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Jasper County, Iowa
Historical and Genealogical Data Exchange
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John Newcomer Like many of
the leading citizens of Jasper County, Mr. John Newcomer hails from the old
Keystone State, his birth having occurred in Cumberland County, Pennsylvania,
November 25, 1846, the son of Jacob and Catherine (Hostetter) Newcomer, both
natives of Pennsylvania, and their parents were also born in that state, the
paternal grandparents, Joseph and Fannie Newcomer, and the maternal
grandparents, Jacob and Catherine Hostetter, all having spent practically their
lives in that state. The parents of
the subject grew up and were married in their home state, where they spent their
lives on a farm of ninety acres. Jacob
Newcomer was a quiet, home man, and spent his life looking after his individual
affairs. His family consisted of six children, five of whom are
living. Jacob Newcomer was
born in 1809 and his death occurred on March 4, 1861; his wife was born in March
1809, and her death occurred on November 2, 1876.
The latter finally came-to Jasper County, Iowa, and spent her last days
with her children here. John
Newcomer, of this review, was educated in the common schools of Cumberland
County, Pennsylvania, and reared on the home farm, which he assisted in
developing. In 1866, when eighteen years of age, he came to Illinois, but
remained there only a year, when he moved to Iowa, and when he became of legal
age he bought a farm, in the summer of 1868, consisting of one hundred and sixty
acres in Hickory Grove Township. It
was on the raw prairie and he set to work breaking the tenacious sod and
erecting fences, and in a short time had his fields yielding abundantly and a
very comfortable home, having put up all the buildings and, prospering by hard
work and good management, he added to his original holdings until he is now the
owner of seven hundred and twenty acres of choice land in Jasper and Poweshiek
Counties. In connection with
general farming, he has been an extensive stock raiser and it has long been his
custom to feed a carload or two of cattle annually.
He is an excellent judge of livestock of all kinds and his farm is always
kept in an up-to-date condition. Politically,
Mr. Newcomer is loyal to the Republican Party and he has been a leader in local
affairs for a quarter of a century. He
was constable of his Township, first, twenty-five or thirty years ago; then he
was Township trustee and later discharged the duties of assessor for five years,
and he has been school treasurer for twenty-four years.
This is certainly evidence enough of his high standing in the community
and of the confidence of his fellow citizens.
He has ever looked after the affairs of the Township with the same care
and tact that has characterized his individual affairs.
He and his wife are members of the Congregational Church. On September 2, 1879, Mr. Newcomer was married to Laura Sisco, a native of Illinois, to which state she had come with her parents, Oliver and Relly Sisco, and there the parents spent the remainder of their lives. Five children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Newcomer, namely: Alma is the wife of Richard Burroughs; Arthur C. married Gertie Chenoweth; Charles O., who married Grace Breeden; Eddie M. married Nellie Burroughs; Chester J. is single and living at home. Past and Present of Jasper County Iowa, Gen. James B. Weaver, Editor-In-Chief, B.F. Bowden & Company, Indianapolis, IN, 1912, p. 1168, |
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