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Jasper County, Iowa
Historical and Genealogical Data Exchange
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Joseph
A. Burnham Joseph
A. Burnham, farmer, of Richland Township, has spent his life in this locality
and has been successful in his chosen life work, for he has not been afraid to
apply himself to the daily tasks he has found awaiting him. He was born in Lynn
Grove Township, December 20, 1867, the son of Abraham and Margaret (Northcutt)
Burnham. His maternal grandparents,
Hezekiah and Sarah Northcutt, were natives of Kentucky, who later in life moved
to Illinois and in the latter state the mother of the subject was born.
The family moved to Iowa about 1855 and located in Lynn Grove Township,
Jasper County, on a place now known as the Briggs farm.
This they developed and finally sold and built a mill, and later moved
north of the town of Sully and there spent their last days, but died at the home
of the subject's parents. Mr.
and Mrs. Abraham Burnham, mentioned above, grew up and married in this locality,
and began farming when the country was still primitive and improvements were
neither many nor extensive. By hard work and good management they established a
good home and owned a productive farm. Politically,
the father was a Republican, took considerable interest in local affairs and
held several Township offices. He
is now living retired at Lynnville; his wife passed away in 1907. He is one of our worthy pioneers and has led a useful and
honest life. His family consisted
of three children, named as follows: Joseph A., of this review, Meretha and
Edith. Abraham
Burnham is a veteran of the great Civil War, in which he fought gallantly as a
member of Company K, Fortieth Iowa Volunteer Infantry, in which he saw some hard
service, covering the major part of the struggle. He was in many hard-fought
engagements and trying campaigns, being finally discharged for disability, in
fact, he has never completely recovered from the effects of his army life, his
health having been permanently shattered, but he has never regretted his
services to his country. Joseph
A. Burnham, of this sketch, was educated in the common schools and the Lynnville
high school. He lived on the farm
until he was seventeen years of age, then, in order to get a start in life, he
worked out by the month and was in the employ of Charles Johnson for a period of
fourteen years. He saved his money
and in 1899 bought a farm of sixty-three acres adjoining the corporation limits
of Lynnville. He soon had this
under excellent improvements, erecting a good dwelling, barn, fences, etc.
He remained there but a year and a half when he traded this place to Joe
Horn for one hundred and twenty acres in Richland Township and lived there three
years, when he sold out and bought eighty acres in another part of that
Township, two miles northwest of Lynnville.
Here he built a good house, barn and made other improvements, and there
engaged in general farming and stock raising, preparing large numbers of cattle
and hogs for the market. Also dealt in real estate to some extent, in fact, he has not
given up this sideline, but still does some trading. Politically,
Mr. Burnham is a Republican, but has never been an aspirant for offices.
He belongs to the old Methodist Protestant church at Sully. Mr. Burnham was married on August 12, 1899, to Daisy Sparks, daughter of John B. Sparks, a highly respected citizen of Lynnville. One child has been born to the subject and wife, Vada, now one and one-half years old. Past and Present of Jasper County Iowa, Gen. James B. Weaver, Editor-In-Chief, B.F. Bowden & Company, Indianapolis, IN, 1912, p. 885. |
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