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Jasper County, Iowa
Historical and Genealogical Data Exchange
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W.
R. Vandike All
honor is due the courageous pioneers w ho were willing to leave their ancestral
homes in the East and come to the new state of Iowa when it was little known to
civilization, when the wild beasts of various types and scarcely less wilder
tribes of red men here held the balance of power.
They were truly hardy spirits, but they braved the dangers, underwent the
hardships always incident to pioneer life and in due course of time became well
established, making the wild plains blossom and bring forth abundant harvests
and now their homes and those of the latter generation are seen on every hand,
all pleasant and inviting. Of this
worthy band of early settlers the name of W. R. Vandike is inseparably linked
with the early history of the locality of which this volume treats. He was born
in Delaware County, Ohio, October 1, 1835, and there he spent his early
childhood, leaving his native hills on August 26, 1856, and came by team in a
tedious overland journey to Jasper County, Iowa, and he has been a continuous
resident here ever since. His first
settlement was made in
Clear Creek Township and his life has been, for the most part, spent in
agricultural and educational pursuits, in which he has met with very
satisfactory results. In the spring
of 1891 he with his estimable helpmate retired from the active duties of the
farm and moved to their cozy home in the town of Baxter, where they are enjoying
the fruits of their former years of endeavor. Mr.
Vandike is the son of John and Elizabeth (Aultman) Vandike, the father a native
of Saline County. New Jersey, and the mother was born in
Pennsylvania, grew to womanhood in Ohio and died in 1851.
The father of John Vandike having died when the latter was quite young,
he was reared by his grandfather near Philadelphia, and his death occurred in
Benton County, Iowa, in 1880. His
family consisted of seven children, namely:
Henry W., ex-mayor of Belle Plaine, Iowa, died there in August 1899, at
the age of eighty years; Jane B. Crawford died when twenty-five years old; Hanna
A. Ridgeway died in California in June 1909, at the age of seventy-seven years;
W. R., of this review; J. P. lives near Elberon, Iowa; S. P., who was County
Auditor of Benton County, Iowa, for five years, lives at Belle Plaine, this
state; Mary E. Walton lives in Custer County, Nebraska. W.
R. Vandike grew up on the home farm and worked hard when a boy. He was married
in Independence Township, this County, on November 1, 1860, to Sarah F. Cushatt,
who was born in Hart County, Kentucky, September 4, 1842.
Her father, Aquilla Cushatt, was born in Alabama in 1816. He migrated to
North Carolina, thence to Kentucky, later to Jasper County, Iowa, as a pioneer.
When the Civil War came on he enlisted for service in the Union Army in
Company I, Tenth Iowa Volunteer Infantry, and served four years, receiving an
honorable discharge, after which he returned to agricultural pursuits; his death
occurred in Independence Township, this County, on April 14, 1889.
He married Osee Logsdon, who was born in Hart County, Kentucky, and died
in Baxter, Iowa, February 3, 1889. They
settled in Jasper County in 1848, when the country was wild and there were few
settlers. There were eleven
children in their family, all but four dying when quite young; those who grew to
maturity were Sarah F., wife of Mr. Vandike,
of this review; Andrew, born March 19, 1844, is living in Colorado; Robert W.
was born July 30, 1852, and he lives in Jasper County, Iowa; Isabelle
Thompson, born July 14, 1855, died at Rocky Ford, Colorado, February 14, 1909. To
Mr. and Mrs. Vandike seven children have been born, four of whom died in
infancy; those living are John Aquilla, born in Jasper County July 29, 1861,
who, after completing the common school work, entered the University of Iowa,
from which he was graduated, later taking up teaching as a profession, at which
he has been very successful and was formerly superintendent of schools at
Plainview, Wabasha, Fergus Falls, Minnesota, and he is at present superintendent
of schools at Coleraine, that state. H. Walter Vandike was born November 6,
1868, was graduated from the common schools, later attended college at Iowa City
and Mt. Vernon; he became an actor and has met with a large degree of success. Austa Jane Bair, born December 11, 1874, is residing in
Newton, Iowa. These children were
all reared in Independence Township. Their
father gave them every advantage of education and was of much assistance to them
personally in this, for he was for a long period one of the leading educators of
this locality, having taught twenty-four terms, during which time his services
were in great demand and he was universally popular with both pupils and
patrons. He has always been a
student, has kept well abreast of the times on al! current questions.
He has all his life manifested an abiding interest in public school work
and has been a director for many terms. Perhaps
few have done so much for local educational affairs as he.
He was president of the board of education at Baxter for a period of
twenty years, and still holds that office, and was secretary of Independence
Township for an equal period. He
has been justice of the peace for ten years, and assessor of the town for the
same length of time. He has filled all public trusts in a manner that has
reflected much credit to himself and satisfaction to all concerned. This
worthy and highly esteemed pioneer couple moved to Baxter in 1891, where they
own nine acres of valuable land besides a commodious and neatly furnished home. Here they celebrated their golden wedding on November
1, 1910. Mr. Vandike is a member of Unit Lodge No. 520, Ancient Free and
Accepted Masons, at Baxter and he has been master of the same for two years.
Personally, he is well informed, public-spirited, broad and
liberal-minded, charitable and advocates the simple life. Politically, he is a
Democrat and belongs to the Congregational Church. It is doubtful if any couple
in Jasper County can claim a broader acquaintance or more friends than they.
It is interesting to hear them recall reminiscences of pioneer days and
of the subsequent work in bringing this favored section up to a level of any in
the great Hawkeye commonwealth. The Past and Present of Jasper County, Gen. James B. Weaver, Editor-In-Chief, 1912 B.F. Bowen Co., Indianapolis, IN, p. 1232. |
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