Mrs. Sabina McCrystal
 Sabina (Marble) Rogers McCrystal |
 Ellery E. Rogers |
That the true pioneer spirit is as manifest in women as in men is
evident from the life record of Mrs. Sabina McCrystal, who was
born in Linton township, Allamakee county, about three and a half
miles from what is now Rossville, in the days when the most
primitive conditions yet prevailed in this part of the state.
Mrs. McCrystal has proven herself as capable as any man in the
management of her one hundred and twenty acre farm, which she
personally superintends and in its cultivation has found a
gratifying measure of success. She is a daughter of Moses and
Fannie (Snook) Marble, both of whom were born in New York state,
the former in 1814 and the latter in 1820. In 1835 they moved
westward to Trumbull county, Ohio. In his early manhood the
father followed the wagonmaker’s trade but later gave his
attention to farming. Seeking the opportunities of the middle
west, he nest removed to Illinois and thence to Iowa, making
settlement in Clayton county in 1845. The year 1860 marked his
arrival in Linton township, Allamakee county. There he became an
extensive landholder, his farm lying near what is now Big Foot
School, and there he continued in agricultural pursuits until
1883, when he moved to a place on sections 16 and 17, Linton
township, in the cultivation of which he continued until his
death in 1887. His wife had preceded him to the Great Beyond
about one month. At the outbreak of the Civil war Moses Marble
enlisted in a volunteer company in Ohio but was never called upon
for active service. In matters of citizenship he was loyal and
conscientious and ever ready to serve his country. For a number
of years he held the position of township trustee and was also
elected to the office of justice of the peace, although he did
not qualify for the office. He and his wife had seven children,
among them, beside Mrs. McCrystal, being Charles H. Marble, who
now operates the home farm in Linton township.
The memory of Mrs. McCrystal reaches back to the times when the
rich farms of the present day were still broad prairies and wild
animals and game were plentiful. She recalls to mind that often
bear meat and venison were served on the family table, and a
picture transfixed in her memory is that of her mother bending
over the old fireplace, broiling bear meat and venison. When
about six years of age she and her brother, Charles H., of whom
more extended mention is made in another part of this work,
experienced an adventure which has remained vivid with her on
account of the danger of the situation. The two children were
sent to a near-by spring, in what was called the McGew hollow,
for water, when happening to look up they say a large lynx
crouching on the limb of a tree, ready to spring at the children.
They hurriedly left the pail, making their way to safety and
their father , who immediately fired a signal which brought the
neighbors. Soon seven or eight of them had gathered, and going
back to the place where the children had seen the lynx found the
beast and succeeded in killing it. It certainly was one of the
largest of its tribe, for measuring it with a fence rail they
found that it was two feet longer than the rail. In the latter
‘50s, when the hunters used to come to that vicinity they
made Moses Marble’s place their headquarters. The first to
come would build a log hut as long as one length of logs; the
next would build his cabin onto the first one; the next would do
likewise, and at one time this log building measured a length of
twenty-seven logs and comprised twenty-seven compartments for the
hunters. Mrs. McCrystal still well remembers all these details of
the early pioneer times, the vast unbroken prairies and the wild
nature of the surrounding hills. In fact there is probably no
other resident in this vicinity who has as clear a remembrance of
the early times, as she is among the few who spent her childhood
among these conditions.
Mrs. McCrystal resided with her parents until her first marriage,
which took place on December 3, 1875. Her husband, Ellery E.
Rogers, was born in Massachusetts on the 10th of June, 1848, a
son of William Pitt Rogers. His mother died when he was a young
man but he had before this event come to Iowa with his parents at
the age of about sixteen. After he had passed his seventeenth
birthday he began work for himself, finding employment in the
pineries during the winter and doing grubbing during the summer
months. He was so occupied until his marriage, carefully
husbanding his savings, and at that period was able to buy a farm
of fifty acres in Dry Hollow, Linton township, where Mr. and Mrs.
Rogers made their home until about 1886, their agricultural
labors resulting in gratifying financial returns. In that year
they sold the farm and removed to Waukon, where Mr. Rogers
engaged to some extent in the real-estate business, buying lots
upon which he built and then selling them. He was so engaged for
about two years, when he proceeded to northern Wisconsin, where
he spent a season in the pineries and the remainder of the year
at Oshkosh. Perceiving an opportunity to profit by building
transactions in La Crosse, Wisconsin, he removed to that place,
buying lots upon which he built and which he improved and later
sold. After engaging about a year along that line he formed a
partnership with a Mr. Hannerberg, and they bought a sawmill,
which they brought to Scott Hollow, Linton township. They
operated the mill for a season,, at the end of which time they
sold out, and then Mr. Rogers purchased the farm upon which Mrs.
McCrystal now resides. The first purchase comprised eighty acres,
but Mrs. McCrystal has since added thereto. It was valuable land
and Mr. Rogers continued for the remainder of his life in its
operation, improving the property and bringing his acres to a
high state of cultivation. He erected substantial buildings and
repaired those which were found on the farm, making it one of the
most valuable in the vicinity. After a life rich in labor, but
also rich in achievement, Mr. Rogers passed away on April 4,
1895. Although he was public-spirited and progressive and ever
interested in movements undertaken for the general welfare, he
never aspired to office. He was well known throughout the county
and had established a reputation on account of his literary
talents, being particularly gifted in the writing of poetry. His
memory is still fresh with many of the older residents of the
locality, who esteemed him as a purposeful man, ambitious to
succeed but also considerate of the interest of others, never
promoting his prosperity at the expense of someone else.
Mrs. Rogers continued to make her home on the farm, taking up its
management and devoting herself to its improvement and
development. In November, 1897, she married Daniel McCrystal,
separating from him after twelve years, by mutual agreement. She
is still actively engaged in the work of the farm and is ably
assisted by an adopted son. As she had no children of her own,
Mrs. McCrystal adopted, in 1902, an orphan girl, Daisy Belle
Read, taking her from the Des Moines Orphan Home and bestowing
upon her the love of a mother, rearing and educating her as her
own child. Mary D. McCrystal, which name she gave her, was born
September 20, 1894, and in April, 1912, married William Scott, of
McGregor, and they now reside on a farm in Linton township. In
April, 1903, Mrs. McCrystal adopted a boy from the same
institution, named Clifford Burns, who was born August 16, 1894.
He is now ably assisting his mother in the operation of the farm,
thereby returning the kindness and love which she bestows upon
him. Mrs. McCrystal now holds title to one hundred and twenty
acres of valuable land which she still personally superintends.
She also owns a fine building lot in La Crosse, Wisconsin, and is
a stockholder in the Monona Creamery Company. She hopes to spend
the remainder of her life on the farm which has so long been her
home and upon which she has expended so much of her labor and
care. She enjoys in a high degree the esteem and confidence of
all who know her and well merits the high regard which her
friends entertain for her. Charitably inclined, she does
everything in her power to ameliorate the conditions of those in
need and ever opens her heart and hand to those who make appeal
to her. One of the native-born pioneer women of this part of the
state, she has watched primitive conditions give way to the
onward march of civilization and has done her full share in
bringing about the prosperous conditions enjoyed by the present
generation. Her history and that of Linton township are closely
interwoven and there are few who can so interestingly recount the
olden days and relate reminiscences of times which seem to the
present generation more like fairy tales than realities.
-source: Past & Present of Allamakee County; by
Ellery M. Hancock; S. J. Clarke Pub. Co.; 1913
-transcribed by Diana Diedrich
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