| 31 | The Founding of Zearing, Iowa | 31 |
their sons from becoming traveling salesmen. However, many younger members of the families did sell books, sewing machines, and other articles for short periods of time when they needed extra income. In other words selling was sometimes a profitable side line for them.
Mildred's idea seemed to be that the brother of Judge Zearing did come to Lincoln township for the purpose of checking on the Judge's land. It is probable that some business man in Illinois suggested that he should sell sewing machines while he was on the trip. The railroad had opened up a new territory. Why not take advantage of that fact'?
We know that the brother visited the William F. Lewis home. William had no interest in the Zearing land. Judging from the standards of the horse and buggy days, William lived a considerable distance from the Judge's land and in the wrong direction. If the brother was a salesman his presence at the Lewis home could be readily explained.
No one remembers the first name of the brother of Judge Zearing. We could only guess which one it could have been. History is built on facts, not guesses.
NOTE : The following additional evidence arrived on September 27, 1955. The story of the naming of our town had been completed. However, I believe that the information is important and should be included as a postscript.
Miss Ruth Robinson of Miami, Florida, visited her former home in Bureau county, Illinois, in the summer of 1955. Ruth is a descendant of the Zearing family. She graciously spent considerable time searching for additional information for our history.
“This summer I made a trip to Princeton and endeavored to get some information for you. I went to the cemetery at Princeton and also both cemeteries at Dover. I also went to the newspaper office and looked over all issues of the paper from September 1, to December 31, 1881. I found nothing of value in the papers.
However, among the Zearing family papers was an advertisement of a sewing machine but nothing to show who sold them. This leads me to believe that some one in the Zearing family was interested in selling sewing machines."
The following account was taken from a letter written by Lena Richardson Warner.
“The Richardson family came from Adams, Massachusetts. My great grandmother, Hanna Hoxie, was a Quaker minister in Adams. Her picture hangs in the Quaker church there. Susan B. Anthony,