HITCHCOCK, Arad Hunt, Hon. 1811-1876
HITCHCOCK, BROWN, EATON
Posted By: Gordon Felland (email)
Date: 6/8/2009 at 15:41:07
Item #1:
Hon. Arad Hitchcock, whose name is closely interwoven with the history of Osage and of Mitchell county, was prominently identified with its material development, its political history and its intellectual and moral progress. He was born in Westfield, Orleans county, Vermont, October 21, 1811, a son of Caleb and Nancy (Eaton) Hitchcock, who had a family of eight children, four daughters and four sons. Three sisters were older than Arad, who was the oldest of the sons. The father died when Arad Hitchcock was but fourteen years of age and when he had reached the age of twenty he was given his time and one hundred dollars in money and thus he started forth in the world to make a name and fortune. A year later, in 1831, he removed westward to Ohio and without money, without friends and without acquaintances in that section he settled at Mount Vernon although the town was yet a thing of the future. He and his brother-in-law, who had accompanied him, built a sawmill there but after remaining for two years Mr. Hitchcock disposed of his interest to his brother-in-law and returned to his native place in Vermont.
On the 16th of November, 1834, Mr. Hitchcock was united in marriage to Miss Matilda Brown and they became the parents of two daughters, who survive him. He continued to reside in the old home in the Green Mountain state for two years after his marriage and then again took up his way westward, returning to Mount Vernon, Ohio, where he remained for another period of two years. Once more he went back to his old home amid the hills and valleys of his native state and while still in the east he spent two years in St. Johns, Canada, where he and a brother conducted a hardware and tinware business.
During the latter part of April, 1856, he sold out and, severing the business ties which bound him to the east, he started westward with his family, being at that time the possessor of a few thousand dollars which he had gained through his industry, his enterprise and his economy. He had heard favorable reports concerning Iowa and its opportunities and he determined to make his home in this state if he found conditions favorable. He traveled to Mitchell county, where he arrived in the early part of May, 1856, and after studying the conditions of the country he determined to make his home in Osage.
He was prominently identified with the development of Mitchell county for many years. . Before he took up his permanent abode here, however, he and his wife made a trip of inspection, driving from Wisconsin to Iowa in order to determine whether they would be suited with a residence in this section. They arrived in Charles City, Iowa, and were so well pleased with that place that they decided to remain. Consequently Judge Hitchcock traded his team of horses to a man who in return was to build a house upon a lot which he had purchased in that city. Horses were at that time very scarce in the west and such a team was quite valuable.
Judge and Mrs. Hitchcock returned to Vermont to complete their preparations to become residents of Iowa and upon returning to Charles City in 1856 discovered that the contractor with whom he had made the deal had disappeared with the team, leaving no house or any other form of payment for the horses. As the result Judge Hitchcock came to Osage and what was apparently his loss subsequently became his gain and, moreover, proved a great gain for the city with which he cast his fortunes.
From that time forward he was a prominent and influential citizen of Osage and there is no man in all Mitchell county who did more to further its progress and upbuilding during the early days. He was called to many positions of honor and trust aside from that of judge, to which position he was elected to to succeed Dr. Moore in 1857. He served upon the bench of the county court for two years and in 1875 he was elected state senator without opposition to represent the district comprised of the counties of Mitchell, Floyd and Butler.
He then became a member of the upper house of the general assembly and died in Des Moines on March 16, 1876, while attending the sixteenth session of the state legislature. He left his impress indelibly upon the history of Mitchell county. There was no important feature in its early development which did not receive his support and cooperation, and he instituted many measures for the public good. He was a man of sound judgment who looked beyond the exigencies of the moment to the opportunities and possibilities of the future and he labored not only for his own but also for succeeding generations.
Source:History of Mitchell and Worth Counties, Iowa, 1918, Vol. II, page 28.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
#2:BIOGRAPHY: Hitchcock, Arad
Judge ARAD HITCHCOCK. - Judge Hitchcock is of a family of four brothers and four sisters; his ancestrage dating back to the early New England stock.
His career, from early boyhood, has been one full of incidents, both startling and amusing, varying from the rough experiences of pioneer life in the West to the comforts and luxuries attendant on a residence in the Puritan New England States.
Being possessed of a large amount of vitality, a firm and compact physical organization, and a hardy constitution, in all trials and all circumstances his indomitable will-power, indefatigable energy, constant perseverance and industry combined have carried him through safely and successfully. To him the City of Osage and its citizens owe a debt that can be paid only by the lasting remembrance of the great services he has rendered in all matters of public interest tending to the growth and prosperity of the town.
In all matters of benevolence one have given more largely, in matters of charity none more willingly, and in public enterprises has not only been instrumental in founding the proudest institutions of Osage, but to his energy and unsparing assistance they owe their completeness. To no one man does it owe more, if as much, for being the county town and for its business prosperity. Blocks he has built; business houses; founded financial enterprises; has been most influential in securing railroad communication; and been untiring in every effort to advance it; honorable in his connections, and unsparing of aid and assistance.
In fact, he has been one of the pioneer guard of enterprise and sterling worth that left behind the pleasant enjoyments and social comforts of the Eastern States to build up a prosperous country, a promising young city, and at the same time without injury or disregard to the rights and feelings of his fellow-men, accumulate a competency on which to comfortably retire and witness the fruits of his labors.
All this Judge Hitchcock has done, and retains the respect, confidence, friendship and deepest regards of his fellow-citizens of Mitchell County, and, as well, all Northern Iowa; and this department would be incomplete without his name appearing among the representative men that have built up to its present importance the great State of Iowa, and placed it in a position where its future will secure its development as one second to none in the Union.
Judge Hitchcock was born at Westfield, Orleans County, Vermont, October 21, 1800. He received a common-school education, and remained in Vermont until twenty years of age, when he struck out for the then 'far West' alone, and settled for a time at Mount Vernon, Knox County, Ohio, where he taught school during the Winter, and during the Summer worked at his trade as a carpenter. In July 1832, he performed a journey that well displays the disposition of the man, that, no matter how difficult a task he might have before him, his determination was to succeed.
He traveled from Mount Vernon, Ohio, to Hennepin, Putnam County, Illinois, a distance of nearly six hundred miles on foot, and completed the journey at the end of sixteen days. How could a man at twenty-one years at the present time contemplate such a journey? At Hennepin he worked at his trade, and built the first store in that town. He worked about Hennepin until October 28, 1832, when he took a steamer and went to St. Louis, thence up the Ohio to Mount Vernon, suffering severely with fever and ague. In the Winter of 1833, he taught at the same school house he had the Winter before, and in May he returned to Vermont, bought a farm and was there married to Miss Matilda Buren. Then for a time he made quite frequent changes for one of his character of determination and endurance.
After a two years' residence in Vermont, he moved to Mount Vernon, Ohio; lived there two years returned to Vermont; bought a farm. Three years after he went into a mercantile line of life and opened a hotel in Vermont, and three years after sold out and moved to St. John's, Lowe, Canada. There he conducted the hard ware business for almost a year and a half, when he sold out to his brother, returned to Westfield, Vermont, bought and settled on the old homestead. After a three years' residence there he sold out, went to Troy, Vermont, opened a store and conducted a hotel. At the end of one year sold out all his interests in Vermont, and in 1855 came to Iowa and settled at Osage, Mitchell County.
In the Spring of 1856 his family arrived, and he settled on a farm three and one-half miles southern from Osage, which place he still owns. Since his residence here he has held the office of County Judge one term, and in 1865 was instrumental in the organization of the Osage National Bank, of which he was for a number of years, President. He has dealt largely in real estate and cattle and continues in a vigorous and busy business life.
From the A.T. Andreas Illustrated Historical Atlas of the State of Iowa, 1875
(Credit: S. Bell)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
#3:The Osage City Cemetery listing on IaGenWeb shows:
HITCHCOCK, ARAD (B. 1811) (bur. loc) 0154 6 (died/buried) 16 MAR 1876.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
#4:Photo of Arad Hitchcock.
Mitchell Biographies maintained by Sharyl Ferrall.
WebBBS 4.33 Genealogy Modification Package by WebJourneymen