A M Troutman

Among the prominent early settlers of Lucas county, Iowa, and solid financial men, none are better known than he whose name heads this article. Mr. Troutman was born in Highland county, Ohio, June 26, 1842, and traces his ancestry back to the very earliest period in the history of this country, his forefathers figuring prominently in Colonial days and being noted for longevity. George W. Troutman, the father of our subject, was born near Uniontown, Pennsylvania, March 17, 1812, son of John Troutman, also a native of Pennsylvania. John Troutman lived to the age of ninety-five years, and his father, George Troutman, was 101 at the time of death, the latter, a native of Maryland, born near Hagerstown, in the year 1632. The Troutmans were among the very earliest people who landed in Maryland. They were Germans. All of the original family of Troutmans that settled there were killed by the Indians, except a boy of twelve years and his sister, and they were held in captivity by the red men for a number of years. The boy subsequently returned to the white settlement¸ but the girl remained with the Indians all her life.

Representatives of the Troutman family have taken an honorable part in all the principal wars of this country. George W. Troutman was reared on a farm in Fayette county, Pennsylvania, and was there married to Miss Hannah McClellan, who was of Scotch blood, and whose people, like his own, were prominent and patriotic. Her father, Andrew McClellan, was an officer in the war of 1812, and her grandfather McClellan was a Revolutionary officer. George W. and his wife moved to Highland county, Ohio, in 1842, and settled near New Market, where they lived until 1855¸that year moving out to Iowa and taking up their abode near Bonaparte, Van Buren county. Here he bought a farm which was partially improved and had a good orchard. He also owned a half section of wild land in Union township, Lucas county, the same which is now owned and occupied by Joseph Sprott and George Sutton. In Van Buren county George W. Troutman passed the remainder of his life and died, being sixty-seven years of age at the time of his death; his wife died at the age of sixty. They had nine children, six of whom are still living, namely: A. M., Priscilla, Mary, Margaret, William and Frank. The deceased are John, George and Julia, the last named having died in Iowa, and the other two in Oregon. The father of this family was a farmer and merchant, attained a fair degree of success in life, and at the time of his death was the owner of considerable property. He was a Democrat and a Baptist.

At the time of the removal of the Troutman family to Iowa, A. M.¸ the subject of our sketch, was a boy of twelve years. His education was received in the public schools of Ohio and Iowa, and he early in life showed a disposition for adventure. When only eighteen years of age he made the overland journey to California, leaving Van Buren county April 27, 1860, making the long and tedious journey with an ox team, and after six months of travel landed on the Pacific coast. He spent two years in the far West. A portion of this time he was at Virginia City, Nevada, where he was employed in cutting cord-wood, at $8 per day, this being better than he could do in the mines. The return trip he made by water and the isthmus of Panama.

Then until 1870 he lived in Van Buren county, and in that year came to his present location in Lucas county. It was not, however, until 1885 that he purchased his present farm. This place comprises 700 acres of choice land in Union township, his home being on section 15. He has a comfortable frame house, good orchard and grove, and a barn that is worthy of special mention. This barn is 36 X 60 feet, and has an eight-foot basement built of rock—a red bowlder. A single stone broken in pieces was sufficient to build this whole wall. He also has another smaller barn. Both as a farmer and stock-raiser and breeder, Mr. Troutman is meeting with signal success, and is to-day ranked with the most solid financial men of the county. Mr. Troutman was married April 4, 1869, in Union township, Lucas county, to Martha Westfall, a representative of one of the leading families of the township. Her father, Granville Westfall, deceased, was a Virginian by birth and one of the early pioneers of Iowa. Her mother Jennetta Westfall, was also a native of Virginia and is deceased. Mrs. Troutman was born in Monroe county, this State. Of the nine children of our subject and his wife, we make the following record: Mary, wife of Timothy Cartright,, Union township, this county; Jessie, wife of George Connor; Maggie, at home; Flora, wife of B. Souder¸ Union township; McClellan, John, Don, Lou, and Vernie.

Mr. Troutman casts his ballot with the Democratic party, and he and his wife are members of the Baptist Church.