The Ancestry of Esther Matteson wife of Isaiah Bowman

CHAPTER THIRTY

THE MATTESON AND ALLIED FAMILIES

Asa Matteson father in law of Isaiah Bowman can trace his family back to a 17th Century Dane names Frandtz Mateson and on his mother’s side to two Mayflower emigrants William White and Edward Doty.

Henry Matteson was born 27 October 1646 in Denmark.

Henry Matteson, the individual from which the Matteson Historical Congress of America established its identity, was the first of that name to come to America. He arrived in 1666/1667 at the settlement called Portsmouth located at the north end of an island in Narragansett Bay that the Native Americans called Aquidneck.

Portsmouth had been founded in 1638 by a small group headed by Mrs. Anne Hutchinson, an outcast from the Massachusetts Bay Colony. They renamed the island the "Isle of Rhodes" or Rhode Island". It was from that small island that the state we know today as the State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations took its name.

Little is know of the background of Henry Matteson. He was believed to have been of Danish ancestry with his father being Frantz Madtzen also known as Francis Matteson lived between 1612 and 1675.

Henry Matteson was the emigrant ancestor of a majority of Mattesons in America and of many using the names Mattison, Madison, Mathewson, Matthewson, Mattason, Matterson and Matson. He emigrated prior to 1670 when he married Hannah Parsons the daughter of Hugh and Mary Lewis of Newport.

Henry Matteson lived on Prudence Island in Narragansett Bay in Rhode Island Colony where he made peace with the Indians and “faithfully kept that peace” during the King Phillip's War. He was a “faithful friend of Roger Williams.”

On June 12, 1678 he took 100 acres of land that had been granted to John Pearce, the Assembly permitting the transfer. On 17 March 1682 Henry and his wife Hannah Parsons Matteson sold to David Shippee their dwelling and 100 acres.

On 27 Oct 1684 Matteson testified and calling himself 38 yrs or thereabouts [1646]. In 1685 he was a Deputy in the colony. Henry Matteson died in 27 October 1690 in West Greenwich, Kent, Rhode Island . His widow Hannah sold to George Vaughn, for four pounds, land that Henry had bought from John Knight. Hannah Parsons Matteson later remarried Charles Hazelton.

Their son Francis Matteson was born 15 March 1680 West Greenwich, Kent, Rhode Island, Colony where he farmed. He died 28 April 1750 in Kent County, Rhode Island Colony. He married 12 May 1700 at East Greenwich, Sarah Nichols, the daughter of Richard Nichols and Phoebe Briggs. She was born 15 March 1682 at Warwick, Kent, Rhode Island, and 1719 age 37 died at East Greenwich, Kent, Rhode Island.

They had a a son named Thomas Matteson, born circa 1715 at Warwick, in Rhode Island Colony and died 13 April 1793 in the village of Coventry, Kent County, Rhode Island at the age of 78. He married Sarah Johnson in 14 March 1742. She was the daughter of Joseph Johnson and Sarah Doliver. She was born 27 February 1711 in Coventry, Kent, Rhode Island, and died 1812 in East Greenwich, Kent, Rhode Island, United States

Thomas Matteson Jr was born 22 June 1742 in Coventry, Kent County, Rhode Island and as a young man moved to moved to Shaftsbury Bennington County, Vermont in 1766 before the Revolutionary War. Shaftsbury was chartered on 20 August 1761 and given 23,040 acres of land, in 66 shares. Those shares included one for the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel, one for the Church of England, one for the first settled minister, and one for the benefit of a school.

For the earliest settlers of Bennington County Vermont, there were not roads but merely paths. It is unlikely that the settlers in the period could have traversed the route with a wagon. All of their belongings were probably packed on horses for the journey. The families probably traveled north on what is now close to the route of I-95 to Providence, Rhode Island. There, they may have connected to the Providence road which led west through Connecticut. It generally followed the path of US-6 through Windham to Hartford. There, the trail turned north and followed the Connecticut River into Massachusetts. Connecticut state route 159 most closely approximates the route of the early trail.

The old trail moved into New York Colony and went north setting the path for what is today probably New York state route 22. The trail turned back into Massachusetts near Hancock and continued north to Williamstown. Massachusetts state route 43 seems to follow the best guess about the old trail. With the end in sight, the trail went to Bennington (US-7) and, then, to Shaftsbury (US-7A).

It was probably a journey of more than two hundred miles. They might make twenty miles on a really good day, but were probably lucky to average 15 miles per day for the trip. The road between West Greenwich, Rhode Island and Springfield, Massachusetts went through more towns meaning more opportunities for food and rest. The Mattesons were a part of a migration from older colonies that poured into the Benningtn area in the late 1700's and early 1800's. So many came from Rhode Island, that an area of Shaftsbury become known as Little Rhode Island or “Little Rhodie.” The first Mattesons in Shaftsbury were among the pioneer settlers. Timber was plentiful and the soil good for farming. Eventually iron ore would be mined here and marble quarried and sent to other parts of the Northeast. Later families were undoubtedly welcomed to the growing community of Mattesons in Shaftsbury.

Historic Route 7A runs through the center of Shaftsbury from the Bennington line to Arlington. This was once the footpath used by the Green Mountain Boys as they patrolled this newly settled territory. In the 1770's, these Green Mountain vigilantes physically harassed and mentally outfoxed agents from Albany, capital of the hated colonial province of New York, whose agents were "sheriffs" and sought to exercise jurisdiction, and surveyors who tried to measure out the land previously purchased by the patriots. The Vermonters farmed small tracts within self-governing townships. New York leaders, on the other hand, preferred large, wealthy landowners for whom tenant farmers worked.

Many members of The Green Mountain Boys were Shaftsbury residents. They were joined by New Hampshire militia units who traveled through Shaftsbury in order to defeat the British forces before they could capture a munitions dump in Old Bennington.

The victorious Battle of Bennington on 6 August 1777 was fought on a hill in Walloomsac, New York about 5 miles west of Shaftsbury. The Bennington Battle Monument commemorating this skirmish, built in Old Bennington, and visible from Shaftsbury, is approximately 5 miles south of Shaftsbury.

The word about the quality of the farmland the other resources probably attracted Thomas Matteson and his relatives from East Greenwich which may have been feeling crowded. The Matteson family settled into life in Shaftsbury and remained there for the rest of their lives although many members of the extended family migrated into New York’s border towns.

Thomas Matteson was a Deacon in the oldest Baptist Church in Vermont, founded in 1768 and he was the town clerk of Shaftsbury for forty years. His gravestone states “To the memory of Dea. Thomas Matteson who departed this life June 5th 1809 in the 67th year of his age. He was the fourth generation from the Danish Nation And was Twice born as Jesus said, Blest are the pious dead.” He was buried in the North Bennington Cemetery. He was married to Sarah Doolittle the daughter of Samuel Doolittle and Susannah Godwin [Goodwine]. She was born in 1749 in Dutchess County, New York Colony and died 11 November 1823 in Shaftsbury, Bennington, Vermont, United States

Davis 'David' Matteson was born 11 April 1773 in Shaftsbury, Bennington, Vermont, the 4th out of 10 children of Deacon Thomas Matteson and Sarah Doolittle and lived there his entire life there. He died 19 May 1849 in Shaftsbury, Bennington County, Vermont. He married Hannah Sears daughter of Ebennezer Sears and Jane White and a Mayflower descendant. She was born 14 February 1775 in Shaftsbury, Bennington, Vermont, and died there 16 June 1858.

Their son Asa Matteson was born 27 April 1815 in Shaftsbury, Bennington, Vermont, where married Mary Ann Locke the daughter of Edmund Taylor Locke and Samatha Atwood. She was born 18 March 1818 in Shaftsbury, Bennington, Vermont. They were married 15 April 1838 in Shaftsbury, where their first child Esther Ann Matteson was born 3 February 1839.

The 1840 Census shows Asa and his family living in Shaftsbury nest door to his brother Davis Matteson Jr and his father David .

Asa “Mattison” Home in 1840 Shaftsbury, Bennington, Vermont

Free White Male ages 20 thru 29 [1811-1820] Asa Matteson

Free White Female ages 20 thru 29 [1811-1820] Mary Ann Locke

Free White Female age Under 5 1836-1840] Esther Matteson

1 Person Employed in Agriculture

Three more sons were born in Shaftsbury before the family moved west to Wisconsin probably in 1846. Wesley John Matteson was born 14 April 1840, Walter Matteson was born 21 December 1841 and Fay Matteson born 17 October 1843.

Their son Walter Matteson however died in 1845 in Shaftsbury and a daughter named Martha Matteson was born 4 June 1847 in Nekosha County, Wisconsin. Another daughter named Adelaide Matteson was also born there 7 July 1849.

In the 1850 United States Census Asa Matteson is living in the town of Wheatland, Kenosha County, Wisconsin as 10 August. It doesn’t appear that he had any relatives living in the county which is odd for families to strike out on their own.

Asa Madison age 35 was listed as a farmer and a native of Vermont

Mary A Madison age 32 was said to be a native of New York

Esther Ann Madison age 12 born in Vermont

Westly Madison age 10 born in Vermont

Fay Madison age 6 born in Vermont

Martha Madison age 3 born in Wisconsin

Adelaide Madison age 1born in Wisconsin

The family was probably in the process of relocating when the census was taken as that a son named George Washington Matteson was born 9 January 1851 in Jefferson Township, Green County, Wisconsin. The township lies in the southern tier of Green county's civil township subdivision. It is bounded on the north by the township of Sylvester, on the east by Spring Grove, on the west by Clarno, and on the south by the Illinois State line.

Another daughter was born 19 November 1853 named Lydia Matteson. She was said to have been born in Black River Falls, Jackson, Wisconsin some 155 miles north of Monroe, Green, Wisconsin. While this is possible, it’s likely an error as the Wisconsin State Census of Green County listed Asa as living in Jefferson Township, Green County where his eldest daughter Esther Ann Matteson married Isaiah Bowman, a local farmer from Sylvester Township in that year. In neighboring Spring Grove Township the 1855 census listed an “S. Mattison” a house hold of 2 White Males and 3 White Females. No other information is given but more than probably they were relatives of Asa although he had no brothers with a name beginning with S. “Asa Matison” was enumerated having a household of 5 White Males and 4 White Females. They would have been Asa Matteson, Wesley, Fay, and George. As that son Walter had died in 1845 another son could have been born who died before the 1860 Census. The females would have been Mary Ann Locke Matteson, Martha, Adelaide, and Lydia. Esther was married to Isaiah by the time this census was taken.

The family left Wisconsin probably with a group of migrants not long after the census was taken. They would have traveled by covered wagons pulled by oxen to the Mississippi River probably resting at Dubuque Iowa which was 60 miles on the west side of the river. They could have gone by steamboat down the Mississippi or by oxen pulled wagons.

Asa Matteson’s first grandchild Henrietta Bowman was born 4 October 1856 by all accounts in Missouri. The closest community in Missouri down the river from Dubuque would have been in Clark County at the mouth of the Des Moines River that divided the state from Iowa. Less than two years later Asa Matteson 2nd grandchild child Elizabeth Bowman was born 20 June 1858 in Iowa City, Wright, Iowa. Asa and Mary Ann had a son named Selam Julius Mattison born almost six months later in 13 December 1858 in Newton township, Jasper County, Iowa. Wright County is 90 miles due north of Clark County, Missouri and Jasper county is 80 miles due west of Wright County. Why these familes took this circuitous route is an enigma but they eventually settle in Jasper County for nearly four years on farms they rented.

The 1860 United States Census Asa Mattison’s family was enumerated as living in Newton Township, Jasper County, Iowa on July 2nd. His Post Office address was Newton and he was the 728 household visited in the county and listed under the name “Mattison.”.

Asa listed himself as a 45 year old farmer worth about $150 in personal property so this family was extremely poor. He stated he was a native of Vermont. His wife Mary A Matteson was a 42 year old native of NewYork and children still living at home were 16 year old Fay Matteson, 12 year old Martha Matteson, 10 year old Adaline Matteson, 8 year old George Matteson, 5 year old “Lidia” Matteson and 1 year old Julius Matteson.

All of his children are listed as being born in Wisconsin. Salem Julius Matteson gives his birth place in various censuses as Nebraska as well as Iowa. If indeed he was born in Wisconsin in 1858 the Asa followed his son in law to Iowa instead of traveling with him.

Asa’s 3rd grandchild, Isaiah "James" Bowman, was born about 3 weeks after Asa was enumerated. James Bowman was born 21 July 1860 in Malaka Township, Jasper County, Iowa.

The Civil War began in April 1861 with Confederate Forces firing on Union Troops in Charleston Harbor. Asa’s eldest son Wesley J Matteson enlisted at the age of 21 as a private in Company B of the 5th Iowa Infantry. His military record stated he was a resident of “Jasper County, nativity Vermont”. He enlisted June 24, 1861 and was mustered in 15 July 1861. He was wounded 3 October 1862, at the Battle of Corinth, in Missssippi and deserted at Memphis, Tennessee, 1 March 1863.

During the Civil War, the Homestead Act was passed that enticed Americans to move to western territories when settling on a homestead for five years in lieu of a cash payment promised free land to poor farmers. Asa Matteson and his son in law Isaiah Bowman left Iowa and crossed the Missouri River at Sioux City and settled in Dakota Territory near the community of Elk Point. Elk Point was first settled in 1859 along the Military Road running from Sioux City, Iowa to Fort Randall in the Dakota Frontier. These families arrived at a very dangerous time as relations between the Dakota Sioux Nations and white settlers broke out into open warfare.

Almost as soon as Asa Matteson had moved his family to Dakota Territory the Dakota Indian War of 1862 began. By the summer of 1862 the situation for many Dakota Indian families was desperate when promised annuity payments were late due to the Civil War. Some traders and officials at the Indian Agencies refused to extend credit for food and supplies until the Dakota had paid their debts. Crop failures and poor hunting by white settlers encroachments had left many Dakota families hungry. Due to these and other factors, tensions within Dakota Indian community reached a breaking point.

It began on August 17, 1862, along the Minnesota River in southwest Minnesota. In response to the Dakota War of 1862, the governor of Dakota Territory issued a proclamation on August 30, 1862 requiring every male between the ages of 18 and 50 in every settlement in eastern Dakota, be formed into militias to protect against expected attacks from the Native Americans. This would have included 47 year old Asa, his son in law 34 year Isaiah Bowman and his son 19 year old Fay Matteson.

In Yankton the territory capital, the militia built a stockade where settlers from the surrounding area, and as far away as Sioux Falls and Bon Homme County, fled to in order to seek shelter within the structure. Although roving bands of Native Americans did approach Yankton over the course of several weeks, no attack ensued.

Many of the families of settlers at Elk Point fled to the safety of Sioux City while the men folk guarded their farms. The war lasted nearly six weeks, during which more than 600 civilians and U.S. soldiers, as well as an estimated 75-100 Dakota, were killed. The war ended with a mass execution of 38 Dakota men on December 26, 1862, in Mankato, Minnesota, the largest mass execution in United States history.

Even though out and out warfare ended, the Sioux Indians and whites still engaged in local hostilities.

Mary Ann Matteson and her daughter Esther Bowman were pregnant at the same time in 1863. Asa’s daughter Mary Eliza Mattison was born 10 May 1863 near Elk Point, in Cole County [Union], Dakota Territory. His granddaughter Mary Jane Bowman was born 19 August 1863 also at Elk Point. Cole County, Dakota Territory.

On 12 October 1863 Isaiah Bowman and Asa Matteson swore in an affidavit that elections held for County offices, had fraudulently elected a non resident as County Registrar of Deeds. In their deposition they said they had lived in Cole [Union] County for upward of one year.

Isaiah Bowman’s father in law was elected earlier in September 1863 to serve as a representative to the Dakota Territory’s House of Representatives. The capital of the territory at the time was Yankton which was located about 40 miles northwest of Elk Point on the Missouri River. He took the Oath of Office on 8 December 1863 and on the same day the election of the County Commissioner, the registrar of deeds, and the office of the Probate Judge were deemed null and void by the legislature..

While the Dakota Indian War was over by 1863 skirmishes between the Sioux and American settlers continued for some time. In an attack Asa Matteson was killed by the Sioux on 5 May 1865 about 50 years old. As legislators held office for two years, Asa Matteson died while a territory representative.

His widow Mary Ann Locke Matteson was left with at least six minor children when her husband was killed. They were 17 year old Martha Matteson, 15 year old Adelaide Matteson, 14 year old George Matteson, 11 year old Lydia Matteson, 6 year old Julius, and Mary Matteson who turned 2 years old 5 days after her father was murdered. Her three oldest children Esther Matteson was married with her own family, 25 year old Wesley Matteson was probably in Wisconsin where he married less than 3 months after his father’s death on 21 July 1865 in Jackson County. Fay Matteson was 21 years old and didn’t marry until 1874 so may have been the main support of his mother and younger brothers and sisters until they all left home.

Mary Ann Matteson cannot be located in the 1870 United States census although her son in law was listed as living in Union County Dakota Territory. Certainly she was still there because her 15 year old daughter Lydia married on 23 August 1869 a 41 year old widower named Robert Marmon in Elk Point. In 1870 her eldest son Wesley Matteson was married and living in Jackson County, Wisconsin. The rest of her children should have been in Union County. Information on when Asa’s daughter Adelaide died would have been in the 1870 census. If she was not listed then she probably had died. There’s no marriage or death information on this child.

Fay Matteson married on 9 September 1873 in Dixon County at age of 29 Emma Tillison, but by the following year the family had moved across the Missouri River into Nebraska. There Martha Matteson married at the age of 27 to William Weaver in 1874. Son George W Matteson also married that year at the age of 23 to Flora Meyers. The couple were married 15 September 1874 at Ponca in Dixon County, Nebraska.

The 1880 United States Census showed that all the living children of Asa Matteson, except Lydia were residents of Dixon County, Nebraska. Although Lydia who married Robert Marmon cannot be located in the 1880 Census she was most likely living in Douglas County, Minnesota where she gave birth to a son in February of that year. The peculiar thing about the 1880 census of Dixon County is that none of her children were living with her even her youngest daughter Mary Matteson who was 16 years old. Mary Matteson is listed as living in the township of Civil Bend in Union County, Dakota Territory about across the Missouri about three miles from Ponca, Nebraska where all of her other children were living and engage in the lumber and milling business. Mary Matteson was listed as a 61 year old widow living alone and keeping house. She said she was a native of New York and were her parents.

Wesley Matteson had returned from Wisconsin with his married family and living in Ponca, Dixon County with his occupation as “lumber”. He said he was born in Vermont as were his parents. Fay Matteson was a “lumber dealer” in Ponca and living with his family was his 21 year old brother Saliam who was “working in mill.” Fay gave his birth place as Vermont and Saliam’s birth place was given as Nebraska. Neither one knew where their parents were born. Martha Matteson was living with her husband William Weaver who was a Brick Mason in Ponca. George W Matteson’s occupation was “running saw mill”. He said he was born in Wisconsin but did not know where his parents were born. Living with his family was his 16 year old sister Mary Matteson who was “helping keep house”.

Mary Ann Locke Matteson died the following year on 17 October 1881 at the age of 63, most likely in Ponca where she is buried in the Ponca Cemetery along with her husband Asa Matteson.

The parents of Mary Ann Locke are unknown according to family histories of the Mattesons. Generally there’s a family mystery or scandal that family members at the time wished to ignore. A reasonably place to search for Lockes would be among the residents of Shaftsbury in Bennington County Vermont in the early decades of the 1800’s. However there is no census records for 1810 or 1820 in which a Locke family could be found in Bennington. Although Mattesons are found in abundance in Shaftsbury Township there are only a few records showing that any Lockes lived there at all. In fact only one family, that of Edmund Taylor Locke and Samantha Atwood are recorded as having lived in Shaftsbury in the decade between 1810 and 1820. There are no others. Logic would suggest that Mary Ann Locke who was born in 1818 either in Vermont or New York who married into the Matteson family of Shaftsbury would be related to this couple if not their actual daughter. Many known children of this couple had the same migration pattern into Wisconsin and then Iowa as did Asa and Mary Ann Matteson.

Edmund Taylor Locke was born 10 March 1791 in Deerfield, Franklin, Massachusetts and died 9 August 1851 in Union, Broome County, New York having been run over by a train. He married Samantha Atwood 17 November 1811 in Hoosick Falls, Rensselaer, New York which borders Bennington County Vermont. She was born 5 May 1784 in Bennington, Vermont and died 2 June 1865 in Vinton, Benton, Iowa and suffered from severe bouts of depression and insanity.

Vital records from Shaftsbury Township in Bennington County show that this couple had a daughter named Phildelia Locke who was born circa November 1812 and died 5 May 1813 in Shaftsbury, Bennington County, Vermont. Another unnamed infant daughter died 2 September 1813 at Shaftsbury and both girls were buried in the North Bennington Cemetery. As that Mary Ann Locke was born in 1818 presumably in either Vermont or neighboring New York she would have fit the time and place to have been their daughter.

Additionally Edmund Taylor Locke had a sister Priscilla Locke who married Andrew Robinson 4 December 1806 in Bennington, Bennington, Vermont.

Edmund Taylor Locke was the son of John Locke and Ruth Faxon. John Locke was a Minute Man from Deerfield and was said to have commanded a squad of men to throw the tea into Boston Harbor. He served under Col. Jonathan Wentworth for three years. He was a mason and marble worker and lived in Bennington Vermont for a time before he moved to Choconut in Susquehanna County, Pennsylvania in 1815 where Ruth Locke died in 1817. John Locke died there in 1834.

Edmund Locke moved to Susquehanna County where he is found in the 1830 US Census.

Edmond T Locke Home in 1830 Choconut, Susquehanna, Pennsylvania

Free White Male age Under 5 1826-1830 James B Locke

Free White Male age 5 thru 9 1821-1825 Parmenas Locke

Free White Male age 15 thru 19 1811-1815 unknown

Free White Male age 20 thru 29 1801-1811 Edmund T Locke Jr

Free White Male age 30 thru 39 1791-1800 Edmund T Locke

Free White Male age 70 thru 79 1751-1760 John Locke

Free White Female age 20 thru 29 1801-1811 Mary Ann Locke

Free White Female age 30 thru 39 1791-1800 Samantha Atwood

Free White Female age 60 thru 69 1761-1770 unknown

After the death of his father he moved back to New York but just across the state line from Pennsylvania.

E T Locke Home in 1840 Vestal, Broome, New York

Free White Male age 40 thru 49 1791-1800 Edmund Locke Sr

Free White Female age 40 thru 49 1791-1800 Samantha Atwood

Free White Male age 20 thru 29 1811-1820 Edmund Locke Jr

Free White Female age 20 thru 29 1811-1820

Free White Male age 15 thru 19 1821-1825 Parmenas Locke

Free White Male age 10 thru 14 1826-1830 James B Locke

Free White Male age 5 thru 9 1831-1835 Gilbert Locke

Free White Female age Under 5 1836-1840 Ruth Locke Sr

Free White Female age Under 5 1836-1840 Mary T Locke

Taken from "Notes on Edmund Locke:" (The Next Book of Lockes-Descendants of William Locke of Woburn, Massachusetts, Jerry Harrison Heritage Books) "...Two daughters of Mr. Edmund Locke and Samantha Locke of Union in the County were murdered by their mother who cut their throats and also her own, although she was still alive after the event and some in the area hoped she would survive to pay the full penalty of the law for her crime, even though she had been "insane" off and on over the winter previous. The two girls were Ruth S. Locke and Mary T Locke."

The family of Edmund T Locke continued to live in Union after the tragedy of the death of daughters Ruth S and Mary T. They are listed in Broome County which southern county line bordered Susquehanna County, Pennsylvania on 10 October 1850. “Edmond T Lock” was listed as a 58 year old brick mason worth $1000 and a native of Massachusetts. Samantha Lock is age 56 and a native of Massachusetts. Only two sons were stilling living at home 21 year old James B Locke and 18 year old Gilbert Locke. James was a mason and Gilbert was a farmer. A six year old girl named Harriet E Barter was also included in the household

Edmund T Locke Jr had moved from New York and made his way to Grant County, Wisconsin on the east side of the Mississippi across from Dubuque, Iowa. He was about 35 years old when he married 16 year old Harriet Amelia Nixon 8 September 1847 in Plattsville, Grant County, Wisconsin and had a daughter named Bertha Locke born in October 1849 before he disappears in 1850 leaving Harriet and her daughter in a hotel in the 1850 Census. It is not known whether he died or deserted Harriet but she remarries by 1853 to John K Brooke and moved to Indiana with her daughter.

Mary Ann Locke and Asa Matteson are in Nekosha County Wisconsin on the eastern side of the state. Parmenas Locke has not been located but may have been traveling west also.

In less than a year after the 1850 census, Edmund Locke died on 9 August 1851 in Union, Broome, New York. His elaborate tombstone perhaps carved by son James has a ship and an anchor as a design on it. It also mentioned the cause of death of Emund which is very rare. It stated “was killed by a train of cars passing over him.”

The 1856 state Census of Iowa showed that the widow of Edmund Locke and two of his sons, James and Parmenas were living in Taylor Township in Benton County.

The census stated that James B Locke had come to Iowa in 1854 but the rest of the family not until 1855. Evidently he came to scout out the area before returning to New York to help his family move. While in New York he had married Elsie Louise Walley.

James B Locke is listed as the head of the household in Benton County, Iowa 1856.

James B Locke age 24 native of Pennsylvania and a mason by trade

Elsie L Locke age 25 a native of New York came to Iowa in 1855

Semantha Locke age 2 native of New York came to Iowa in 1855

Semantha Locke age 62 widow native of Vermont came to Iowa in 1855

Parmenas Locke age 30 married and a mason by trade a native of New York came to Iowa in 1855 and owned property in Benton County.

James White age 13 native of New York came to Iowa in 1855

The last census that Samantha Atwood Locke can be located in is the 1860 United States Census where she is enumerated with her son James B Locke on 23rd July. She is listed as a 66 year old native of Vermont. Her son James Locke was a 30 year old “stone cutter” born in Pennsylvania. Others in his household were his 31 year old wife Elsie, and daughters 6 year old Samantha H, and 2 year old Mary N. Also within the household was 17 year old James W White who 4 years earlier was listed as the 13 year old boy within this household.

Samantha Atwood Locke died 5 June 1865 in Vinton, Benton, Iowa after the Civil War had ended. She is probably buried in the Evergreen Cemetery in Vinton, Iowa were her son Parmenas Locke is buried although there is no record or marker for her.

Vinton, Iowa is 60 miles due northwest of Newton, Iowa were Mary Ann Locke Matteson was living in 1860.