It
is pleasing to write of O. D. Tisdale, for he was one of the most
interesting of men. One of the early residents and merchants of Davis County, he
removed to Ottumwa, in Wapello County, where he engaged in the mercantile
business some fifty years ago. He was large bodied and became very corpulent. He
had a large head, dark hair and eyes, a full beard save the upper lip, and an
expressive countenance and pleasing address. He had intellectual faculties of a
high order, and had he been trained to literary or professional pursuits, would,
in my opinion, have distinguished himself. He had read much. He was highly
reminiscent, had a keen sense of wit, was fond of anecdotes and could narrate
events both comic and serious with great interest to his listeners. In short, he
was an original character and an original thinker. His fund of stories and
incidents relating to pioneer life in Davis County was inexhaustible. They were
invested with such piquancy and told with such spicy clearness, that they never
failed to interest. He wore spectacles, and in general
appearance, bore a striking resemblance to Edwin M. Stanton, President Lincoln's
Secretary of War. Of this I can personally testify, having seen them both.
O. D. Tisdale was an influential leader of
affairs in both Davis and Wapello Counties. He was born in 1822 in Jefferson
County, New York. The family moved to the adjoining County of Lewis. He was
educated in the common schools and in Lowville Academy, of Lowville, New York.
In early life he went South and taught school in Tennessee and Alabama. He came
to Davis County, Iowa, in 1849, first locating in Troy, and entered into the
mercantile business. He subsequently removed to Bloomfield where he carried on a
like business. He removed from there to Ottumwa in 1865, where he continued to
reside until his death in 1891. While a resident of Davis County he was elected
to and served in the State Legislature. While a resident of Ottumwa he was twice
chosen its Mayor, and served with efficiency. He was a forceful public speaker,
had a remarkable memory, and an excellent command of language.
The initial
"D," in the name of O. D. Tisdale, was generally supposed to stand for
Daniel, and he was always known and referred to as Daniel or "Dan"
Tisdale, and I never had any other idea until I was informed by his son, Judge
Tisdale, that his name was not Daniel at all, that his full name was Orin Drake
Tisdale, and that he became known as "Dan" Tisdale from the following
circumstance, as thus related by his son:
In early life, when he went from his old home in
New York to Tennessee, he had a small hair-covered trunk, and had his initials
on top of it, "O. D. T." In Tennessee someone asked him what O. D. T.
stood for, and he good naturedly replied, "Old Dan Tucker." The name
"Dan" stuck to him all through his after life from this characteristic
incident. His wife was a sister of Charles Baldwin, one of the early and
well-known lawyers of Keosauqua and Southern Iowa, and father of W. W. Baldwin,
an eminent member of the Burlington Bar. Mr. Tisdale left surviving him, two
daughters and four enterprising sons. One of these was W. D. Tisdale, who became
a prominent lawyer and jurist. I knew him from the time he was a very young man.
He
was well educated and a close student. Soon after his admission to the bar he
became a partner of the learned and able William McNett, of Ottumwa. Mr. McNett
had an extensive practice and this association early brought Mr. Tisdale
actively into the professional harness. This partnership continued until the
election of Mr. Tisdale as Judge of the District Court, a position which he
highly graced. He declined a second term and returned to the practice in which
he is still actively engaged at Ottumwa.
By
EDWARD H. STILES
DES MOINES
THE HOMESTEAD PUBLISHING CO.
1916