The subject of this sketch was early identified with the eastern part of Iowa. He was born on Duck creek, East Tennessee, November 3, 1810, and was a son of Edward Stokes. When Young was one year of age his parents moved to Shawneetown, Illinois, and he grew to manhood in that State. In 1843 he decided to make his future home in Iowa, where he could purchase land cheaper than in Illinois. With that object in view he removed to Scott County and purchased the tract of land on the river road in Pleasant Valley Township, which was known as the Hawley estate. The only improvement on it at that time was a log cabin. He afterward erected a frame house and lived there for many years. Later he purchased land on the Rock river, Illinois, to which he removed with his family. Mr. Stokes never had the advantages of an education, but in his younger days was a man of prominence and wielded a potent influence in the community in which he lived. It was through his efforts and those of Judge Grant that the proposition to levy a tax on the farmers of Pleasant Valley in 1854 to aid the construction of the Missouri River Railroad was defeated.
Mr. Stokes married Miss Lucy Niver, August 3, 1839, and to them ten children were born. Mrs. Stokes died July 31, 1855, and but three of the children are now living. Mr. Stokes has been a Republican since the party was organized.
BIOGRAPHIES