first
son in order to provide a homestead. The early life of young Doty was
spent upon the farm. His education was received in the common schools.
He graduated from the high school and entered the medical department of
the State University of Iowa, from which he graduated in 1885. The same
year he began his practice and since that time has been a general
practitioner in Oxford. He established a drugstore in connection
with his practice, which has developed into one of the prosperous
institutions of the town. The Doty building, a fine two-story
structure, is the outgrowth of Dr. Doty’s thirty-six years of honest,
industrious effort. The first floor of this building contains the drug
store, while on the second floor are located the doctor’s offices. Dr.
Doty is also the owner of a fine residence on “Quality Hill”, Oxford,
and rich farm lands near the town.
He is a director of the
Oxford State bank. He has held many positions of trust in his township,
and was health officer for ten consecutive years. Politically, he is a
republican, and has taken an active interest in the affairs of his
party as delegate to county, state, and congressional conventions. Dr.
Doty is a member of the Iowa State and Johnson County Medical Societies
and the Cedar Valley Medical Association. He has read papers before the
first two societies on the subject of “Diabetes” and kindred topics.
The doctor is a trustee of the Oxford lodge of Odd Fellow, in which his
father was also an officer; is an active worker in the M.E. Church and
a member of the Lincoln Farm Association. Dr. Doty was married in Boone
County in 1871 to Nancy A. Myers, born in Indiana, daughter of Michael
and Sarah (Latham) Myers, and is the father of two children: Lewis M.,
married to Lucy McDonnell, and father of two daughters, Esther and
Ruth; Nellie B., wife of Daniel McCleery, of South Dakota.
(Source:
Leading Events in Johnson County, Iowa History, Biographical, by
Clarence Ray Aurner, 1861-, published 1912, pgs. 397 – 399)
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