WILLIAM VALENTINE
VALENTINE, William, was born May 6, 1843, at West Point, Tippecanoe county, Ind. His father, J. W. Valentine, was a farmer in easy circumstances, who was born in 1804 at Scotch Plains, N. J. He moved to Ohio when it was a very new country, where, on the 29th of February, 1829, he was married to Miss Rebecca Kinkennon. She was the daughter of James Kinkennon, a minister of the gospel, and a man of fine intellectual powers, having also an extensive knowledge of both law and medicine. J. W. Valentine and his family moved to Tippecanoe county, Ind., in 1886, where they lived until September, 1856, when Mr. Valentine died. Here the son, William, spent his boyhood days on his father's farm, acquiring such education only as the public schools afforded. In April, 1863, he came to Iowa, stopping with his brother who was keeping a hotel at Fontanelle, Adair county. At this time Adair county was very sparsely settled, most of the country being a vast stretch of wild prairie, upon which game was plentiful. He began farming in 1864, his sister keeping house for him. The next spring he purchased a four-mule team and ran a freight wagon between Omaha and Denver. The business was attended with danger from Indians, who sometimes swooped down on the trains, killing the drivers and running off the stock and other property. It was no uncommon sight to find dead bodies of Indians along the route where they had been killed by the freighters in defense of their lives and property. He afterwards lived on a farm until 1874, when he moved into Atlantic, Cass county, Iowa. In 1876 he moved to Casey, Guthrie county, and there engaged in the lumber business. In 1883 he took in a nephew as partner and they opened a hardware and agricultural implement establishment in connection with the lumber business. In 1895 they built a fine brick building for the accommodation of their rapidly growing business, making one of the best establishments in western Iowa. In 1897 they purchased an implement house in Adair, Adair county, and are carrying on both establishments.
November 17, 1866, Mr. Valentine was united in marriage with Miss Naomi I. Taylor, daughter of Judge N. S. Taylor, of Fontanelle. Eight children have been born to them: Margaret N., born September 3, 1867; Hettie R., born May 30, 1870, died October 16, 1879; Mabel G., born September 10, 1872; John W., born July 23, 1875; Effie M., born December 14, 1877; Irene A., born June 7, 1880; Lucile E., born January 25, 1883, and Ethel C., born September 6, 1885. Mr. Valentine is not a member of any church, but with his family attends the Presbyterian. He is a republican, and belongs to the Masonic Fraternity, Blue Lodge, Casey Chapter, at Fontanelle.
From
Biographies and Portraits of the Progressive Men of Iowa, Leaders in Business, Politics and the Professions, Together with an Original and Authentic History of the State, by Ex-Lieutenant-Governor B. F. Gue. Des Moines: Conway & Shaw Publishers, 1899, pg. 532.
