Dickinson, Wyllis

DICKINSON, WILLARD, HART

Posted By: Mary H. Cochrane, Volunteer
Date: 6/29/2019 at 13:56:08

Wyllis Dickinson
Hamilton Township, Decatur County, Iowa

Among the most noted characters of early Hamilton history was Wyllis DICKINSON. He was born in Kensington, Conn., about 1799; came to Hamilton in 1840. He first lived on the bottom land by Grand River, but having had an undesirable experience with the overflow of the river he moved farther back to higher ground on the ridge. He put up the walls of a log cabin, and needing the shelter before he could get the roof on, within these walls he made a tent of muslin bought at Cincinnati on his way hither, and in this he lived two or three years before the cabin roof was put on. In this rude and primitive dwelling, without a window, he lived until his death in 1892, a period of fifty-two years from his coming to the township.
For the sake of exactness it should be said that toward the very last a single pane of glass was inserted in the wall near the chimney corner. Before indulging in this piece of luxury his reading during daylight hours was done by sitting with his back toward an opening in the wall made by removing a block of the chinking which was replaced in cold weather, when his reading was over for the time being. At night he read by the light of the lamp suspended by one of the beams wliich supported the ceiling. It consisted of a saucerlike vessel of metal, with a lip to it, in which lay a strip of cotton immersed in oil or melted grease, with which it was partially filled. The part of the cotton strip coming up through the lip was lighted, and as it burned down was drawn up from time to time with a large pin or other sharpened article.

In this simple way he was accustomed to gratify his love of reading, which was intense, as he was a man of more than usual education for the time and place. He resorted to these simple expedients not because he lacked the means to supply himself with better things, but because of the simplicity of his tastes and character. There were plenty of funds at his command to have provided not only the substantial necessaries of life, but to have given him the enjoyment of refinements, its luxuries and elegancies as well, if he had craved them.

It is said that when he was leaving the New England home his father wished to invest many thousands in liis interests, but he would have none of it, preferring to push his way by natural means in the wilderness ness like another Thoreau far from the rush of modern life as it developed in the older communities. His relatives were liberal in sending him supplies of money so that he never was without the power to pay amply for even the simplest service rendered him, and in this manner he was very independent. He was the owner of 570 acres of land in the county, indicating that the simplicity of his life was not owing to poverty, but to inherent characteristics which induced sympathy with the natural rather than the artificial. That he was fond of literature is not to be wondered at, seeing that he was the cousin of the poet Percival, born in the same town four years before himself, who was a geologist as well, but was known chiefly as a writer of dainty and picturesque verse.

Mr. DICKINSON was a nephew of a Mrs. WILLARD, who maintained a female seminary in the State of New York, where she at one time entertained Lafayette, whose visit she afterward returned in his home in France.

He was much interested in young people making a struggle for an education, and was ever anxious for an opportunity to furnish [himself] with books and magazines. A neighbor's son, John HOLDEN, though now well advanced in years, has still in his possession a valuable work which was the gift of the old hermit.

That he was a loyal citizen and patriot is proved by the fact that during the War of the Rebellion he offered forty acres of his land to a neighbor's son on condition that he would enlist in the army for the preservation of the Union. It is a matter of regret that the offer was not accepted.

Under his influence a nephew, Sherman HART, who lived with him and whom he intended to make his heir, joined the Union army. He was taken sick at Island No. 10, and being taken to Cape Girardeau [Missouri] for hospital treatment, died there. This was more to be lamented inasmuch as he was engaged to an estimable young woman whom he expected to marry at the close of hostilities, the dwelling for their occupancy having already been erected.

He was never married, and though a great recluse was never melancholy or downhearted. On the contrary, he was a singularly happy disposition. His unusual physical strength was under the complete control of dominant will and the serenity of his temperament was the leading trait of his character. His coolness of temper was strikingly displayed by an incident which occurred in 1855. He had just sold some land and was supposed to have had considerable money stowed away somewhere in the cabin, as proceeds of the sale. In the course of an evening, as he sat reading, and after young John HOLDEN, who was assisting him with his corn gathering, had gone to bed behind a curtain stretched across the room, on which account his presence was unsuspected, there came a knock at the door, and not being suspicious of evil intent, DICKINSON proceeded to unfasten the door by removing a large pin.

Upon opening the door a very large man appeared, followed by a smaller one. The large man claimed to be an agent of the Government, deputized to gather up all of the arms found in the hands of the citizens. Mr. DICKINSON expressed his surprise at this alleged action on the part of the Government, especially in his case, as he was well known to be a perfectly loyal citizen from whom the Government had nothing ing to fear.

During the colloquy the old man seemed to be thoroughly unsuspicious, but to the young man behind the curtain the move seemed to be a mere ruse on the part of the intruders to get into their own hands a shotgun, rifle and a musket which were kept upon the wall in the customary manner, in order that the obvious purpose of robbery might be more easily carried out.

Finding that the revolver that he usually carried was not within his reach, he sprang from the bed and seized the leader by the throat, who, on account of his superior strength was enabled to shake him off, but finding that DICKINSON was not alone, rushed through the open door and made his escape with his fellow burglar. One of the pieces from the wall was fired after them, DICKINSON the while remaining perfectly cool and collected, and after the flight of the parties making the remark that he could easily have brained the fellow with the powerful door pin which he still held in his hand.

The hermit was very successful in handling bees and he had perhaps as many as a hundred swarms at one time, and also rendered the honey and wax from forty hives, most of which was shipped to St. Joseph, Missouri, but some went as far as California. Of the honey he was accustomed to make considerable quantity of methelgin, a strong spirituous liquor which he drank freely as a stimulant, also sharing it liberally with his callers, for he was fond of company. Doing his own cooking, he became quite an expert in that line, and many of the young people of the place liked nothing better than to have an opportunity of partaking of the savory viands prepared by his hands, and he took great delight in thus catering to their tastes.

The old gentleman was originally an Episcopalian, but in mature life leaned to the Methodist persuasion, and gave freely of his means to its support, though he never became an actual member of the church. He was a great Bible reader.

SOURCE: CAMPBELL, Dunca. "Hamilton Township Before the War." History of Decatur County and Its People. Chapt. IV. Pp. 43-4. S.J. Clarke Pub. Co. Chicago. 1915.

Transcriptiond by Sharon R. Becker, August of 2013

Decatur County Journal
February 2, 1893

WYLLIS DICKINSON,
the Decatur County Hermit, Found Frozen to Death.

- - - - - - - - - - - -
In a rudely constructed hut, situated in a picturesque, and yet one of the loneliest spots in southern Iowa, nestled between the hills in a wooded section of Decatur County, has lived for fifty-three years a hermit, whose recluse manners has furnished an interesting bit of history.

WYLLIS DICKINSON's eccentric ways and exile life has been the subject of much discussion among the older settlers of his vicinity. His lifeless form, found lying on his cabin floor just in front of the old fireplace on last Saturday by a neighbor, ANDREW SCOTT, who had called to attend to his wants, as was his custom of doing, marks the life and sad death of the hermit with a shroud of mystery, which will probably never be solved.

As soon as the dead body was discovered, Coroner BROWN was summoned, who immediately drove to the scene and proceeded to hold an inquest. A jury was impannelled and witnesses examined as to the cause of his death. The jury, after Dr. BROWN's examination of the body and hearing the evidence, came to the conclusion that the old gentleman had frozen to death, and such is their verdict.

The body was placed in a casket and taken to the Davis City Cemetery and deposited in the vault to await the arrival of a nephew, a MR. S.U. LIART, living in Kensington, Connecticut, who is expected to arrive this week.

With the exception of a few months the old gentleman had lived a solitary life since 1840, his only companions being a dog and two cats, which are now the only occupants of the lonely hermitage.

Why the old gentleman should seek a home in the wilderness, remote from all relatives and pleasures of this world, is a matter of much speculation and beyond all human comprehension. Those who indulge in the doctrines of mysticism assign many reasons for his queer actions. A gentleman who lived in the neighborhood a number of years and in whom the old gentleman confided says that several years ago he nursed him during a spell of fever, and when delirious he would frequently refer to a young lady who had died several years before in Connecticut. Since his death a photograph of a young lady, apparently 19 or 20 years old, has been found, together with a package of letters in which it is said she refers to their wedding day. The supposition now is that after her death, which occurred before the day set for their marriage, the disappointment caused him to come west and take a home in the wilds at that time and live the life of a recluse.

He came to Iowa in 1840 from Kensington, Connecticut, and has lived almost entirely alone since that date. He rarely ever went to town and for the past twenty years he has not been off his own land, although he lived within two and one-half miles of Davis City. He was a cousin of the poet, James Gates Percival and was a highly educated man. The house in which he lived was the old fashioned log cabin, with clapboard roof and puncheon floor and the primitive fireplace and spider. There is only one room, which was filled with curious relics of by-gone days that are very interesting to the present generation. He was very well posted on the leading events and conversed pleasantly with all who chanced to call on him. He was very liberal in donating toward the church and distributed considerable literature among the poor. He was the possessor of 320 acres of land and had quite a good deal of money on deposit. In an old fashioned hair trunk was found money and notes to the amount of several hundred dollars. It is said that he never saw a train of cars or a stove, but this is evidently a mistake, since the narrow gauge runs through his land and stoves were very common at the time he made his last visit to town.

NOTE: Wyllis DICKINSON, according to his gravestone, was aged 93 years upon his death January 27, 1893.

Copied by Nancee (McMurtrey) Seifert

Updated: 08/15/2013 21:37:23
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