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| B. P. Shaw–W. T. Shaw | ||||||||
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Benjamin P. Shaw
Born February 12, 1830 | ||||||||
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BENJAMIN P. SHAW, Fish Commissioner for the State of Iowa, Anamosa. Benjamin Field Shaw is the son of Rufus Shaw, an architect and builder, and Amy Medbury, and was born in Utica, N.Y., on the 12th of February, 1830. His branch of the Shaw family early settled in New England. Rufus Shaw moved with his family to New Berlin, Chenango Co., when Benjamin was 2 years old, and the son lived with his grandparents several years, he losing his mother when he was 9 years old. His education was limited to the common schools, though he acquired no inconsiderable amount of knowledge outside the recitation-rooms, and has always been inclined to study. At 17 years of age, he went to Canada, learning the blacksmith's and joiner's trades, returning to the United States at the end of four years, and soon afterward starting wagon-shops at Stillwell Prairie and Kingsbury, Ind , and continuing the business three years. During this period, he acquired a knowledge of the Daguerrean business, and, afterward, traveled awhile in Illinois and Wisconsin, also teaching music, vocal and band, continuing at intervals for seventeen years. After traveling five years as an artist and musician, he engaged in buying lumber and shipping it down the Wisconsin and Mississippi Rivers. In 1858, Mr. Shaw came to Jones Co., Iowa, and, in October of the next year, settled in Anamosa, which has since been his residence. He was County Superintendent of Schools in 1859 and 1860; became proprietor of the Fisher House in October, 1859, and remained in it between two and three years. Ahout this period, having part ownership in a quarry of superior stone, near the city of Anamosa, and, thinking it would be a feasible point at which to locate a penitentiary, he, with others, began to agitate the question of the location of such an institution at this place. He began to build side-tracks from the Dubuque & Southwestern Railroad, put up a perpetual lime-kiln, and commenced developing the quarry, and the penitentiary was located here. In 1874, Mr. Shaw was appointed one of the three Fish Commissioners of the State, an office created at the session of the General Assembly, held in January to March of that year. and he still holds that office, he being the sole Commissioner since 1876. It was a fortunate appointment, for no other man in the State of Iowa has taken so much interest in fish culture, or done so much to interest thc people in the subject. He may be called an enthusiast in the science, he having made it his careful study for years. Mr. Shaw inherited in a large degree the mechanical talent of his father, and has recently invented a fish-way that is of a superior quality. Michigan, which has probably paid more attention to fish culture than any other State in the West, has recently, after examining a dozen inventions of the kind, adopted his, and is introducing it into her streams. Commissioner Shaw was a very useful man in Jones Co. before his services were required by the State in the direction here indicated. He was a member of the School Board of the city of Anamosa, and its President four or five years, 2nd has held other offices in the municipality. He is Master Workman of the Anamosa Lodge of United Workmen. Mr. Shaw has uniformly affiliated with the Democratic party, but of late years has given but little attention to politics. His wife was Miss Olive Burlingame, of Chenango Co., N.Y. Married on the 12th of May, 1851. They have had four children, three of them yet living.
From History of Jones County, Iowa, Western Historical Company, Chicago, 1879, page 575. |
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Col. William Tuckerman Shaw
Born September 22, 1822 | ||||||||
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COL. WILLIAM T. SHAW, Anamosa. William Tuckerman Shaw, a native of Maine, was born in Stenben, Washington Co., on the 22d of September, 1822; his parents were William Nicholas Shaw and Nancy D. (Stevens) Shaw; his paternal grandfather was a distinguished officer in the Revolutionary army; was aid-de-camp to Gen. Knox; was promoted to the rank of Captain of artillery in 1780, and served until the close of the war. Young Shaw was educated in the common schools of his native town and the Wesleyan Seminary at Readfield, attending the latter institution two or three years; at 19, he started for the West, spending one year in teaching a private school in Greencastle, Ind.; he then went to Harrodsburg, Ky., and continued teaching until the Mexican war broke out; in 1848, Mr. Shaw strayed into Arkansas and the Indian Territory, among the Cherokees, Choctaws and other tribes, and, the next year, found his way into California; he remained there, digging in the mines, until 1851, when he returned as far eastward as Anamosa, then little more than a four-corners, on the banks of the Wapsipinicon River; in 1855, he returned to the Golden State again, by the overland route; two years later, he returned to Anamosa and speculated in real estate, being fortunate in many of his investments; he built the Dubuque & Southwestern Railroad from Farley to Anamosa, and was at work on this road when the rebellion broke out; for the last ten or twelve years he has been engaged in banking, real estate and the building of brick blocks in Anamosa, and railroads to help the town; the Iowa Midland road, running from Clinton to Anamoaa, is the work of his hands; he is of the banking firm of Shaw, Schoonover & Co. In 1846, he enlisted as private in the 2d Ky. V.I., and remained with it until the close of the Mexican war; he was in the battle of Buena Vista, where both the Colonel and Lieutenant Colonel were killed; Mr. Shaw returned as a non-commissioned officer. On the 24th of October, 1861, he was commissioned Colonel of the 14th I.V.I., and served the full three years for which he enlisted; his regiment was in the Second Brigade, Third Division, Sixteenth Army Corps: and, after being fearfully cut up at Pittsburg Landing, it composed, for a time, part of the "Iron Brigade," which consisted of the 8th, 12th and 14th Iowa and the 58th Illinois Regiments; no better fighting regiment went from Iowa than the 14th, and no braver, more daring officer than Col. Shaw; for awhile, he commanded the Third Division of the Sixteenth Army Corps, and when finally retired at the end of the three years, on the 29th of October, 1864, Maj. Gen. A. J . Smith paid a high compliment to him for his "courage, patriotism and skill" during the fifteen months that he had its command; when about to leave the division which he had so bravely commanded, the officers made him a present of a beautiful sword and scabbard, as a token of their kindly regard, which he cherishes highly. The Shaws are a patriotic family; a cousin of the Colonel, Robert G. Shaw, commanded the 1st Colored Regiment, and was killed at Port Wagner. Col. Shaw was elected to the State Legislature, and, during the session in which he served, was one of the leading members of that body. Col. Shaw has had three wives; in 1854, he married Miss Helen A. Crane, of Jones Co; she had two children, and died in 1865; one child survives her. His second wife was Rhetta Harmon, who lived only one short year. His present wife was Mrs. Elizabeth Higby, of Kalamazoo Co., Mich.
From History of Jones County, Iowa, Western Historical Company, Chicago, 1879, page 576. Colonel William Tuckerman Shaw for many years occupied a central place on the stage of public activities in Jones county and won distinguished honors in military fields, rendering valuable aid to his country in the Mexican and again in the Civil wars. Identified with the banking and agricultural interests of the state, his record is that of an honorable business man who recognizes and uses his opportunities. In every relation of life he held to high standards of conduct and without invidious distinction he may be termed one of the foremost men that Jones county has numbered in its citizenship. Colonel Shaw was born in Steuben, Maine, September 22, 1822, and came of one of the oldest New England families whose members were valorous, industrious and chivalrous. The Shaws were of Scotch descent. The earliest record is of Thomas Shaw, who married Sarah Gyles in Boston in 1716. Their son, Francis, was prominent in Boston and with his son, Francis, Jr., and others, received from the king a large grant of land in what is now Washington county, Maine. This grant included many islands, some of which were owned until recently by the family as a part of the land still is. Of this family Samuel Shaw won distinguished honors through his military service in the Revolutionary war and also as a diplomat and statesman in later life. He was born in Boston, Massachusetts, October 2, 1754. His father, a man distinguished for intelligence and enterprise, conducted an extensive business as a merchant, and in training for life's practical duties sent his son, Samuel Shaw, to one of the public schools of Boston at the usual age. He continued his studies in a Latin school, coming under the instruction of James Lovell, one of the leading educators of that day. He manifested special aptitude in his studies and the knowledge of Latin which he acquired enabled him in after life, in the leisure of the camp and on his voyage to India and China, to become familiar with the most popular and admired Latin poets and historians. Being destined for commercial pursuits, Samuel Shaw soon quitted the school for the counting room, but the political exigencies of the age interfered with his plans of mercantile life. He had not attained his majority when his patriotism was aroused by the oppressive measures of the mother country—and the restriction of American rights. Moreover, the northern part of Boston, where he resided was the abode of some of the most active and ardent spirits who gave character and impulse to the first movements of the Revolutionary war. Troops were sent from England to hold the colonies in subjection and paraded the streets of Boston. This continually excited and angered the colonists and intense feeling was everywhere manifest. Boston at that time was regarded by the British as a garrison town and the troops took possession thereof. The house of Francis Shaw was assigned for quarters to Lieutenant Wragg and Major Pitcairn. In the meantime excitement grew and on the 2d of October, 1775, when Samuel Shaw reached his majority, he received the assent of his father to his plan of becoming enrolled in the American army, which was then collecting at Cambridge. He was thereafter an interested eye witness or an active participant in the events which finally brought about American independence. As a member of the military family of General Knox, in the ensuing November, he accompanied General Washington when he and Governor Clinton took possession of New York after its evacuation by the British. On the 4th of December of that year he was present when Washington bade farewell to the officers of the American army, among whom there was hardly a dry eye, so greatly had his comrades and fellow officers become attached to him during the eight years of sanguinary struggle that resulted in the establishment of the republic. Through the war Colonel Shaw had remained as an active advocate of the American cause, suffered the hardships and privations of the American soldier and had conscientiously performed every duty, making a military record of which his descendants have every reason to be proud. In May, 1783, he received from General Washington a testimonial of his services in the army, which reads:
"Given under my hand and seal, this third day of November, 1783.
On the 5th of January, 1784, Major Shaw took final leave of the family of General Knox, from whom he received in his own hand writing the following certificate concerning his excellence as an officer:
"This testimony is given unsolicited on his part. It is dictated by the pure principles of affection and gratitude inspired by an unequivocal attachment during a long and trying period in the American war. "Given under my hand and seal at West Point, upon the Hudson river, this fifth day of January, 1784.
The Shaw family founded a settlement called Goldsboro just before the Revolutionary war and in sustaining settlers during the war much of the family fortune was spent. Francis Shaw, Sr., and Francis Shaw, Jr., the great-grand-father and grandfather of our subject, respectively, died in the same year. The latter left a widow and two sons. Robert Gould Shaw, the elder son, became a millionaire philanthropist and it was to his grandson, Colonel Robert G. Shaw, that the beautiful monument by St. Gaudens was erected on Boston Commons. The younger son was William Nickels Shaw, the father of Colonel William T. Shaw. He remained in Maine, a most generous kindly gentleman, and there married Nancy Davis Stevens, a daughter of Jonathan Stevens, of English descent, who in early life was a member of the English army but afterward joined the American forces in the Revolutionary war. Jonathan Stevens wedded Mary Tracy, a descendant of Lieutenant Thomas Tracy, of the Anglo-Norman family whose ancestor Sire de Traci fought at Hastings under William the Conqueror. The family of William N. and Nancy Shaw numbered twelve children. Hannah Townsley, who was born October 14, 1814, lived in Steuben, Maine, and died in 1891. Mary Stevens, born April 19, 1816, died September 11, 1831. Francis R. G., born April 23, 1818, wedded Mary E. Moore January 26, 1843. He was captain of a bark which sailed from New York for Barbadoes and was drowned on the passage out January 19, 1846. John, born May 8, 1820, became extensively engaged in shipbuilding at Machias, Maine. He wedded Relief Antoinette Babcock April 14, 1850. William T. is the next of the family. Eliza Willard, born July 16, 1824, was married May 18, 1851, to Seamore Leighton and died February 23,1890. George Nickels, born September II, 1826, went to California, was married there and died December 11, 1861. Edward Blake, born August 30, 1828, lived in Steuben, Maine, until a year or two before his death, when he removed to Massachusetts and afterward to California, where the died July 17, 1850. Judith T., born April 4, 1831, died September 9, 1834. Henry Coffin, born November 9, 1833, went to California. Mary Judith, born May 8, 1836, was married October 8, 1854, to William R. H. Dutton, of Ellsworth, and they became residents of Steuben, Maine. Sarah Russell, born December 13, 1839, made her home in Steuben, Maine. Colonel William T. Shaw was educated at Kent's Hill, a well known Methodist school. At an early age he went to Indiana, where he engaged in teaching in a private school, which was the institution that proved the nucleus of De Pauw University. He afterward went to Kentucky, where he engaged in teaching and in studying law. At the time of the Mexican war Colonel W. T. Shaw, then a young man of twenty-three years, enlisted at Harrodsburg, Kentucky, whither he had emigrated from Indiana. At the battle of Buena Vista all of the commissioned officers of his regiment were killed. Something of his experiences in Mexico may best be leaned from the following letters which he wrote home to his mother.
Dear Mother: Here I am 3000 miles from home and 100 miles from nowhere, fat and hearty and could eat a Mexican with as much gusto as I ever did a piece of roast beef. We are now 25 miles beyond Saltillo, where Gen. Taylor has established his headquarters. What our next movement will be I cannot tell, but it is believed here that our next movement will be San Luis Potosi. We have had considerable excitement in camp lately. We were turned out every night for about a week to have a fight but nobody came to fight us and so we failed to get it. Although we have had no fighting we have had some hard service. For example, your humble servant, after having been on duty three days and nights without sleep, on the fourth night had laid him-self down on his blanket to get a little sleep. When I had got into a deep sound sleep, I was awakened by the cry of 'turn out, turn out!' and we turned and marched 15 miles that night to defend a pass where the Mexicans were supposed to be about to get into our rear. After having arrived there, and seeing no signs of the enemy we turned about and marched back making about 30 miles in 10 hours, which is doing very well, considering we had to carry our guns, cartridge boxes and knapsacks making in all a good load for a jack. I stand marching very well, which I was rather fearful I should not account of the lameness in my ankles. If you cannot read this letter, wait till I come home and I will read it for you. Your aff. son,
Superscription,
Dear Mother:
Your aff. son,
Superscription,
Mr. and Mrs. Shaw had two children, Helen L. and Nancy A. "Nannie" died during the Colonel's imprisonment after Shiloh. Mrs. Shaw died May 2, 1867. Colonel Shaw married for his second wife, Retta Harmon, who died eleven months after her marriage. His third wife, Mrs. Elizabeth Crane Higby, was a widow with two children, George Higby and Mrs. Frances Higby Dutton. Mrs. Shaw died eight years ago. From that time until his death, which occurred April 29, 1909, Colonel Shaw and his daughter Helen, resided at the family home. Before an accident, which he had sustained five years previous to his death, they made yearly visits to the old home in Maine, now owned by his nephew, Dr. Frank L. Shaw, of Machias, Maine. Among the first of the many building enterprises in which Colonel Shaw engaged in Anamosa was the erection of the Fisher house, now the Hotel Gillen. J. H. Fisher & Son were connected with it but the colonel was the active man and hired and paid the workmen. This hotel structure was built in 1855 and 1856 and the first landlord was Amos H. Peaslee, of Dubuque, his brother Cornelius, being associated with him. This hotel was the first public building erected in this vicinity, all the business houses being in the west end of town, and it was a good deal of a venture for the investors to locate so far away from the business section. This was the beginning of Colonel Shaw's construction work in Anamosa and further details will appear later. Colonel Shaw was largely instrumental in 1857 in the building of the Dubuque Southwestern from Farley to Anamosa, now a part of the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul system, and had a contract for a portion of the line. He also assisted in pushing the line on to Marion. At this point we may also state that the colonel was president of the Midland road, now a branch of the Chicago & North Western, and through his efforts it was completed to Anamosa in 1871. In the spring of 1861 Colonel Shaw went on a visit to Pittsburg when, hearing of the attack on Fort Sumter, he at once telegraphed Governor Kirkwood offering his service. This offer was promptly accepted and after a short visit in Maine he returned and, organized the Fourteenth Iowa Volunteers, which was mustered in November 6, 1861, Colonel Shaw later becoming commander of the Second Brigade and Third Division, Sixteenth Army Corps. He led his troops numbering twenty-two hundred men, at the battles of Fort Donelson and Shiloh, and six months were passed at Mobile, Chalsa, Selma, Talladega, Madison, Macon and Libby. The regiment was reorganized in January, 1863, and General Curtis assigned Colonel Shaw to a commission to investigate the loyalty of certain prominent St. Louis citizens, with the result that a number were sent south. In April, 1863, the Fourteenth Iowa was ordered to Vicksburg to rejoin the old brigade with the Second, Seventh, Eighth and Twelfth Iowa Regiments, but when they reached Cairo, where a large number of troops were received, including three companies of new recruits of the Fourteenth, the Thirty-fifth Iowa Regiment was sent south in its place. In June, 1863, the Fourteenth went to Columbus, Kentucky, and Colonel Shaw was detached and appointed president of a court martial and later given command of the post. On the 2d of February, following, this regiment left Vicksburg on the Meridian campaign and returned on the 1st of March, remaining at Vicksburg until April, 1864. Colonel Shaw was in command of the brigade in the battle of Fort de Russey. They marched twenty-eight miles in one day, built two bridges and at nightfall captured the fort. Joining General Banks, the brigade took active part in the battle of Pleasant Hill, Colonel Shaw bearing the brunt of the conflict and losing heavily. Though a victory was achieved by the Union arms, General Banks ordered a retreat and Colonel Shaw's brigade covered it almost the entire distance to the mouth of the Red river. In July the Sixteenth was reorganized and Colonel Shaw was made commander of the Third Division and held that important post until the muster out, the last service being the chase of Price's army out of Missouri. At Davenport, Iowa, November 16, 1864, the Fourteenth Iowa was mustered out, on which occasion the following order was issued:
Harrisonville, Mo., October 29, 1864. Special Order No. 132. Colonel William T. Shaw, Fourteenth Iowa Volunteers is relieved from command of the Third Division Sixteenth Army Corps and will forthwith join his regiment at Davenport, Iowa. The quartermaster, will furnish transportation for himself and authorized servants. In relieving Col. Shaw from the command of the Third Division, prior to being mustered out, it is an act of justice to an energetic, thorough, competent officer, to say that for the last fifteen months he has been in this command as commanding a post, brigade and division. In every position he has ever performed the incumbent duties faithfully and well, with an ability that few can equal, with courage, patriotism and skill above question. The service loses an excellent officer when he is mustered out. By order of
For something over thirty-five years he was the senior member of the Shaw & Schoonover Bank, now the Anamosa National Bank, and had more to do with the material growth and development of the town than any other citizen during his residence of fifty-six years. Partial blindness for a prolonged period, followed by practically total extinction of his eyesight during the last few years, made very active participation in business impossible, but the colonel thus gradually withdrawing from care, mellowed down very perceptibly from the rugged and sometimes imperious manner of address for which he was noted. But behind all of this his kindness of heart was proverbial in the care of his men in the army and was illustrated by benefactions of every conceivable kind during nearly sixty years of home life. The diamond of generous giving to the needy and helpfulness to many a man in need of help had a rough covering but it was a diamond just the same. Colonel Shaw detested the tobacco habit, was a stalwart worker in the prohibitory amendment campaign of 1882, contributed a large sum in the building of the Welch factory, was a helper in a multitude of enterprises for the benefit of the community, and, as the Cedar Rapids Republican well says: "he was a typical pioneer and we shall not soon look upon his like again." In his declining years Colonel Shaw was blessed with the comfort and cheer afforded by the companionship and devotion of his daughter, Helen L. Shaw. During the months in which his strength gradually failed, and long sickness was his, she was continually by her father's side to note his every want and to minister to his comfort, giving him every possible attention that a loving daughter could bestow. A contemporary biographer has said of him:
"Philosopher, scholar, thinker, philanthropist, his trained mind worked with the precision of a splendid piece of machinery. Indissolubly connected with Anamosa, its rise, progress and destiny, his public services and private virtues belong to the nation, as one of its great historical characters, and upon whom the town of Anamosa has long since conferred the enduring title of 'First Citizen.' "Statesman, patriot, soldier, friend. He died as he had lived and in a brave battle with the grim reaper he yielded at last to his first and only surrender. "Somewhere in eternity, within some golden palace walls, where old battle scarred banners float, and Union jacks keep guard, and Grants and Shermans reign, and all the patriot heroes dwell, the old and fearless warrior has joined the armies of the ages. Amid the dawning light of a new born century, in an age of iron, and steam, and armies, and in a world of peace, weary with the weight of years, death touched his tired heart and he was borne across the great divide that separates man from immortality. Free at last from all the turmoil's and struggles of a long and busy life, the old veteran is at rest." From History of Jones County, Iowa, Past and Present, R. M. Corbitt, S. J. Clarke Publishing Co., Chicago, 1910, p. 5-12. | ||||||||
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