Silas Peck

PECK, MINER, VREELAND, FREELAND, SMITH, COLLINS

Posted By: Tammy (email)
Date: 11/16/2011 at 16:08:31

SILAS PECK, a prosperous farmer of Beaver Township, Grundy County, is at present residing on section 12, where he owns a fine estate of one hundred and twenty acres. He is a native of Ohio, and was born in Ashtabula County May 16, 1830. His parents, William and Zipporah (Miner) Peck, were natives of Connecticut, where they were farmers by occupation. The great-grandfather of our subject, Samuel Peck, was a native of Wales, and on coming to this country in a very early day made his home on a farm in the Nutmeg State.

The parents of our subject continued to reside in their native state until the removal of their respective parents to Ohio, where they were farmers in Ashtabula County. They reared a family of nine children, of whom Charles, Mahala, Josiah and Lester are deceased. Those living are Sandford, Betsey, Louisa, Silas and Nelson. The father died when eighty-six years of age, and the mother when in her eighty-fourth year.

William Peck was a soldier in the War of 1812, and became a resident of Ashtabula County, Ohio, in 1811. There he owned several farms. Coming to Fairfield Township, Grundy County, in 1853, he with his family located on a large tract of land. He was a very industrious man, and in addition to cultivating his estate followed the cooper’s trade. The Peck family is one widely known in this county, and has the distinction of being the first white family to locate here.

Silas Peck, of this sketch, received a fair education in his native county, and on coming to Iowa remained under the parental roof until reaching his thirtieth year. Then being desirous of establishing a home of his own, he was married to Miss Maria J., daughter of John and Julia (Vreeland) Freeland, natives of New Jersey. Mrs. Peck traces her ancestry back to the landing of the “Mayflower,” at which time the family settled in this country.

Of the three children born to Mr. and Mrs. Peck, one died in infancy. Everett D., who married Olive K. Smith, lives in Larrabee, this state, where he runs a creamery; he has two children, Bernice M. and Irma. Stella M., the second child, is now the wife of Elia W. Collins, and lives on a farm near her parents.

Mrs. Silas Peck was the eldest daughter in a family of ten children, and was born in New Jersey. Her parents removing to Elgin, Ill., when she was six months old, she was there reared to mature years and received a high-school education. She was seventeen years of age at the time of her marriage with our subject; she came with him to this then wild region when there were no schools, churches or neighbors for miles around. She has been a great worker in the Sunday-school, and for twenty years taught a class in the Advent Church, of which she is a member. Our subject is also a member of that church, and at present is holding the office of Trustee.

When starting out for himself, in 1864, Mr. Peck purchased one hundred and twenty acres where he now lives. Later he became the proprietor of large tracts of land, but selling them to good advantage, now gives his attention to the cultivation of the home place. He has been a resident of this county since 1853, coming hither with his parents at a time when Indians and wild animals were plentiful. In his political relations he is a strong Republican.

Source:
Portrait and Biographical Record
of Jasper, Marshall and Grundy Counties, Iowa
1894