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Jasper County, Iowa
Historical and Genealogical Data Exchange
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Samuel Failor It is no easy task to describe adequately a man who has led an eminently active and busy life and who has attained a position of relative distinction in the community with which his interests are allied. But biography finds its most perfect justification, nevertheless, in the tracing and recording of such a life history. It is, then, with a full appreciation of all that is demanded and of the painstaking scrutiny that must be accorded each statement, and yet with a feeling of satisfaction, that the writer essays the task, touching upon the details of such a record as has been that of Samuel Failor, long a well-known business man of Newton, Jasper County, but who is now living in honored retirement. Mr. Failor was born at Bucyrus, Crawford County, Ohio, on
June 10, 1835, the son of Andrew and Elizabeth (Meyers) Failor, natives of
Pennsylvania. His paternal
grandfather was also named Andrew Failor.
The father of the subject was a farmer, but in the early part of his life
he learned the tailor's trade. He
moved to Ohio in 1831 and entered land from the government and there,
practically in the wilderness, he developed a good farm on which he spent the
balance of his life, his death occurring in 1849, at the age of fifty years, his
birth having occurred in 1799. He was a man of advanced ideas, of much more than
average intelligence and foresight, and he was prominent socially and
politically in his neighborhood. After
his marriage he attended school and studied surveying, and always a student, he
became a well-informed man. He was
a life-long Democrat and active in politics.
He was elected associate judge from his district in Ohio on the
Democratic ticket, which he held until his death.
His wife, whose birth occurred in 1800, also reached the advanced age of
ninety years. Their family
consisted of nine children, of whom Samuel, of this review, was the sixth in
order of birth; they are, Andrew, who came to Iowa in 1855, became well-known
and successful as a farmer and stock man, and his death occurred in Washington,
D. C.; A. Jefferson, who devoted his life .to farming, died in Ohio; Katherine
E. died in infancy; Benjamin A., for many years a prominent physician of Newton,
Iowa, was murdered about nine years ago, one night while answering a sick call,
the motive for the tragedy having been robbery, the murderer having been finally
captured and brought to justice, this having been one of the most regrettable
and sensational murders in the history of the County; he was a veteran of the
Civil war, having gone to the front as a lieutenant, and when he was mustered
out he ranked as major; he was in the Nineteenth Army Corps; he came to Iowa in
1866; he left one child, a daughter, Anna.
Margaret J. Failor, who married John F. Mitchell, died in Springfield,
Ohio; Mary, the widow of Joseph H. Lyday, lives, in Newton; Elizabeth, who
married in Ohio, David Fullerton, later moved to Augusta, Georgia, and is
deceased; Cecilia is the wife of Rev. H. S. Cook, formerly pastor of the
Lutheran church in Newton, now living in Pennsylvania. Samuel
Failor, of this review, got his education in the public schools of Bucyrus,
Ohio. He was apprenticed three
years to a tinner to learn that 'trade.
In 1856 he came to Iowa, reaching here in the winter when the ground was
covered with an unusually deep snow, having made the trip from Iowa City to
Newton by stage, the horses being scarcely able to travel through the deep snow.
During his first two years in the new country he broke prairie with an ox
team then, after working at his trade for a short time, went into business for
himself, but when the Civil war broke out he arranged his affairs in such a
manner as would permit him to go to the front, so in 1862 he enlisted in the
Fortieth Iowa Volunteer Infantry, but that same day he secured a substitute and
then enlisted as a musician in Gen. G. M. Dodge's Third Brigade band, Second
Division, Sixteenth Army Corps, and he served faithfully for a period of three
years, receiving an honorable discharge at Louisville, Kentucky, on July 7,
1865. He was at both battles of
Corinth, at Atlanta, Kennesaw Mountain, and many others, and was with General
Sherman on his famous campaign. He
hired a man to look after his business while he was in the army, at the rate of
fifty dollars per month, but when he returned he found his business ruined.
Ten days after his return he opened up a hardware store, but seven months
later he sold out and bought a farm of one hundred and sixty acres in Malaka
Township, which he farmed for eight years, then sold out and went into the dry
goods business in Kellogg; three years later he sold out and again went into the
tinning business, in which he continued with his usual success for fifteen
years, when he sold out and came to Newton and launched a lightning rod and
eaves-trough business, in the interest of-which he traveled over the County and
adjacent territory, covering a radius of forty miles.
Continuing in this line three years, he retired from active work, turning
his business over to his sons. He met with encouraging success in whatever he attempted.
He owns a good residence and several pieces of valuable property in
Newton. In September 1865, Mr. Failor was united in marriage with
Lucy E. Winslow, who was born August 15, 1843, at Pittsford, Vermont, the
daughter of E. S. and Almino Winslow, natives of Vermont.
This family came to Iowa in 1855. Mr.
Winslow, who devoted his life to farming, died in Newton, Iowa, at the age of
fifty-four years. They were the
parents of a large family, twelve children, but only a few of them lived to
maturity; Charles F., a veteran of the Civil war, died in Nebraska; H. S., who
became a well-known attorney, and at one time judge of this circuit, died at
Newton; Clarissa M. married Jeffrey Stone, who at one time lived in Newton, and
who died in Lincoln, Nebraska, and she died in Lander, Wyoming; Willard, an old
soldier, is living in the state of Washington; Mary, widow of William Whitcomb,
lives in Washington. To Mr. and Mrs. Failor five children, all sons, have been
born, namely: Clarence W., who was editor of the Newton Courier for nine years
and who has remained unmarried, lives at home; Elmer J. and Holland J. both live
in Newton, engaged in the tinning business; they are married and each has five
children; H. Virgil lives at Tucson, Arizona, where he is a prominent attorney
and is secretary of the Chamber of Commerce of that city; he was graduated from
Grinnell College, also the University of Nebraska, and for some time he was
professor of the school at Denniston, Iowa; he is married and has three
children. George F. Failor, who
formerly taught school at Grinnell, is still a resident of that city; he is
married and has two sons. Mr. Failor is a member of Garrett Post No. 16, Grand Army
of the Republic. He is a
progressive Republican. He and his
wife are members of the Congregational church at Newton.
Mrs. Failor is a lady of splendid intellectual attainments.
She taught school from the time she was fifteen years old until her
marriage at the age of twenty-two. For
two years she was the state organizer of Bands of Hope, under the auspices of
the Good Templar lodge. She has
long been an ardent worker for temperance, and is a member of the Order of
Eastern Star. She is widely and
most favorably known, being a lady of talent and refinement, high social
standing and a worker for any
cause having for its object the betterment of the community in general. The Past and Present of Jasper County, Gen. James B. Weaver, Editor-In-Chief, 1912 B.F. Bowen Co., Indianapolis, IN, p. 1011. |
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