Horation M. IMUS was born in 1812, Genesse, New York, the son of Charles Lemuel and Lucinda (BURLINGAME) IMUS (1794-1878). He married Mary DOLBIER in July of 1832, New York. Mary, the daughter of John and Hannah DOLBIER, was born in Vermont in 1814.

Horatio and Mary were the parents of twelve children:

1) Clark IMUS, b. 1830, Genesee Co. NY
    married 1850, OH Martha W. (?) (1835-?)
    Child: Anna Cora IMUS (1858-1918); married Volney Wilson FREEMAN (1855-1935)

2) Martha IMUS, b. 09 Jun 1833, Genesee Co. NY; d. 22 Feb 1905, Berryville AR
    married 10 Apr 1853, Stark Co. IL John Alfred LESAN (1826-1897)
    Children:
      1) David M. LESAN (1854-1870)
      2) Siras LESAN (1855-1870)
      3) Melissa E. LESAN (1857-1870)
      4) Mary E. LESAN (1859-1870)
      5) Seth Albert LESAN (1862-1943); married Minnie BAKER (1868-1944)
      6) Elizabeth Belle "Lizzie" LESAN (1867-1870)

3) Daniel IMUS, b. 1836, Coshocton Co. OH; d. 20 Dec 1859, Adair Co. IA
    married (?) PARMLEY
    Child: Mary Ellen IMUS (1862-1951) married George Thomas DENNIS (1855-1925)

4) Seth IMUS, b. 04 Jun 1839, Coshocton Co. OH; d. 03 Jun 1898, Mount Ayr IA
    Civil War Veteran, Co. M, 3rd Iowa Cavalry; interment Middle Fork Cemetery
    married 1st 12 Jul 1865 Elizabeth BROWNLEE (1842-1889), inter: Middle Fork Cemetery
    Children:
      1) James Horatio IMUS (1866-1957); married Lucy DENNIS (1879-1974)
      2) William Luther IMUS (1876-1962); married Anne Elizabeth DALE (1878-1954)
    married 2nd 19 Feb 1891, Ringgold Co. IA Sarah Lydia CASTOR (1862-1901)

5) Andrew Jackson IMUS, b. 10 Oct 1840, Coshocton Co. OH; d. 05 Mar 1921, Berryville AR
    Civil War Veteran, Co. G of 29th Iowa Infantry
    married 10 May 1865, Ringgold Co. IA Sarah Corinthia BASSETT (1850-1921)
    Andrew and Sarah interred Berryville Memorial Cemetery, Berryville, Carroll Co. AR
    Children:
      1) Miles DeLeon IMUS (1869-1953)
      2) Eunice Bertha IMUS (1870-1956); married Joseph M. CAMPBELL (1864-?)
      3) Ada Sylvia IMUS (1871-1957); married John Edwin MAIN (1856-1931)
      4) Guy Carlton IMUS (1873-1961); married Aldah Myrtle TODD (1879-1968)
      5) Nellie May IMUS (1875-1969); married Tom MUSSELMAN
      6) Hugh Roy IMUS (1877-1919)
      7) Ralph Waldo IMUS (1879-1950); married Pearl BAKER (1888-1973)
      8) Ray Stanley IMUS (1881-1957); married Elsie Ray HODGE (1890-1990)
      9) Mary Elizabeth IMUS (1883-?); married Lewis L. NOLIS (1884-1952)
      10) Martha E. IMUS (1886-1887); inter: Ringgold Co. IA
      11) Minnie Ellen IMUS (1888-?); married James Adolph ROSS (1884-1958)
      12) Florence Evol IMUS (1891-1895); inter: Ringgold Co. IA

6) Mary Sarah IMUS, b. 1845, Ingham Co. MI
    married Joshua CAVIN
    Children:
      1) Sarah Nevada CAVIN (1860-1941); married Joseph A. SECARA (1867-1956)
      2) Mary Teressa CAVIN (1862-1921); married Mr. FLOWERS
      3) Julia Catherine CAVIN married Delbert ODREN
      4) Thomas CAVIN married Carrie C. VANDERBURGH

7) Leonard Orlando IMUS, b. 03 Oct 1847, Ingham Co. MI; d. 27 Jan 1934, Ringgold Co. IA
    married 03 Apr 1872, Mount Ayr IA Sarah Jane "Jennie" SMITH (1848-1935)
    interment Rose Hill Cemetery, Mount Ayr IA
    Children:
      1) Elsie M. IMUS (1873-1975); married Fred Lee MIDDLETON (1871-1952)
      2) Day IMUS (1875-1943); married Mattie Bernetta IMUS (1880-1977)
          Day and Mattie were 2nd cousins
      3) Smith IMUS (1877-1880)
      4) Agnes Belle IMUS (1883-1979); married John A. CUNNINGHAM (1882-1975)
      5) Quay IMUS (1889-1977); married Maude WILLIAMS (1893-?)
      6) Eighme IMUS (1891-?); married Isaac Casper DULING (1883-1977)
      7) Tama Nevada IMUS (1893-1959)' married James Randall HOUSE (1894-1979)

8) Margaret Louise IMUS, d. 1850

9) Lewis Burgess IMUS, b. 1848; d. 1914, Salem OR
    married 18 Apr 1875, Allendale MO Sallie Rebecca GRAY (1852-1926)
    Children:
      1) Ernest IMUS (1876-?)
      2) Lora Maude IMUS (1877-1879)
      3) Claude Everett IMUS (1878-1948)
      4) Clyde Albert IMUS (1880-?); married Mabel LORD (1882-?)
      5) Lt. Clint IMUS (1882-1938); WWI Veterna, U.S. Army
      6) Lt. Clifford Lewis IMUS (1883-1950); WWI Veteran, Co. K, 44th Infantry, 13th Division
      7) Lena Josephine IMUS (1885-?); married Sublette Withers NEWLAND (1875-?)
      8) Nona Nora IMUS (1889-1977); married Herbert Frederick COOK (1877-?)
      9) Flo IMUS (1893-?); married Marley L. NOEL

10) Luther Nobles IMUS, b. 15 Oct 1852, Stark Co. IL; d. 31 May 1922, CA
      married 20 Sep 1876, Ringgold Co. IA Mary E. BROWN (1859-1942)
      Luther and Mary interred Anaheim Cemetery, Anaheim, Orange Co. CA
      Children:
        1) Mary Margaret IMUS (1877-1907); married George W. STAFFORD (1872-?)
        2) Nettie Nevada IMUS (1879-1880)
        3) Willis Edgar IMUS (1880-1881)
        4) Etta Olive IMUS (1882-1911); married Charles Henry WAIGHT (1879-?)
        5) Ida Maude IMUS (1883-1884)
        6) Luther Elmer IMUS (1884-1964); married Mabel (?) (1885-?)
        7) Bertha IMUS (1886-1967); married Orville Lincoln IRWIN (1890-1963)
        8) Earl O. IMUS (1894-1968); WWI Veteran, U.S. Army [CA]
            married 1st Olive (?) (1894-1928); married 2nd Flossie (?)

11) daughter IMUS, died in either Michigan or Illinois

12) Ernest "Ernie" IMUS, d. 1871; interment Oak Ridge Cemetery, Ringgold Co. IA

13) Laura M. IMUS, d. 1878; interment Oak Ridge Cemetery, Ringgold Co. IA

  In the spring of 1854, Horatio sold his farm in Illinois but did not sign over possession until he had a chance to travel to Iowa in search of land and a place to homestead. Horatio stopped to visit his sister, Mrs. Levi TERWILLIGER, Sr. in Mahaska County, Iowa. Then he went to to where the town of Afton in Union County would later be located. Here he met Peter DOZE, an Frenchman who had started a little store.

Horatio and Peter struck up an acquaintance with Horatio spending the night in the DOZE household. Horatio told Peter that he intended to go beyond an settlement and he was prepared to do all kinds of work. He had tools for carpenter work, blacksmithing, and shoe making.

Peter said that in the land south of him there was plenty of good land, as fine as could be found in the state. There was an abundance of timber, water, and game. The prairie there was covered with blue stem grass that grew as tall as a horse's back.

Thinking it over, Horatio decided that instead of traveling on to the west, he would go south and look it over.

The following day, Peter accompanied Horatio. They stopped at the Indian village and found them to be quite friendly. From there, Horatio and Peter ventured on into what would later become Ringgold County. Here both men staked a claim; Horatio chosing a tract of land north of Peter's claim. After marking the land and their claim, the men traveled to the land office in Chariton where they entered the land. Peter returned to his store so that he could prepare to move onto his new claim. Horatio returned to Illinois to prepare his family for the move to Iowa.

Back in Illinois, Horatio asked his neighbor, Mrs. George W. LESAN, to make a belt for him in which he could conceal his gold. Mrs. LESAN made the belt, sewing $1,500 worth of gold into it. The day after Horatio picked up his belt, the family started out for Iowa. The party included Horatio and Mary's daughter Martha and her husband John Alfred LESAN. They drove a span of mares with colts on the side. The mares were hitched to a democrat wagon which was a light wagon with spring fastened to the bed that fit on the bolsters and could be lifted off the running gears. In this wagon was the family's clothing, dishes, books, bedding and valuable. Horatio and Mary rode in this wagon along with the baby.

Horatio's brother Hiram drove a prairie team of oxen who were hitched to a heavy wagon. The boys brought up the rear on foot.

Approximately a mile or so from English Creek in Marion County, Iowa, the party met a man and inquired about the crossing that was ahead of them. The man replied that the creek was rising fast but they should be able to cross it if they hurried. There wasn't a bridge so they would have to ford the river.

Not wanting to wait until the creek went down, Hiram hurried the oxen along. Upon reaching the creek, one of the older boys wanted to swim in and see how deep it was. Horatio nixed that idea. Horation drove into the creek but before he had gone the length of the team, he saw that the current was too strong for them. He tried to pull the hammer from the double trees. It wasn't clear what happened next. Either Horatio was jerked into the water or he fell at the mares' heels and was injured as the horses floundered. Or, Horatio was pulled under by the weight of the gold hidden in his specially made belt. Horatio drowned.

The wagon bed, along with Mary and the baby, raised up off the running gears and began floating down the creek. One of the older boys jumped into the water and sawm to his mother's assistance. When he caught up with the wagon, the boy noticed that the wagon bed was quickly filling with water. He called to Hiram, asking for help. Hiram cut a small bush with his jack knife. Grabbing the bush with one hand and holding on to the baby with her other arm, Mary was pulled to shore just as the wagon box sank into the creek.

The colts ran up and down the bank, whinnying for their drowning mothers. The IMUS children and Mary were crying and screaming for their drowned father and husband. There wasn't anything they could do.

They went to a nearby house where the FALKNER family lived. The FALKNERS took inthe bereaved family. Mr. FALKNER gave the alarm to his neighbors. Soon the bank was lined with men ready to do what they could in assistance for the IMUS family.

A skiff fitted with lines and hooks drug the creek all night and the following day. At 10 o'clock, the hooks caught Horatio's clothing and he was pulled to the surface. He had floated down the creek a quarter of a mile.

Horatio was buried there in Marion County, although a gravestone in his honor was later placed in Rose Hill Cemetery at Mount Ayr.

Mary didn't know what to do. The family had nothing to sustain them should they return to Illinois. What laid ahead of them was nothing but raw prairie land in Ringgold County. She knew nothing about outdoor work, having been occupied in the house with such a large family.

The boys pursuaded their mother to continue on to the land their father had entered for them.

In due time, the party arrived at Peter DOZE'S cabin. Dumbfounded and bewildered, Peter wasn't sure what to do with such a large party coming to him for help. After talking with the boys, Peter agreed to help them plan out the work that lay ahead of them if they all pitched in. Leaving Mary and the younger children at his cabin, Peter and the boys proceeded on to Horatio's claim. After giving the boys his advice, Peter returned to his cabin.

The boys built a cabin, then went after their mother and younger siblings. Thus, the IMUS family began their lives in Ringgold County in the 400-acre plot which would later become a part of Washington Township.

Mary married second on February 2, 1856 to William CAVIN, Sr. (1814-1893), the third marriage preformed in Ringgold County. They were the parents of one son, William CAVIN, Jr. Mary (DOLBIER) IMUS CAVIN died at the age of 81 years on October 19, 1895 and was interred at Rose Hill Cemetery, Mount Ayr.

Horatio's mother, Lucinda (BURLINGAME) IMUS was born in 1794, and died in 1878. She was interred at Forest Cemetery, Oskaloosa in Mahaska County, Iowa.

Elon I. IMUS, Horatio's brother, was born April 21, 1824 in Genesee, New York. He served during the Civil War in Company C of the 29th Iowa Infantry and became ill On June 10, 1865, and was in the General Hospital at New Orleans, Louisiana. He was brought home by his newphew Andrew Jackson IMUS, and died on October 8, 1865. Elon was interred at Rose Hill Cemetery, Mount Ayr.

Hiram B. IMUS, Horatio's brother, was born on November 3, 1822, Genesee, New York. Hiram came to Iowa with the IMUS family in 1854. During the Civil War, Hiram enlisted on September 12, 1861, and served as a Private in Captain C. WARNER'S Company of the 3rd Iowa Cavalry. He was promoted to the rank of Corporal on February 1, 1863, and discharged by reason of expiration of term of enlistment at Keokuk, Iowa, on September 19, 1864. Hiram died on July 13, 1909, Kalama, Cowlitz County, Washington.

SOURCE:
LESAN, Mrs. B. M. Early History of Ringgold County: 1844 - 1937 Pp. 21, 151-54. Blair Pub. House. Lamoni IA. 1937.

Transcription by Sharon R. Becker, May of 2010