Biographies
For
Muscatine County Iowa
1889



Source: Portrait and Biographical Album, Muscatine County, Iowa, 1889, page 428

CHARLES W. DERBY, one of the gallant soldiers of the late war, is numbered among the early settlers of Wilton Township, of 1856, and resides on section 10. He is a native of the Green Mountain State, having been born in Andover, Windsor Co., Vt., in 1832. His father, Nathan Derby, was a native of Massachusetts, and the family is of old New England stock, being descended from two brothers of that name who emigrated to America long years prior to the Revolutionary War. Nathan Derby was twice married, his first union, which was celebrated in Massachusetts, being with Betsy Thomas. After his marriage he removed from his native State, settling in the town of Andover, Vt., where a few years later his wife died, leaving three children: Mrs. Elmira Peabody, who died in November, 1839; Mrs. Eliza Sherwin, who died in 1848; and Francis T., who is now living in Galesburg, Ill. Mr. Derby's second marriage was with Betsy Balch, by whom he had nine children, six sons and three daughters, of which number four sons and two daughters are yet living. The father, who was born in 1793, died in Andover in 1881, at the advanced age of eighty-eight years, while his wife departed this life in 1871.

The first of the Derby family to emigrate to the West was a sister of our subject, who settled in Galesburg, Ill., in the spring of 1851. The following autumn, two brothers, Frank and Ira W., also went to Illinois, where the former is still living in Galesburg, but the latter is a resident of the Wilton Township. In 1853 Charles also resolved to make his home in the West, and went to Galesburg, Ill., where he resided until the fall of 1856, when he removed to Muscatine County. The preceding spring his brother, Ira W., had located in this county, and on the 10th of October, 1857, the two purchased 160 acres of land in Wilton Township, which has now been their home for a third of a century.

When the war broke out Charles Derby was one of the first to respond to the call of his country in her hour of danger, and on the 26th of September, 1861, enlisted in Company D, 44th Iowa Infantry, in which he served for over three years, being mustered out in October, 1864. He was in active service during the entire term of his enlistment, and took part in many of the most important battles of the war, among which were the battles of Shiloh, Corinth, and Iuka, together with the famous sieges of Vicksburg and Atlanta, with the battles attending the same. He escaped the bullets of the enemy, but still feels the effect of the long and forced marches, the exposure and privations that were incident to that great struggle for the life of the Nation. On the close of the war he returned to his home, since which time he has been engaged in farming.

In 1866 Mr. Derby was united in marriage with Miss Frank Newell, who was born in Ohio. Her father, Charles Newell, was a native of Connecticut and her mother of New York; but both removed to the Buckeye State in their youth. Mr. Newell removed from Ohio to Illinois in the spring of 1853, and ten years later continued his journey westward to Muscatine County. His death occurred Nov. 8, 1878, and his wife survived her husband about a year. The union of Mr. and Mrs. Derby has been blessed with a family of three children--------- Ernest W., Stella May, and Lydia M. They have a pleasant home, surrounded by the comforts of life, and result of their labor and industry. and receive the respect of all who know them. In polities Mr. Derby is a Republican, and socially , is a member of Henry Sibert Post No. 250, of Wilton.

Ira W. Derby, whose farm adjorns that of Charles, arrived in Muscatine County on the 23d of April, 1856. He had purchased land on section 11, Wilton Township, in 1853, and in connection with his brother purchased the land on which they now live in 1857. But few improvements had been made on the land at the time of their purchase, only a part of it having been put under the plow. A small house had also been erected, but by the united efforts of the two brothers one of the finest farms in the county has been developed.

On the 12th of November, 1829, Ira Derby first saw the light of day, in Andover, Windsor Co., Vt. He was married in Illinois, in the town of Kirkwood, Aug. 20, 1857, becoming the husband of Miss Abbie Wilson, a native of Fredonia, Chautauqua County, N.Y., born Dec. 23, 1827, and a daughter of Leonard and Polly (Winegar) Wilson, the former born at Whitehall, N. Y., the latter at Ft. Ann, Washington Co., N. Y. From the Empire State the parents removed to Erie County, Pa., and from there to Lake County, Ohio, where they passed the remainder of their days. They were the parents of thirteen children. Of this union of Mr. and Mrs. Derby four children have been born, three sons and a daughter--------- Nathan W., Ida J., Eugene H., and Leonard.

The Derby brothers are numbered among the Substantial and esteemed citizens of Muscatine County, and hold high rank with the leading farmers of the community.


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