WILLIAM E. WYATT
William
E. Wyatt is the owner of valuable property interests in Lucas
county, owning one hundred and sixty acres of choice land in
Union township besides a comfortable residence in Derby, where
he makes his home. He
is a representative of one of the pioneer families of Iowa,
having come to this county with his parents in 1853, but his
birth occurred in Edgar county, Illinois, September 19, 1847. He is a son of S.
Y. and Eliza (Scott) Wyatt, natives of Virginia, who made the
overland journey in 1853 and settled in Clarke county, Iowa,
where they made their home for a number of years. They endured all of
the hardships and difficulties of pioneer existence but
eventually developed a well improved and productive farm. The father died in
Clarke county at the age of eighty-six and the mother passed
away in Lucas county. They
were the parents of ten children, of whom the following grew
to maturity: William
E., of this review; Jacob, who is engaged in farming in Union
township; James, of Montana; and Mrs. Electa Jane Wells, who
has passed away.
William E. Wyatt grew to manhood on his father’s farm in Franklin township, Clarke county, and there remained until he was twenty-one years of age. He then married but continued to reside in the vicinity, engaging in farming for a number of years. In 1883 he removed to Derby and here he turned his attention to the general merchandise business, developing in the course of years a large and important enterprise and building up an extensive patronage as result of his fine stock of goods, his reasonable prices and his honorable and straightforward business methods. Mr. Wyatt still continues to make his home in Derby and he is numbered today among the valued and respected residents of that city. He owns a well furnished home here and one hundred and sixty acres of land in Union township, to which he gives active and careful supervision.
On
the 10th of December, 1868, Mr. Wyatt was united in
marriage to Miss Sarah J. Levally, who was born in Eddyville,
Iowa, December 19, 1848, a daughter of Henry and Mary (Tunks)
Levally, the former of whom died in Eddyville, Iowa. The mother
afterward moved to Union township, Lucas county, and settled
on the farm now owned by the subject of this review. Upon this property
she passed away in January, 1882. She and her husband became the parents
of four children: Mrs.
Phoebe Garland, who has passed away; Mrs. Martha Irvin, of
Weldon, Iowa; Henry Benton, who enlisted from Lucas county for
service in the Union army and died upon the battlefield; and
Mrs. Wyatt, wife of the subject of this review. Mr. and Mrs. Wyatt
have an adopted son, Lee W. Lugar, whom they took into their
home at the age of eighteen months. A more extended mention of his career
appears elsewhere in this work.
Mr. Wyatt belongs to the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Yeomen in Derby and he and his wife are members of the Rebekahs. They are devout members of the Christian church at Last Chance. Both are representatives of well known families of this county and have an extensive acquaintance within its borders, their fine qualities of character having commanded the confidence and high regard of their fellow citizens.