JOHN THOMAS ARCHERD
2 November 1842 --- 1 August 1933
The Autobiography of J. T. Archerd was published in the Eagle Grove Eagle in 1930 in the newspaper issues of May 1, May 8, May 15, May 29, June 5, July 3, August 28, September 4 and September 25, 1930. This autobiography is transcribed on pages 40 to 67 in The Archerd Family transcribed by William F. Archerd and John W. Taylor
ARCHERD FAMILY by William F. Archerd
Funeral for J. T. Archerd Held in Clarion Church
Military Rites for Civil War Veteran Conducted in Eagle Grove
A large crowd was present at the Methodist church this afternoon to honor J. T.
Archerd, Wright county's last Civil War veteran, who died Tuesday morning in
Clarion at the home of his son, Leslie N. Archerd. The services were conducted
by the Rev. R. W. Ortmeyer. The body was taken to the Rose Hill cemetery at
Eagle Grove for military burial by the Clarion post of the American Legion.
John Thomas Archerd was born in Clermont county, Ohio Nov. 12, 1842, the son of
R. H. Archerd and Nancy Simmons Archerd and the oldest of 11 children. There he
lived until after the Civil War when he came to Iowa. In 1862 he enlisted in the
Civil War, at the age of 20, joining Company F, eighty-second Ohio infantry. The
other members of company F have all preceded Mr. Archerd in death. For three
years he saw active service in the war. At the close of the war, he left Ohio to
settle in Marshall county. He was married to Miss Eliza Selmon, whose family had
also come from Clermont county, Ohio. Their wedding took place in Marshall
county in 1884. In March 1886 the Archerds went to North Dakota where in
addition to teaching in the rural schools, Mr. Archerd took up farming. They
remained there for five years, until June 29, 1891, when they returned to Iowa
and became residents of Wright county. Mr. Archerd entered into garden and fruit
work in Eagle Grove. He and his wife made their home there for 25 years. In the
fall of 1917 they came to Clarion to live with their son. Mrs. Archerd died in
March 1925. Mr. Archerd belonged to the Methodist church for 80 continuous
years. He was a member of the Eagle Grove G.A.R. He was member of Cyrus Lodge,
338, A.F. and A.M. at Gilman. The Clarion Legion and the Clarion organization of
the Veterans of Foreign Wars attended his funeral in a body. Mr. Archerd's
surviving relatives are his son, L. N. Archerd of Clarion; two grandchildren,
Mrs. Ross Mechem and Mrs. Richard Woodin, both of Clarion; two brothers, L. S.
Archerd of Minnesota, and E. E. Archerd of Oregon; and Mabel Brody of Minnesota,
a sister.
Mason City Globe Gazette - Mason City, Iowa
August 3, 1933
LAST CIVIL WAR VETERAN BURIED THURS.
J.T. Archerd, 91, Laid to Rest in Rose Hill Cemetery with Military Honors, Last
Thursday P. M.
J. T. Archerd, 91, Wright county's last survivor of the civil war, answered the
final bugle call at the
OBITUARY
Compiled by Sarah Thorson Little - October 2015