WILLIAM E. PETERS
William E. Peters made a settlement on section 30, in April, 1862, where he resided until his death, which occurred on Thursday, April 10, 1879. He was born in North Wales, March 4, 1823, where his parents died when he was three years of age. In 1840 he went to Scotland, and from there he came to this country in 1853, settling at Pittsburg, Pennsylvania. From Pittsburg he came to this county, in company with Edward Griffith, now a resident of Grant township. His early life was one of hardship, toil and privation, owing to the early demise of his parents and his consequent dependence upon charity until old enough to provide for himself, when the necessity of untiring labor in providing for his physical being robbed him of the privileges of even a common school education. Yet, notwithstanding all this, he was known here as a self-educated man, and one whose opinions, the result of long and patient study and practical experience, were treated with the respect due them. His life before coming to this county was a busy and eventful one, and his hand to hand battle with the world had peculiarly fitted him for the duties required of the pioneer settlers of Cass county. The wild and sterile aspect of this county twenty-two years ago had no terrors for him, and by his energy and industry he became fully entitled to the honor of doing as much, if not more, than other men in transforming the long ago Cass county into the fruitful fields and pleasant homes of to-day. His indomitable nature was not checked by the disadvantages to be contended with, but rather expanded at beholding the broad and wild acres on which grew only the wild prairie grasses, and from the rich soil that grew them he yearly gathered a harvest which maintained him and his in comparative comfort, and afforded a balance which is sufficient to enable those he left behind him to live in no fear of poverty. He was a strict Christian, having embraced religion at the early age of fourteen years, and all who knew him here recognized in him a faithful and intelligent adherent to the religion he professed. The influence his consistent Christian life had upon this community cannot be estimated, but it had its effect, and that many men have been made better because of his having lived here cannot be doubted. At the time of his death he was a prominent member of the Congregational church, at Anita, being also one of the first members of that organization. He was married in the summer of 1854, at Pittsburg, to his relict, Mrs. Dinah E. Peters, and though no children blessed their union, all the love of a warm and generous nature was bestowed upon his wife and their adopted daughter. Miss Cassie Peters, who still mourn their loss. In concluding this mention of one of the pioneers of this county, we take genuine pleasure in stating that, as a man, he was honest, upright and noble; as a Christian, consistent and devoted; as a husband, kind, watchful and provident; as a neighbor, universally beloved. He had hosts of friends and no enemies, and enjoyed the respect and esteem of all with whom he came in contact. In his death, Cass county lost one of its oldest and best citizens.
Contributed by Lisa Varnes-Rex from "History of Cass County, Iowa. Together With Sketches of its Towns, Villages and Townships, Educational, Civil, Military and Political History: Portraits of Prominent Persons, and Biographies of Old Settlers and Representative Citizens." Springfield, Ill.: Continental Historical Company, 1884, pg. 684-685.
