Pennsylvania Hubers Were Iowa Pioneers
HUBER, SINGER, ELLIOTT, GOODALL, BOYER, CARNEGIE
Posted By: Volunteer: Sherri
Date: 8/6/2016 at 03:00:14
**Handwritten: Aug. 31, 1939
Pennsylvania Hubers Were Iowa Pioneers
In connection with the Bentonsport Centennial, August 17, 19, there is another member of a pioneer family who is entitled to special recognition. Mrs. Priscilla Elliott, widow of F.M. Elliott, was born eighty-seven years ago only a few miles from Bentonsport and has spent all her life in that vicinity.
Following is a brief sketch of the Pennsylvania Dutch family of pioneers of which she is a part:
William Huber was born in Johnstown, Pa. in 1807; Ruth Singer was born near Johnstown in 1810, and they were united in marriage in 1828. To this union twelve children were born, ten in Johnston, and two in Winchester, Iowa. Mrs. Elliott is the only surviving member of this immediate family.
Mr. and Mrs. Huber left their native state and moved to Iowa with their family in 1851. The journey from Pittsburg, Pa., to Keokuk, Iowa, was made by steamboat. From Keokuk to Winchester the conveyance was by wagon.
The located in Winchester in a house that is still standing, located near a building which was for years the headquarters of the Winchester Anit-Horsethief association. For almost half a century this house which was their shelter at the end of their long journey was their family home.
Soon after locating the family at Winchester, Mr. William Huber and son, David, started on another long journey. They left Van Buren county on April 22, 1852, for California, traveling by ox team. David, a lad of about fifteen years, remarked that he walked practically all the way. Enroute they were joined by other wagons until their train was almost two miles long.
On their way they passed through Pella, then about five years old, and through Omaha, which was then but a cabin or two for trappers. They reached Sacramento in October of the same year. Mr. Huber returned to Iowa, and continued the operation of the store which he had started in Winchester soon after his arrival there.
David Huber remained in the west four years, returning via Isthmus of Panama and New York City. He remained in the east several years, during which time he was in the employ of Andrew Carnegie. He returned to Winchester in 1862, where he was united in marriage with Susan A. Goodall. They lived in Winchester for a time, then moved to Pella where he was in business for many years, and where he held positions of trust including member of the school board and Mayor of the city. He died June 8, 1926, at the age of ninety.
Priscilla Huber Elliott, the subject of this sketch, was born July 17, 1852. She well remembers the rallies which were held near her home during the civil war, and her active interest in her brother and other men who volunteered.
She was united in marriage with F.M. Elliott and for several years they lived on a farm near Winchester. Her father, William Huber, passed away in her home on Feb. 1, 1895, at the age of eighty-seven. Her mother had died at the home in Winchester at the age of eighty-one.
Mr. and Mrs. Elliott bought from the Boyer family a farm a mile and half west of Vernon, or Bentonsport, which has since been her home. This farm is noted for its substantial brick residence with stone trim located to the south of the main highway between Bentonsport and Keosauqua.
To Mr. and Mrs. Elliott four sons were born: Thad of Ft. Collins, Colo., the twins, Len of Donnellson and Glen of Cantril; and Finley, who with his family, make their home on the old home farm.
Source: Van Buren Co. Genealogical Society Obituary Book G, Page 137, Keosauqua Public Library, Keosauqua, IA
Van Buren Documents maintained by Rich Lowe.
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