For
Muscatine County Iowa
1911
| Biographies For Muscatine County Iowa 1911 | |
Source: History of Muscatine County Iowa, Volume II, Biographical, 1911, page 443
SYLVANUS G. VAN ZANDT....Sylvanus G. Van Zandt, who owns a beautiful farn of four hundred and forty acres in Lake township, Muscatine county, which he acquired through his own industry and good judgment, was born in Baltimore, New York, June 5, 1852, a son of Joseph and Mary ( Shurrager ) Van Zandt. The father and mother were both natives of New York state, the latter having been born in Columbia county. Joseph Van Zandt, the grandfather, who was a soldier in the Revolutionary war, was a quarryman and lost his left arm by a premature blast in a quarry at Baltimore. The great grandfather was a native of Holland and his wife of Germany. The father of our subject was a man of great muscular strength. In his wrestling days matches were quite common and it is said that he was never thrown on his back nor was he ever outlifted by another man. Being a man of high principles, he once struck a man who offered him twenty-five dollars for his vote. Our subject is heir to a part of the Anna K. Jans estate. The mother came of the same ancestry as the father. There were thirteen children in the family, four of whom are now living : Sylvanus G., our subject ; and Frank, Robert and Malinda, all of New York state.The subject of this review was educated in the common schools of New York and after reaching manhood became mate of a barge on the Hudson river. In 1877, just before starting for the west, he was offered the position of pilot at a salary of one hundred and twenty-five dollars per month, but he refused as he had decided to seek his fortune elsewhere. He came to Benton county, Iowa, and a year later, while visiting in Muscatine, entered the employ of Colonel Kincade, upon whose farm he continued for five years. He then ran a threshing machine on his own account and, having married, rented land and in 1893 located upon the farm which he now occupies. Here he has made all the improvements, including the dwelling, barns, outbuildings, fences, drainage and planting of shade and ornamental trees, and his farm has become one of the most valuable and productive in the township. He is an extensive stock-raiser and feeder and also owns a fine herd of pure-bred Hereford cattle and some good graded horses. He has used good judgment in his affairs and is one of the well-to-do citizens of the county.
In 1882 Mr. Van Zandt was united in marriage to Miss Maggie Lawler, a native of Muscatine county and a daughter of James and Mary ( Lynch ) Lawler. The father was born in Ireland and came to the United States in 1845, spending three years in Ohio, after which he located in Muscatine county. He was a contractor and grader and assisted in building the levee on Muscatine island. In 1862, he moved to Lake township, where he followed farming until his death, which occurred in 1876, his remains being interred in Seventy-six cemetery. The mother was born in County Kilkenny, Ireland, and was married there. She was called from earthly scenes in 1900. There were eleven children in the family, five of whom are now living : Liza, the wife of James Dunphy, of Atchison, Kansas ; James and Peter, both of Muscatine ; Rebecca, the wife of Charles Bennett, of Muscatine ; and Maggie, now Mrs. Van Zandt. Eleven children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Van Zandt : Sylvester, Sylvanus, Margaret, Mary, Anna, Mellvina, Ralph, Clara, leonard, Allen and Edmond, all of whom are living at home.
Mr. and Mrs. Van Zandt are both members of the Dutch Reformed church and active workers in that organization. Politically Mr. Van Zandt is in sympathy with the democratic party. He served as justice of the peace of his township for five years and as trustee for two terms, also filling the office of school director for several years. He owes no small part of his success to the co-operation of his wife, who has been to him a loving helpmeet and to her chldren a true mother. The family home is a center of good-will and hospitality and the younger generation is here taught those lessons of helpfulness and forbearance so necessary in every truly happy life. Mr Van Zandt does not regret that he cast his lot in Muscatine county, for here he has found what many seek in vain---friends, prosperity and happiness.
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