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1907 Past and Present Biographies
S. W. WigginsS. W. Wiggins, the other member of the family, was educated in the district schools of his native county and of Green county, Wisconsin. He spent his early life on his father’s farm in Illinois and in 1852 accompanied his parents to Wisconsin, where he was connected with general agricultural interests until the 27th of December, 1863. On that day he was enrolled as a Union soldier at Monroe, Wisconsin, becoming one of the boys in blue of Company K, Sixteenth Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry, with which command he faithfully served until the close of the war eighteen months later. In the campaign of 1864 he was under command of General Sherman. He first went to Vicksburg, Mississippi where he remained for five weeks and thence proceeded up the Mississippi andTeninessee rivers to Clifton Landing. He marched through Tennessee and Alabama to Big Shanty, Georgia, where he arrived on the first of June, and was then under continual fire until the 21st of July, 1864. He also participated in the battle of Peach Tree Creek, where he sustained a bullet wound in the hand, and as a result of this injury he will bear a crippled hand to the grave. It is, however, the visible evidence of his loyalty and his fidelity to his country and he may well be proud of his record as one of the brave boys who fought that the honor and the integrity of the nation might be preserved. When the war was over Mr. Wiggins returned to Green county, Wisconsin, where he carried on general agricultural pursuits, and, in addition to the conduct of his business interests, he served as postmaster of Jordan, Green county, being commissioned in 1868 under Alexander W. Randall. In the fall of 1869 he resigned his position and removed to Hardin county, Iowa, where he carried on farming for three years. He then took up his abode in Wright county, this state, where he remained until the summer of 1874. In that year he went to Brown county, Kansas, but, not satisfied with the conditions which he found in the Sunflower state, he returned to Iowa-in the following year and settled on section 20, Franklin township, Greene county. Here he resolutely took up the task of cultivating his fields and developing his farm, so continuing until 1883, when he came to Cooper, where he purchased the mercantile business of Hiddleson & White. Mr. Wiggins developed this business until it became one of the best in this part of the county and then practically turned it over to his children, although he still retains the ownership and supervision thereof. Mr. Wiggins was united in marriage, in 1869, to Miss Lyddie Cleveland, and unto them were born two children: Edith, whose birth occurred in October, 1870, and who is now the wife of Richard Johnson, living near Farlin, Iowa; and Nellie F., who was born in June, 1874, and is the wife of Frank Johnson, also living near Farlin. In 1881 Mr. Wiggins was again married, his second union being with Miss Mary O. Smith, a resident of Green county, Wisconsin. After proving a faithful wife and affectionate mother for more than two decades, she passed away February 16, 1902, and was laid to rest in the Cooper cemetery. She left six children to mourn her loss: Elsie C., who was born February 25, 1882, and is at home; Walter M., who was born July 22, 1883, and is now clerk for a live-stock commission firm in Chicago; Ethel, who was born July 13, 1886, and is in her father’s store; Aimee, born May 13, 1888; Charles S., December 20, 1892; Jessie Imogene, born February 5,1895. Five are at home. In politics Mr. Wiggins is a stalwart republican. He has always voted as he shot - with his face to the enemy, standing fearlessly in support of his beliefs. While has has never aspired to official positions, he has served as postmaster of Cooper for the past fifteen years and in this office has proved to be very efficient, giving entire satisfaction by the able manner in which he has discharged his duties. His life has ever been honorable and upright and be enjoys the unqualified esteem of his fellowmen, his wide circle of friends proving that his course has ever been such as to merit uniform confidence and regard. For the past twenty years he has been a member of the Odd Fellows society at Jefferson. In citizenship he has been characterized by a patriotic spirit that has been manifest in days of peace as well as in days of war, and wherever known his many good qualities have gained for him a large circle of warm friends. |
Transcribed from "Past and Present of Greene County, Iowa Together With Biographical Sketches of Many of Its Prominent and Leading Citizens and Illustrious Dead," by E. B. Stillman assisted by an Advisory Board consisting of Paul E. Stillman, Gillum S. Toliver, Benjamin F. Osborn, Mahlon Head, P. A. Smith and Lee B. Kinsey, Chicago: The S. J. Clarke Publishing Company, 1907.  Site Terms, Conditions & Disclaimer |