Bios & Family Stories > Misc. Bios > Burt, Calvin Martin

This is the recital of the life of Calvin Martin Burt (Cal to his intimates - CM to others which were a few, for he loved to meet with people and use the Methodist Church as chief auxiliary but education and politics closely followed). In whatever station he was placed he was listen to with respect. He was on the school board until his hearing confused him and was a Township trustee and always attended the GOP he rallies. He was he born in upper New York State (St. Lawrence County)on June 23, 1818 where he lived until he was 20 years old. He then started his journey west which ended him what was known as Polk City for more than half a century when it was decided by the postal authorities that the city part was useless. Some people considered it pokey but it was never pokey when Cal Burt was present. His education might have been meager but he was never accused of being ignorant for like Abe Lincoln he thoroughly knew his Bible, he could discuss current issues and political personalities and issues with anyone and his knowledge of history and geography was very complete. When I ask what part of the world his forefathers came from he confessed that it had never seemed of consequence. But he did know his Grandfather had fought in the Revolutionary War for the freedom of the colonies. When the war between the states engulfed the nation C. M. enlisted in April 1862 and served three years, coming home in April 1865.

He migrated from New York to Wisconsin (territory) where he worked in the tall timber getting out sawed limber and floating it down the Wisconsin and Mississippi Rivers. In 1843 he got as far as Dubuque, Iowa where he met his Waterloo as far as logging in Wisconsin was concerned. His change of occupation was caused by a damsel by the name of Elizabeth Gabbert who was born May 19, 1825. They were joined in wedlock June 2, 1844. They had one son, George W. Burt, born May 13, 1845. Elizabeth Gabbert Burt lived until June 26, 1847 and she was called, leaving C. M. with a two year old boy. Ellizabeth Gabbert Burt was the first person to be buried in Polk City Cemeary. He married Mary Crabtree next, on February 1, 1848, she was born September 1, 1827.
She gave him four children:
     Olive born September 1 1850
     Mary and Martha (twins) on October 15, 1852
     Henry Burt born Oct 14, 1855
     Mary Crabtree Burt was summoned March 30th 1858 leaving C. M. Burt with five very lively children.

So he immediately began a search for help, his search was rewarded on Nov. 18, 1858 by Mary E. Wilson who fulfilled all his hopes and needs for thirty years when the Lord took her, March 7, 1888 after having ten children. C.M. Burt went to his reward Sept. 15, 1897. Mary E. Wilson Burt's children were:
     Walter Francis Burt was born Nov. 18, 1859
     Eva Forrest Burt was born Nov. 17 1861
     Allice Luella Burt was born Dec. 17, 1866
     James Wilson Burt was born Dec. 15, 1868
     Cuyler Horace Burt was born May 16, 1870
     Marinda Ethel Burt was born Jan. 1. 1872
     Calvin Ernest Burt was born March 2, 1874
     Grace Agnes Burt was born July 15,1876
     John L.Z. Burt was born Aug. 14, 1880
     Buren Carlos Burt was born Dec. 10, 1881

This is the intimate record of CM's life but he had a very full life as a citizen and neighbor that seems to have been much more glamorousthan that of many. There were only four relatives that were in the Polk City home at different periods, two brothers who passed before I knew them. The original owner of the day book, that I have, was Derius Burt and there was another brother. Their head stones are in a plot near that of C.M. and his family in Polk City, Iowa. There was a sister Melissa Lucy Burt Janes that died January 2, 1926 on Vashon Island, Washington at age 106 years. There is a letter, from a cousin, that speaks of other Burt brothers and sisters. But there is no record that I have of the family other than that. (note: the death certificate of Melissa stated she was born in Buffalo, N.Y. and that her father's name was Calvin Burt and mother was Olive Andrus. The 1880 Census of Polk City stated that both C.M.’s parents were born in Vermont. Janet)

C.M. was a very active fellow and a good horseman. he stood as straight as ramrod to the end of his days, and when he drove horses held the lines tight which none of his boys, my brothers and I, ever did. He often told of "birling" logs to see who could stay on them longer while spinning in the water. He helped drive rafts down the Wisconsin and Mississippi rivers in the early 1840’s.

After marrying Elizabeth Gabbert they went to St. Joseph, Missouri, with the intention of going to Oregon but changed their minds and moved to Polk City, which was the most prosperous place in central Iowa. It is fifteen miles north of Des Moines, the state capital; but then, it was just a fort for soldiers. Polk City probably never had more than 400 citizens. The day book of Derius Burt gives names of many citizens whose relatives may still be living there (they were still there in 1900)

C.M. purchased a farm on a small stream north of Polk City on Wolf Creek, but evidently wanted more timber, he sold that place and purchased one on Big Creek 80 rods (1,320feet) away, with an ample supply. This was not later than 1848 when he built a log house. He told of cold weather of the times when sitting with his back to the fireplace, his back would be so hot he could hardly stand it and the ink would freeze on his pen. The family lived in this log house until after the civil war when my mother demanded better quarters.

While C.M.. was at war mother ran the farm and being very thrifty she had managed to save a considerable amount of money. A very commodious house with two rooms about 14 feet square on each floor of a two story house with the roof extended over a long kitchen and bedroom on the back of the house. The house was still standing and occupied in 1949 and how it lasted so long with no fire headers from cellar to attic is remarkable. The rats and mice ran up and down that space in the night. fighting and squeaking all night long. They gnawed holes through the partitions to get at anything stored and the rasp of their teeth would make the shivers run down the spine of C.M.’s grandchildren without doubt. They may still be at it for there are many rats still in Iowa. Do you have any intention of going toPolkCity,I iowa with its cold and rats?

( In June 1989 I did go to Iowa and sat in the living room of this very house. It is in very good condition with beautiful wood floors and two huge trees in the front yard. It looks like C.M.’s original barn is still standing, but just barely. If you are interested in seeing it, it is northwest of town taking the main hwy. and a left turn on Hugg Rd., the house is the last one on the right. (Janet Halstead)

C.M. married Mary E. Wilson on Nov. 18, 1858. her parents were James and Marinda Wilson, son of John and Grace Wilson, Marinda Nash Wilson was the daughter of Caleb and Rachel Nash of Underhill Center, Vermont. Grandfather Wilson was born in North Ireland of Scotch parents who migrated to Canada in 1828. They immediately took 100 acres of land for eight of the male members of the family.They labored mightily all winter in deep snow, cutting and burning black walnut of the finest kind to make a garden patch. What was their disappointment to find nothing but shale rock when the snow melted in the spring? They dropped the whole parcel and moved to Vermont in the noble domain of the U.S.A. I have often wondered if conditions were improved as far as rock was concerned. There grandfather John Wilson met his future bride, Marinda Nash. There is a record of the Nash Family in this country back to 1647 or thereabouts, and the Nash relatives have records to prove it. (note: see Nash history attached.)

Grandfather Wilson and family, including his mother and father, moved to Ohio where Mary E. was born in 1838.They got the western fever in 1856 and started for Polk City, Iowa. Such is the course of Empire for there Mary found a man with a family of four children, the oldest 13 years while she was but 20 and C.M. 40.

There were several episodes in the lives of grandmother and grandfather John Wilson that may be interesting and humorous. Grandfather Wilson's folks must have been very well fixed for grandfather tells of a hired man that took his meals with them and was determined to get his share of the food at whatever cost of impoliteness. The tureen of potatoes was in front of him and as soon as grace was said, which preceded each meal, he had his fork well in hand and speared the largest potato with no further formality. One of the brothers was irked finally beyond endurance and had his knife in hand and as the man reached for the potato the brother made a slash at the fellow's hand. The fellow never tried it again. That was the only coup de grace that was used for him. There surely was but little superstition in the family for I never heard anything of that nature mentioned. On the trip across the ocean one of the brothers proved what a daredevil he was by climbing the highest mast and standing on the top of it. Grandfather told these two anecdotes often, the first when I acted like a pig and the second when I was afraid.

Another time one of his brothers found a big cheese left on a barrel to ripen. He got his teeth into the edge of the cheese for a bite and when it came loose he fell on the floor back of the barrel with a chunk of cheese he could hardly chew nor get out of his mouth. Great grandmother, heard the commotion when he fell and saw him lying there but had to taught at him instead of punishing him.

Grandparents left Vermont and settled in Ohio where a family of five children were born of which Mary Wilson was the middle one and the youngest one was old enough to go into the army in the civil war. In 1856 they migrated to Polk City. There were several episodes that happened on the way that were always told over and over. They packed the family and belongings into a big wagon with two yoke of oxen to haul it. Somewhere along the way repairs were needed that called for a hole being bored. They asked a resident for an auger and were given a brace and bit. Grandfather asked for a larger tool and the woman told the youngster to bring the "hauger" with the "andle" in it. Cockney, but it always brought roars of laughter from the children. at another place they were asked the place they were headed. when they said Polk City, Iowa, they were told that was where the women quarreled so much. At another time the oxen ran away down a long hill. one ox refused to run and was dragged with his legs braced, or on his knees all the way down the hill. They thanked the Lord for the bravery of an ox, who saved them.

A year later C.M. was a widower and Mary caught his eye, maybe both were caught in the same net for they were married in less than a year.

C.M.. had three dogs and when he came to town they came post haste to announce the coming of their master. The only conveyances they had were what were known as lumber wagons. The biggest dog was named Prince, who was a bruiser that never bothered anyone so long as they kept their distance. A braggart was telling how he could do anything with any dog when a bystander said, "You can't touch that wagon of C.M. Burt’s.” He’d show them. The men gathered around the wagon and Prince never made a move until he put his hand on the wagon, when Prince lunged and grabbed him. The fellow was so mad he was going to kill Prince, but C.M. quietly said, “I guess not." and he didn’t.

Another time C.M.’S ox team ran away. Prince took after them and C.M. followed. After a while he heard a mighty bawling on another road than the home one and found Prince anchored to the ear of one of the ox with his eyes shut. C.M. must have been pretty badly riled for he grabbed an old ax handle and lammed Prince between the eyes which dropped him like a bullet of lead. C.M. left him thinking him a goner, but when he got home there was Prince following the other ox. C.M. would give him a basting occasionally but no one else could do that to him. Prince was a wise dog. the neighbors had two dogs as large as Prince and he knew never to tackle the two of them together, but let him find one by himself and that dog got a drubbing until his companion came to help, then Prince went loping off. One time George, my half brother, was going courting and Prince decided to go with him as he had gone with C.M. George got off his horse and picked up a sharp ended stick and Prince came right for him. George threw the stick and the sharp end caught Prince in the mouth which subdued him for which George was mighty thankful.

In 1862 C. M. went into the northern army leaving Mary with two children of her own and four step children, one of them epileptic (Mary). Her second child Eva Forrest Burt died April 1863. leaving her Walter who was a robust child and her strongest son to reach maturity. He was very bright and learned to read at age 3. At four years he was ready for the second reader. Mary went shopping with Walter and asked for a second reader. the merchant put the book on the counter where she had hoisted Walter. He immediately began examining the book when the merchant grabbed it from him asking, "Can't you leave things alone?" Mary said, "He thought he should be allowed to look at his own book." at which the Merchant said, "Let's see him read from it." when Walter demonstrated his reading ability, the merchant gave him his best knife in the store. Walter cut his finger and took the knife to the grind stone and ground the edge completely off of it. Another time Mary noticed Walter out on the front porch shaking his fist at the neighbors as they drove past and repeating the deprecation, "cowardly copperheads, crawl to your devil holes." a very potent phrase that was a prelude to a fist fight. Those opposing the war and the freeing of the slaves were called "copperheads".

C.M. came home from the war in 1965 and the family got started again. During the war Mary E. was busy. She always had hired men to manage, cook and feed. She must have woven blankets, for there were many for years after the war. Mary E.. was a whiz to get things done. She was like the nursery rhyme, "She could bake a cherry pie, quick as a cat could wink its eye," nearly. But the crust was as thin as paper and as flaky as you please. There were pies every day besides doughnuts and cookies on hand all the time. The doughnuts were cut into strips and a swift twist made then into a figure eight, in a half hour there was a hatful. Every morning. there were fried potatoes, (raw ones) with bacon or ham and gravy. the big midday meal, which was called dinner, she had boiled potatoes, fried meat and gravy. The evening supper was warmed overs. The children could have all the milk or water they wanted, but never coffee or tea. The butter was watched with hawk eyes to see that it was not spread too thick, with, "Jim, are you eating bread and butter or butter and bread?" all of this cooked on the quaintest cook stove, about two feet square and an oven that seems more like a doll stove. The front had a grate and a door that could be swung back where the bread was toasted and the sweet corn roasted. The corn never needed butter, it was so rich and sweet. She got a new stove about 1875. She could strip the fat from the hog guts nearly as fast as you could look. Everything was saved in some manner, the feet were pickled, the head made into headcheese, the cracklings were mixed with corn meal and fried.

Mary E. was a crusader against the theatre and the circus, she wasn't going to allow her children to squander money looking at leg shows, very naive according to present day practices. She bragged she could reach from high 'c' to 'g' below 'c' in the base clef, more than three octaves. Like Mary, C.M. was a singer too, he led class meetings and led the singing in the Methodist Episcopal Church.

Mary E. wrote a long poem about the terrible storm in Winter of 1862-63. it was the time of the big snow, when it snowed for three days straight. The cattle and horses were in the barn lot and could be cared for but the sheep were down in the shelter of the bluff. This poem was more than a dozen verses but it is lost as far as I know.

He was a good horseman too. He had a team of geldings he called Jim and Frank that weighed no more than 1050 pounds each, small for a horse. When getting out timber for the new house C.M. would take the team into the timber and hang the lines on the hames, throw a chain around a log and drive them back or forward at will with just "get up" or "back", never touching the lines in the process. Some of the logs had to be hauled to Des Moines, seventeen miles to get finished lumber for the floors. One day he met a fellow stuck where the wheels had broken through the ice. The man wanted him to hitch up ahead of his horses to pull it out. C.M. refused as the other team was half again the size of his horses. He told the man to unhitch so he could hitch up Jim & Frank, which the man thought very presumptuous. But the little horses gave a mighty heave and out it came to the man’s surprise. Another time, son Henry took the team into the field, they were frisky as it was early spring, they immediately threw Henry off and ran away. A visiting preacher tried to grab a rein, but the horse who never missed a jump lashed out with a hind foot that caught the tail of the preacher's long overcoat and whirled him around three times and left him so sick he could hardly walk. The team then made three circuits of the field then just stopped, they had had their fun. After 1872 C.M. got a Kentucky whip mare that was the mother (or grandmother) of all the horses on the farm.

C.M. was tough too. To get merchandise to these first settlers it had to be hauled from Keokuk in the southeast corner of Iowa up the Des Moines River as far a Fort Dodge, more than 200 miles. Then another 17 miles to Polk City. C.M. made some of these trips in the middle of winter and bragged, when past 60 year of age, that he never had worn either an overcoat or overshoes!

C.M. took his politics in as much earnestness as his religion. He was always on the board of trustees for the township, so all the county and state Republicans would come along and give him cigars. He never bought them, but when the hogs were sold the buyer treated him to a cigar or when he settled a grocery bill a cigar was sure to be the reward. He always smoked them with gusto, the cigar was always pointed at the sky, he never let it droop. When asked when he began using tobacco he said he was not sure, but it was not later than when he was eight years old. C.M. always supported a full beard and the only picture of earlier years shows a full beard. C.M. died at age 79 years and three months.

About their children: Marinda "Ethel", was the energetic one of the children. Her mother was sick from the time Ethel was fourteen and she had to assume the household duties. She would prop up a book in front of her and studied as she worked and was teaching school before she was old enough to vote. When Grace was a little tike she lost her stocking. She was wandering around talking to herself when her mother listened to see what was the matter. She was repeating, "Where's my stocking? dess it's done to hell." Jim was not much except stubborn. The new house was built when he was one and half years old. A few years later he wandered into the cornfield and went to sleep, he had the family hunting for him for several hours when Henry rode by and woke him up. He just hollered, "Wait for me Hen, I want to go too." Myself and Ernest didn't amount to much, we never produced any new citizens. Buren Carlos always had everybody laughing. (My Grandfather, Janet) When "Grace was said at the table the rest of the children held their breath until it was finished, when he was sure to do something to cause a giggle. One time there was a Swedish stone mason who was very religious doing work. One morning C.M. was indisposed and Mary E. asked him to say 'grace'. When it came out in Swedish, Buren's eyes got as big and round as marbles. The giggles were hardly suppressed until the end and his mother was very ashamed of him.

When Buren started to school there was a severe hailstorm. The other scholars were out examining the hail stones as large as eggs. Buren when missed was found in the darkest seat sniveling, when asked the cause he answered, "I don't know how I am going to get home." he was barefoot. He always plagiarized the church songs and the other kids laughed just to see him come up the aisle of the church as sober as a deacon.

The winter of 76-77 George had sold his farm and Matt's (Martha Burt Jackson) husband had broken his leg. They moved into the two upstairs rooms with their families. George had two boys and the Jackson's had three boys, and Grace had just been born in July 1876. Three families and one stove. That was the winter the presidential election was thrown into the House of Congress. The Republican boys were shouting all the winter, "hurrah for Hays and Wheeler." and the democratic boys, "Hurrah for Tilden and Hendricks." it was quite a rivalry.

About Grandfather Wilson, (Mary E.’s father) he lived with us in his last years. He was always clean shaven when he could get the razor sharp enough, which was some process as he grew older. Your chronicler (Jim Burt) had to turn the grindstone for him to sharpen it. I would then watch the process of shaving. His beard was more like spikes of steel wire to the touch and tough to cut. One time he was cobbling shoes to make a living and preaching on Sunday. He was very strict in his Sunday observance of the Sabbath and after putting in long hours at the bench would stop as midnight Saturday approached. He would hone the knife he used to cut leather and shave himself before the clock struck midnight to be ready to preach on Sunday.

His last preaching appointment, at almost 80 years old, was some 45 or 50 miles from our place, for some reason he decided to ride his horse home. Because of bad roads he had to detour making the trip several miles and hours longer. He arrived home in time for supper and ate as usual and spent the evening telling us of the work he had been doing. That night he had a stroke and went to his reward seven days later on December 5, 1881.

Just five days after her father's death Mary E. had her last child, Buren Carlos. So that was the life lived by the women of 70 years ago. (note: she did not live to raise Buren, she died when he was 6 years and 3 months.) His father died when he was not quite 16 years. He lived with his half brother, George in Nebraska, until he was 18 years old. The day after his birthday he received $300, his inheritance from his father. His father's will provided George with money for Buren's board, room and schooling until he was 18, mostly derived from the sale of the farm.

I shall write finis with this, for to tell all the ins and outs of the lives of C.M. and Mary E. Burt would be tiresome. This will furnish the basis of their trials and hardships that are so in contrast to the lives of the present generation. I think they had fully as full a life as present day people, but they seldom strayed more than 25 or 30 miles from their home. James Wjlson Burt 1952