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Jasper County, Iowa
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Harmon
V. Van Epps A man of
sterling worth and character is Harmon V. Van Epps. Fearless and uncompromising
where principle is involved, he is one of the sturdy spirits so valuable to any
community, and yet he is unassuming and cares little for the admiring plaudits
of the world, merely striving to do his full duty as a citizen at all times.
Although now well along in years, he is keen and alert in every faculty and can
look serenely backward over a life well spent, with no compunction for
wrongdoing, and forward with no fear. He is one of the substantial citizens of Jasper County.
He probably owes his thrift and sterling qualities to characteristics
inherited from a long line of Dutch ancestors, which traces back to the coming
of the Pilgrim Fathers. This new
republic of ours can boast of few families who can trace their ancestors back so
far. The first of the family to immigrate to our shores was Dirk
Van Epps (or Eppn, as it was then spelled).
He was one of the Pilgrims who came from Holland in 1620.
He first settled in the city of New York and later in Albany, New York. Johanas, his son, was the first settler in Schenectady
County, New York. His estate was on the north side of the Mohawk River, near
Huffman's Ferry. He was captured by
the Indians and held a prisoner by them for about three years, when he was
rescued. During the time he was a
captive he learned their language and customs and he was later appointed
ambassador to the Five Nations by the government.
The third in line of descent was Jan Baptist (John the Baptist), son of
Johanas. The fourth in line was
Johanas, who was born May 5, 1700, the son of Jan Baptist.
He was a slaveholder and kept a tavern at Hoffman's Ferry in Schenectady
County. The windows in the building were supplied with thick wooden
shutters, which were always carefully closed at night, and often in the morning
Indian arrows would be
found sticking in them. His son.
Jan Baptist, fifth in line, was the grandfather of the subject.
Charles, his son, sixth in line, and father of the subject, was born
April 12, 1783, in the State of New York, near Huffman's Ferry.
He was twice married, his second wife. Angelina Vedder, being the mother
of the subject. She was born September 17, 1804, in the state of New York. By
the father's first marriage four children were born, namely: Annie M., deceased,
married George Johnson; Simon, deceased; Susan, who remained single, is
deceased; John C., born in 1821, came west with his parents; he was a member of
the famous Gray Beard regiment of Iowa in the Civil War; his death occurred in
Davenport, Iowa. The other three
children all died in New York. By
the second marriage of Charles Van Epps the following children were born:
Charles Henry, born November 25, 1825, lived in Cedar County, Iowa, a
number of years, then moved to California, where he died: Elias Vedder, born
September 10, 1828, was a sharpshooter in an Illinois regiment during the Civil
War and was in many an important engagement: he was in the grocery business in
Davenport, Iowa, but was living retired at the time of his death; Sebastian
Gonsaulus, born April 19, 1830, died September 25, 1847; he was in the Mexican
War; Albert C., born December 21, 1831, was a member of Company D, Twentieth
Iowa Volunteer Infantry, during the Civil War; he was a resident of Newton up to
three years ago, when he moved to California, in which state his death occurred;
Agnes, born September 7, 1833, is the wife of S. V. Stacy, a retired farmer
living in Davenport, Iowa; Harmon V., subject of this sketch, was born October
30, 1835, in Albany County, New York; Cornelius, born April 16, 1838, resides at
Sheldon, O’Brien County, Iowa; he came here during the first settlement of the
County, entered a claim and has continued to reside here; during the Civil War
he was a member of the Mississippi Marine Brigade; Mary Angelica, born July 4,
1840, died when six years old; William Henry Harrison, born April 21, 1841, who
went to Nebraska in 1870, is still living there: during the Civil War he served
four years in Company D, Twentieth Iowa Volunteer Infantry; Rebecca V., born
January 22, 1843, is now the widow of Herman Block, formerly a prominent lawyer
of Davenport; a son, Lewis, is in partnership with Judge Bollinger, of that
place; Sarah Eliza, born July 17, 1845, married Price Cunningham, a brother of
the wife of the subject; they are now living at Spokane, Washington; Theodore
C., born February 15, 1847, who was formerly engaged in the real estate business
at Olympia, Washington, is now living in California. In May 1852,
Charles Van Epps, father of the subject, moved with his family to Iowa, locating
near Davenport, in Scott County, where he engaged in farming, later bought three
hundred and twenty acres in Clinton County.
He became fairly well to do and was highly respected.
His death occurred on October 16, 1855.
His widow survived until October 8, 1886, when she died at Davenport. Harmon V. Van
Epps, of this review, began working for himself on a farm when he reached his
majority. A few years later, in
1860, he bought forty acres of land in Muscatine County, later bought forty
acres more, and a few years later an eighty-acre tract. Selling his holdings in
1884, he came to Jasper County and bought a half section of land in Buena Vista
Township, just south of Kellogg. This
he held for twelve years, then sold it and purchased a place southeast of
Newton, just outside the city limits. A
few years later he sold this and bought property on East Main street in Newton.
This he still owns. In 1910
he bought twenty-one acres adjoining the city on the east, on which he erected a
modern, spacious and beautifully located home.
Here he has a fine young orchard, comprising two hundred cherry trees and
two hundred peach and apple trees, this attractive home being known as Cherry
Grove Place. On
November 20, 1860, Mr. Van Epps was united in marriage with Amanda M.
Cunningham, who was born in Noble County, Indiana, on October 29, 1840, the
daughter of Levi and Fidelia (Schoonover) Cunningham. Her father was born near Cleveland, Ohio, February 13, 1813,
and died September 22, 1883. Her
mother was born in Genesee County, New York, May 20, 1814, and died in December
1899. The father of Mrs. Van Epps
was a blacksmith by trade, also engaged in farming in Noble County, Indiana.
He came to Muscatine County, Iowa, in 1846 and bought land.
He was one of the courageous adventurers who crossed the great western
plains to the California gold fields in 1849.
He was fairly successful and returned to Iowa, but made a second trip to
the Eldorado on the Pacific coast in 1852, on the same mission, being in the
same company with Horace Greeley, the famous editor and politician.
In 1873 he came to Jasper County and bought forty acres of land in Newton
Township, and here he lived until shortly before his death, which occurred while
on a visit to his daughter in Missouri. After
his death his widow married Jacob Lambert, and they are both now deceased. Mrs. Van Epps is
one of a family of seven children, namely:
Esther married Aretus Schoonover, now deceased, and she is living at Lake
Park, Oregon; Price, now living at Spokane, Washington, was a soldier during the
Civil War in the Twentieth Iowa Volunteer Infantry; he accompanied his father to
California on his quest for gold; Dorleska married David Daly and she died in
Colorado; Olive R. married Albert Van Epps and lives at San Diego, California;
Mary married David Coyl and died in Missouri; Wallace is living on a farm in
South Dakota, which he homesteaded in 1910,
near Edgmont. He also owns one
hundred and sixty acres in Canada, which he homesteaded. To
Mr. and Mrs. Van Epps four children have been born, two of whom are now living,
namely: Harry, born October 6, 1861, a machinist, living at Newton,
married Ida Reynolds, who died, leaving two children, Percy R., who makes his
home with his grandparents, and Nellie Grace, who died in infancy.
Harry Van Epps later married Ada Baugh, and they have one child, Arthur
E. Edwin P. Van Epps was born
September 1, 1865, farmed in Buena Vista Township and died in February 1911,
leaving a widow and two children, Bertha and Merl E.
Fannie R., born October 17, 1873, died January 15, 1896.
Wilmont Stacy, born January 14, 1877, lives in Kansas City, Missouri,
where he is an optician; he married Jennie Rowland. Both Mr. and Mrs. Van Epps are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, of which he has served as steward and superintendent of the Sunday school. He is a Republican, and has long been interested in the general progress of his locality in all lines. Past and Present of Jasper County Iowa, Gen. James B. Weaver, Editor-In-Chief, B.F. Bowden & Company, Indianapolis, IN, 1912, p. 946. |
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