JAMES L. WASHBURN
Varied
are the interests of James L. Washburn, who is not only one of
the successful agriculturists of Union township, Lucas county,
but has also actively participated in public life and at
present serves in the position of justice of the peace. Although he had but
a common-school education, he has taught himself largely and
has become recognized as one of the best informed men upon the
history of his district.
He has written one of the best township histories to be
found on Union township, Lucas county, which gives a concise
record of the development thereof. Himself of an old and distinguished
family, he has been interested in genealogical work and has
compiled various records of importance and interest, including
that of his own family.
James
L. Washburn was born in Lee county, Iowa, November 25, 1860. There he attended
the common schools and grew to manhood, supplementing his
early education by continual reading of the best magazines and
periodicals of the day.
He subsequently studied and graduated in bookkeeping
and telegraphy and railroad station work and is qualified to
hold any of these offices.
For a time he was also interested in banking with
Manning & Penick of Chariton, Iowa.
The
Washburn family was first mentioned in the history of the
United States in 1790, when they were located in Vermont, in
the disputed territory lying between New York and New
Hampshire. Mr.
Washburn is in possession of a genealogical record extending
over two centuries. His
father, Stephen S. Washburn, was born in Canada in 1820 and
died in Lee county, this state, in 1873. His father was the
head of the Washburn family in America. It was in 1844 that
Stephen S. Washburn located in Lee county, Iowa, then a
territory, becoming one of its very earliest pioneers. At the time of
Lincoln’s first election he was one of three men to brave the
dangers in his township in order to vote for Lincoln, that
section being at the time a rebel hotbed. Three uncles of our
subject were captains in the Union army and one fought for the
southern cause as colonel.
The mother of James L. Washburn was Malissa H. (Sprott)
Washburn, who was born in 1826 and died in Lee county in
March, 1903. She
came to that county with her parents in the same year as her
husband and was a daughter of the well known Colonel James
Sprott of war fame. Mr.
Washburn has also compiled a complete genealogical record of
the Sprott family which extends from September, 1767, to the
present time. Mr.
and Mrs. Stephen S. Washburn were the parents of five
children: Nicholas
A., residing in Washington; Mrs. Anna S. Pfligenstoffer, of
Argyle, Iowa; Mrs. Ella F. Newberry, also of that place;
Willard S., of California; and James L., of this review. All of these
children were born and reared in Lee county in the home where
the parents began their housekeeping and where they both lived
until their deaths.
Upon growing to manhood Mr. Washburn gave his attention largely to agricultural pursuits, but he also made eight trips across the Rocky Mountains and traveled over forty thousand miles. He now enjoys a home of one hundred and sixty acres of fertile land on sections 18 and 20, Union township, highly improved. His buildings are modern and well equipped and his residence is comfortable. He gives considerable attention to stock-raising, keeping a high grade of animals. As the years have passed he has become one of the substantial agriculturists of this section and great credit must be given him for what he has attained.
In
1885 Mr. Washburn was united in marriage to Miss Alice Sprott,
of the same name as his mother.
She was born in Union township, Lucas county, September
7, 1867, and here grew to womanhood and here has ever since
lived. Her
parents were Joseph W. and Frances A. (Brown) Sprott, natives
of Pennsylvania, the former born July 30, 1826, and the latter
on April 24, 1830. The
parents subsequently moved to Iowa. The father was a forty-niner, going to
California with an ox team and returning by the isthmus of
Panama, walking from the Pacific to the Gulf through what is
now the Canal Zone. He
came to Lucas county in 1858 where he followed agricultural
pursuits. He
passed away in Derby in August, 1903, the mother following him
in death on April 23, 1905, her demise occurring in Union
township. Mr.
and Mrs. Sprott became the parents of the following children: Mrs. Elizabeth
Mitchell, who is residing south of Chariton, this state; Mrs.
Joan Chapman, of Derby, Iowa; Mrs. George Parkin, of Derby;
Mrs. Kate E. Robinson, who resides in White Breast township;
Mrs. Alice Washburn, the wife of our subject; and Thomas,
deceased. The
three eldest children were born in Van Buren county and the
remainder in Union township, Lucas county. Mr. and Mrs.
Washburn became the parents of five children, of whom three
are living: Agnes
E., born August 4, 1889; Olive M., whose birth occurred
December 13, 1891; and Ruby F., born December 21, 1893. They attended the
common schools in the vicinity of the father’s farm and the
two eldest took a course at Drake University of Des Moines. They are school
teachers, the older one having been connected with the Osceola
public schools. She
and Olive M. are now teaching in the Derby schools.
In his political affiliations Mr. Washburn is a progressive republican and has ever given to that party his stanch support. He is at present justice of the peace of Union township and at one time was mayor of Bondurant, Iowa. Fraternally he is a Mason and a member of the Knights of Pythias, the Brotherhood of American Yeomen and the Modern Woodmen of Derby. In 1912 he was chosen president of the Farmers’ Short Course held at Derby and it is needless to say that the affair under his able management proved to be a complete success. As much as Mr. Washburn is interested in the history of his district, he gives as much consideration to its future and can ever be found among those men who support worthy public enterprises. He has not only stimulated interest in the present generation as regards the pioneer history of his district, but has himself been an active factor in promoting agricultural development and improving moral and intellectual standards. He must therefore be considered a serviceable factor in the general upbuilding, and the confidence, respect and good-will which he receives on all sides are well and highly merited.