Biography of Barsnette Dell Everingham

In a history of Howard county mention should be made of BARSNETTE DELL EVERINGHAM, who for more than a half century was a resident of Cresco, where he long carried on business as a contractor and builder.

He was born in Niagara, Ontario county, Canada, on the 18th of January, 1832, and passed away at Cresco on the 15th of November, 1916, so that he had reached the notable old age of eighty-four years at the time of his demise. He was a son of Jacob and Margaret (Dell) Everingham. His father was of English descent and birth and after coming to the new world established his home at Niagara, Ontario county, where he followed the occupation of farming.

He afterward crossed the border into the United States and took up his abode at Freeport, Illinois, where he also carried on farming for some time. Still attracted by the opportunities of the west, he later made his way to Dubuque, Iowa, and subsequently became a resident of Wagner, Polk county, Iowa. During the period of his residence there he lived retired, making his home with his son, Barsnette D. Everingham. His wife died near Lawler, Iowa, at the home of her son William. Mr. Everingham was a democrat in his political views and in his fraternal relations was a Mason.

Barsnette D. Everingham of this review spent his boyhood days in Canada and in Freeport, Illinois, to the age of fourteen years, when in 1846 he removed to Dubuque, Iowa, and later became a resident of Wagner, where he continued until after the outbreak of the Civil war.

Aroused by the attempt of the south to overthrow the Union, he offered his services to the government in 1862 and joined the "Boys in blue" of the Thirty-eighth Iowa Volunteer infantry, with which he served until 1865. He was made a sergeant in 1864 and later was advanced to the rank of second lieutenant. He participated in the siege of Vicksburg, in the expedition to Jackson, Mississippi, in the pursuit of General Johnson, in the capture of Brownsville, Texas, in the siege of Fort Morgan on Mobile bay and in the battle of Blakeley, Alabama, which was the last engagement of the war. He was a brave and loyal soldier, always faithful to his duties, performing any task that was assigned him most capably and bravely. When the country no longer needed his aid he returned to his home with a most creditable military record, making his way to New Oregon, Iowa, where on the 29th of August 1865, he was mustered out.

Through the intervening period to the time of death Mr. Everingham was engaged in carpentering, first in the employ of others and later as a contractor. He was very active in the building of the town of Cresco and of the courthouse. He put up many of the public buildings and residences of the city and on all sides are to be seen monuments to his skill and handiwork.

In addition to his connection with the contracting business he was engaged in agricultural pursuits, owning a farm south of Cresco, comprising eighty acres of land.

In 1857 Mr. Everingham was married in Minnesota to Miss Elizabeth Moon, who died some time later. There were five children of that marriage, Frank D., Helen M., Mamie, Emma and Ida.

In 1873 Mr. Everingham was again married, his second union being with Miss Helen D. Hunt, a daughter of Warren B. and Mary Ann (Moon) Hunt. She was born in Chautauqua county, New York, of which district her parents were also natives. They came west in an early day, settling first at Janesville, Wisconsin, where her father was engaged in the restaurant business. Later he removed to Iowa, establishing his home in Clayton county, where he purchased a farm of one hundred and sixty acres, which he owned and cultivated for a number of years. He afterward removed to New Oregon, Howard county, where he conducted a general store in connection with his brother-in-law M. M. Moon. His wife died in this county, after which he returned to New York and spent his remaining days in the Empire state. To the second marriage of Mr. Everingham there were born seven children, Effie F., Edith L., Mabel D., Bertha F., Alice E., William W. and Elias L.

The last named was run over by a train on the "Soo" Line and left a wife and two children.

The family circle was again broken by the hand of death when in 1916 Mr. Everingham was called to his final rest. In politics he was a democrat and he belonged to the Masonic fraternity, which found in him a worthy representative. "As the day with its morning of hope and promise, its noontide of activity, its evening of completed and successful effort, ending in the grateful rest and quiet of the night," so was the life of this man. He lived to round out more than four score years and his record was one of usefulness and honor.

Provided by Marge and Grant Hayes

History of Chickasaw and Howard Counties,
By Robert Herd Fairbairn (Published 1919 - Volume II)
S. J. Clarke Publishing Company, Chicago, Illinois
Transcribed by Mike Peterson