Welcome to
Jasper County, Iowa
Historical and Genealogical Data Exchange
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Lawrence
Huston It
is a pleasure to meet the old settler, one who came here when young, when the
observation was quickest and the mind most plastic, and learn from his lips of
the trials, which were endured for the sake of the happy homes, which now dot
the County of Jasper. Such a man is
Lawrence Hutson, of Mingo, one of the well-known and highly honored citizens of
this locality. Most
of his earlier impressions were gained in the woods of the pioneer period and he
relates many interesting stories of those times. The pioneers were happy.
It is singular how easily a person can adapt himself to any surroundings
and derive comfort there from. And
yet it fails to be at all singular when account is taken of the selfish desire
of the human race to be comfortable. If we have enough to eat and enough to wear
and a little ahead and an outlook for some good reading matter we can manage to
worry along and derive some satisfaction out of life.
So the old settlers were contented with their lot, much more so than we,
with our so-called advanced methods of living. Lawrence
Hutson, like many of our enterprising citizens, hails from the old Buckeye
State, his birth having occurred in Wayne County, Ohio, in 1832. He spent his
youth in Ohio, where he received his education in the common schools and there
grew to manhood, remaining there until he was twenty-three years of age, when he
made the overland journey to Jasper County, Iowa, arriving here in June 1855,
and he has lived in the County ever since, a period of fifty-seven years, during
which time he has seen a wonderful transformation, the wild prairies give way to
fertile farms and comfortable homes, and he has been active in the work of the
same. There were no railroads in
this part of the country when became here, in fact, he says there was nothing
but a grove to give any evidence of civilization when he arrived in this part of
Jasper County and there were little evidences of the future conditions of the
County. There were no trading
points within a radius of fifty miles. But
he was a man who had a wise foresight and cared nothing for hardships and
obstacles, so set to work with a will and in due course of time had a pleasant
home and a good farm in Clear Creek Township, eighty acres, on which he has made
a good living and is now surrounded by plenty, spending his declining age in
quiet. Mr.
Hutson was married in March 1860, to Miss Southern, and seven children were born
to them, named as follows: William is deceased; Edwin died in infancy; D. L.
lives in Mexico; Frank lives in Butte, Montana; John's residence is unknown;
Alonzo lives at Mingo, Jasper County; Maude is deceased.
The two eldest children were born in Long Grove, Jasper County, the
younger ones in Clear Creek Township, and they were reared and educated in this
County. Politically,
Mr. Hutson is a Republican, and while he has always been interested in public
affairs, he has never been an office seeker.
He and his wife are members of the Episcopal Church.
Mr. Hutson has retired from active life and is making his home with the
family who tends his place. He is
regarded as one of the best-read men in his community, having been an avid
reader of current literature, up to a few years ago, when his eyesight gave way.
He is a man whom everybody speaks in the highest terms of, his life
having been singularly exemplary. The Past and Present of Jasper County, Gen. James B. Weaver, Editor-In-Chief, 1912 B.F. Bowen Co., Indianapolis, IN, p. 1239. |
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