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Jasper County, Iowa
Historical and Genealogical Data Exchange
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William
M. Lotts The
agricultural interests of Jasper County were well represented for a number of
years by William M. Lotts, one of the practical and enterprising farmers of the
southwestern part of the County, who, after accumulating a competency, is now
living retired in his pleasant home at Prairie City. He has been both practical and progressive in his methods and
to his energy and perseverance is attributed the gratifying success which has
attended his efforts. Fidelity is one of his chief characteristics, such
fidelity as is manifest in his faithful discharge of all the duties of life, and
it has won him warm regard wherever known. William
M. Lotts was born in Gallia County, Ohio, April 15, 1825, and he is the son of
Isaac and Nancy (Knox) Lotts, natives of Greenbrier County, Virginia, and they
engaged in farming all their lives. The
paternal grandfather of the subject, Jacob Lotts, immigrated to the United
States from Germany when but sixteen years of age and settled in Virginia. He
was a cabinetmaker by trade. He enlisted for service in the Revolutionary War in
1776, in which he served until the close of the conflict.
He married a sister of the famous General Wolfe. He moved to Gallia
County, Ohio, in 1806 and there his death occurred in 1839.
His wife died in 1837. The father of the subject changed the spelling of
the family name from the German "Lotz" to "Lotts," the
present spelling. He and a sister
left Virginia and came to Ohio in 1814 when that country was still the land of
the red men and wild beast, sparsely settled. He entered a quarter section of
land from the government, and established a home there, working hard and
undergoing the usual hardships of a newcomer. Leaving there in 1837, he came to
Knox County, Illinois, where he bought two hundred and forty-two acres and on
this he spent the remainder of his days, dying on October 4, 1875, his wife
preceding him to the grave only a few days, her death occurring September 26th
of that year. Three of William
Lotts' uncles were soldiers in the War of 1812, namely: Abraham, whose son is at
present a prominent figure in Washington, D.C.; William Humphreys and Isaac
Hawk. Abraham Lotz also fought in the Indian War of 1811, against Tecumseh's
band under the Prophet at Tippecanoe, Indiana. Like other members of his family
he was a brave and forbearing man, always ready to face any danger. William
M. Lotts is one of a family of seven children, five of whom reached maturity:
Sarah, who married David Ward, died in Illinois; Minerva, who married Woodford
Pearce, also died in Illinois; Salenda, who was the wife of James Rebstock, also
died there. Her husband was a
lieutenant in the Union Army during the Civil War. Milton lives at Knoxville, Illinois, at the advanced age of
eighty-eight years; William M., of this sketch, was fifth in order of birth;
Abraham was killed while building a raft on the Missouri river, near Fort
Benton, Montana, in 1865. William
M. Lotts received his education in the district schools of Knox County,
Illinois. In 1851 he was united in
marriage with Hester A. Webb, of Ross County, Ohio. She was born November 18, 1829, and her death occurred on
August 25, 1899, in Prairie City, Jasper County, Iowa. She was the daughter of John and Charlotte (Godfrey) Webb,
who came to Illinois in an early day and were well known and prominent in their
locality. Mr. Webb was in the War
of 1812. His death occurred in
Warren County, Illinois, in 1852. His wife died in Indiana when their daughter,
Hester A., wife of Mr. Lotts, was but a small child. Of
Mrs. Lotts' brothers and sisters, Oliver died in Colfax, Iowa; Henry, who was a
successful gold digger, a member of the famous band of "forty-niners,"
died in Illinois; Hester A. was next in order of birth; William died at Derby,
Iowa, and Francis at Gilson, Illinois. After
his marriage William M. Lotts began farming, renting land the first year, then
bought a quarter section, which he later sold, then came to Jefferson County,
Iowa, where he purchased two hundred and twenty acres. After farming this two
years he again sold out and returned to Warren County, Illinois, where he bought
one hundred and eighty-five acres of land which he farmed for eleven years, then
sold out and purchased a small place near Abingdon, Knox County, Illinois, in
order to get proper schooling for his children.
After living there three years he sold out and came to Iowa, landing in
Prairie City, Jasper County, March 22, 1872, and purchased a fine farm of two
hundred and forty acres four miles from town in Des Moines Township, which he
still owns and which he has kept well improved and well tilled, in fact made it
one of the model farms of the County. For this place he paid thirty-three
dollars per acre; it is not worth over one hundred and fifty dollars per acre,
in fact, he has refused that figure. Having accumulated a competency through
general farming and stock raising, he retired from active life in 1892 and moved
to Prairie City. Three
children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Lotts, namely: Malissa Jane, who married Jay
Prouty, lives on a farm near Prairie City; Olive, who married Edward Hays, lives
six miles from this village, and they have one son, William Russell Hays; Emma
married J. R. Chandler and lives at home with her father; her only child, Hazel,
lives with her. Politically,
Mr. Lotts is a Republican and while he takes the interest of a right-minded
citizen in public affairs, he has never sought political preference. He has been
a worthy member of the Methodist Episcopal Church for forty years, having been
class leader for many years. His
wife was a consistent member of the United Brethren Church, and known to a wide
circle of friends as a noble-minded, kind-hearted woman. The Past and Present of Jasper County, Gen. James B. Weaver, Editor-In-Chief, 1912 B.F. Bowen Co., Indianapolis, IN, p. 571. |
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