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Jasper County, Iowa
Historical and Genealogical Data Exchange
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E. P. Mendenhall Mr. E. P.
Mendenhall was born in Hendricks County, Indiana, May 21, 1858, and he is the
son of Temple and Sarah (Newlin) Mendenhall, the father born in North Carolina,
November 22, 1806, and the mother in Clinton County, Ohio, April 10, 1815.
The Mendenhalls came to America from England with the famous William
Penn, there being three brothers of them, and from one of the three is descended
the subject of this sketch; the trio were Benjamin, John and George; the latter
returned to England, the first two named remaining in the new world and here
reared families. It is believed
that they spelled their name Mendenhall, later members of the family corrupting
it to Mendenhall, or perhaps these brothers changed their name upon establishing
themselves in America, for it is known that they owned a splendid country home
in England, called Mendenhall. From
the early colonial days to the present time the members of this house have
figured more or less prominently in many sections of the Union. When
thirteen years of age, Temple Mendenhall, father of E. P., of this review,
accompanied his parents, Richard and Polly Mendenhall, from the old home in
North Carolina to Indiana and there the mother died. The maternal grandparents,
John and Esther Newlin, moved to Indiana in a very early day and there reared a
family and spent their lives, the grandmother dying there; the death of the
grandfather occurred in Ohio. The
parents of the subject of this sketch were married in Indiana on January 20,
l835, and there they remained until 1859, when they came to Jasper County, Iowa,
and bought a small farm which Mr. Mendenhall developed and to which he added
more land as he prospered until he became the owner of nine hundred and thirty
acres in Jasper County, and was known as one of the leading farmers and citizens
of his day. He was well known and
influential among the early settlers here.
Although his business interests were large and required much attention,
he found ample time to aid in the general development of the locality and was
regarded as one of the most useful men in this corner of the County. He was
public spirited and always gladly supported any measure calculated to be of
general good. He was kind-hearted,
neighborly and useful in times of sickness, misfortunes, deaths or wherever the
services of a strong-minded, sympathetic spirit was needed.
He was a well-informed man and, in fact, he was doctor and dentist to his
children, of which there were an equal number of sons and daughters, fourteen in
all, but only three of them are living at this writing, namely:
Temple, of Plainfield, Indiana; Jeremiah, who lives at Lynnville, Iowa,
and Enos P., of this review. A twin
brother of the latter, Calvin W., died in January 1908.
The death of Temple Mendenhall occurred on December 14, 1874, in his
sixty-eighth year; his wife died on September 20, 1891, having reached the age
of seventy-six years. They
were a fine old couple and held in high esteem by all who knew them. E.
P. Mendenhall, of this review, grew up on the home farm and when of proper age
he made himself useful about the home place, especially during crop seasons,
attending the public schools in the wintertime, after which he took four terms
in Penn College. Since leaving
school through his home study and reading he has become well educated.
He took up farming for a livelihood on the old home place and at one time
he owned in partnership with his brother, Calvin W., seven hundred and twenty
acres. Upon the death of the latter
the estate was settled and the subject bought the home place of two hundred and
eighty acres, and sold all the rest of his land in Richland Township, this
County, and in Poweshiek County. He
farmed and raised livestock on a large scale for many years, and prospered by
reason of close application and good management.
For nearly four years he has been practically retired from active life,
though he still manages the home place and maintains his residence on the same.
He has made a specialty of stock and grain farming and has quite a local
reputation as a corn raiser. He has
kept well up on modern methods of farming. Politically,
Mr. Mendenhall is a Prohibitionist and is an active worker in the party. He was reared among the Society of Friends and he has not
departed from that faith. Two of his sisters made their home with the subject
until their deaths, each of whom owned some good land here.
Then a third sister, Mrs. Sarah Kitchin,
widow of Joseph J. Kitchin, and a blood relation of John G. Whittier, kept house
for him until her death, on August 17, 1910.
Since then her daughters, Blanch and Nellie, have remained with Mr.
Mendenhall. They are two of a
family of seven girls, the others being Etta, Chla, Anna, Julia and Lillian. Gurney and Furney, twin brothers, died in childhood.
Blanch and Nellie, who are looking after the home, are popular young
ladies in the community, both well educated and talented musicians, having
attended Penn College at Oskaloosa for some time. The
Past and Present of Jasper County, Iowa, Gen. James B. Weaver, Editor-in-Chief,
1912, B. F. Bowden & Co., Indianapolis, IN, p. 976. |
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