Judson C. Stacy was born in Westport, Essex County, New York, July 4, 1832, and is a son of William and Carissa (Stone) Stacy. As a boy he went to school during winter months and worked on his father's farm in summer. At the age of fourteen he hired out to work on a farm and for several years thereafter was employed in that capacity. In 1851 he came to Iowa and entered a piece of land in Humboldt County, consisting of one hundred and sixty acres. He subsequently sold it to his father and moved to LeClaire Township, Scott County, where he has since lived.
In 1862 he enlisted in Company K, Twentieth Iowa Volunteer Infantry, commanded by Colonel, afterward General, Leake, and went south, first to Arkansas in the Black river country, after which he participated in the battles of Prairie Grove, the siege and capture of Vicksburg, and the engagements at Yazoo river, Forts Morgan and Blakely. He later saw service in portions of Texas and was mustered out at the close of the war with an honorable record.
Mr. Stacy was united in marriage to Miss Anna Elizabeth Byerley, who was born in Carlisle, Cumberland County, Pennsylvania. She was a daughter of Jacob and Margaret Byerly, who came west in 1837, and first settled in Ohio. In 1842 she came to the prairies of Wisconsin, and for many months she never saw the face of a white person other than those of members of her own family. She acquired the Indian language and can talk it as fluently as her native tongue, and also speaks three other languages. She is descended from an old and distinguished Scotch family. Her maternal grandfather, Dr. Tate, was a soldier in the War of 1812, and her father was also a soldier in the struggle to establish the independence of the United States.
In connection with this sketch it will be of interest to make mention of some rare relics and antiques owned by Mrs. Stacy. She has in her possession china made over one hundred years ago. Some of these pieces are embellished with the picture of the "Charter Oak," and also a portrait of George Washington, together with the names of the original thirteen States painted thereon. She has an almanac printed in 1713, and many other curios alike interesting and valuable.
BIOGRAPHIES