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Nathan Bundy Lathrop
Born December 3, 1880 |
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Nathan Bundy Lathrop, owning and operating a well improved and productive farm of one hundred and seventy acres on section 36, Oxford township, is numbered among the worthy native sons of Jones county, his birth having occurred in Oxford township, on the 3d of December, 1880. His father, Hon. George W. Lathrop, was born at Fremont, Ohio, on the 18th of March, 1836, and when four years of age accompanied his parents on their removal to Iowa, the family home being established near Toronto. Two or three years later they took up their abode in Allen's Grove, Scott county.
In 1853, George W. Lathrop formed a partnership with his half brother, A. Courtright, for the conduct of a general mercantile establishment at Toronto, being thus identified with the business interests of the town for three years. On the expiration of that period they sold out the enterprise and, in association with their father, purchased the water power at Oxford Mills and erected a gristmill. George W. Lathrop was connected with the mill until 1868, at which time the property was sold to Robert McDonald. Subsequently he again entered mercantile circles. establishing a store at Oxford Mills, where he built up an extensive and profitable trade. It was through his influence that the branch line from Davenport was turned from its course, already surveyed through Lost Nation and Smithtown, to Oxford Mills and Oxford Junction. In 1882, he purchased a farm of four hundred acres south of the Mills, where he was extensively engaged in the raising of thoroughbred stock, including cattle, hogs and sheep, until the time of his retirement in December, 1903. His remaining days were spent in well earned ease at Oxford Junction, where he passed away on the 3d of December, 1907. A stanch republican in his political views, he always took a very active interest in the work of his party and was honored by election to the sixteenth and twenty-second general assemblies of Iowa. He also held many local offices within the gift of the people, ever discharging his official duties in a most efficient and highly satisfactory manner. The following is an extract from an obituary appearing in the Oxford Junction Mirror at the time of his demise: "He was a man of unusually generous impulses, always on the outlook for really helpful acts to be rendered his fellowman and among the first to discover and relieve want and grief where possible. He was the founder of the first mercantile establishment, the first gristmill, the importer of some. of the finest breeds of live stock in this part of the country, and the primal cause for the existence of this city. He was an ardent supporter of our public school system and of his chosen political party, a man of the largest circle of acquaintances of any in this section, and a man whose loyalty to his town and state was never doubted." Uniformly loved, respected and honored, his death was the occasion of deep and widespread regret and the community was deprived of one of its most influential and prominent citizens.
When a young man of twenty-four years, Hon. George W. Lathrop was united in marriage to Miss Ruth Amelia Noble, a native of New York and a daughter of Rev. Noble. Unto them were born six children, two of whom died in infancy. The others are as follows: Frank Noble, a resident of Martelle; James Howard, living in Pierre, South Dakota; Nathan Bundy, of this review; and Gladys Marie, the wife of John Stuhr, of Oxford township. The mother of this family was called to her final rest in May, 1901.
Nathan Bundy Lathrop, who has lived in Jones county from his birth to the present time, remained tinder the parental roof until he was married, early becoming familiar with the duties and labors that fall to the lot of the agriculturist through the assistance which he rendered his father in the work of the home farm. He is now the owner of one hundred and seventy acres of rich and arable land on section 31, Oxford township, annually gathering bounteous harvests as a reward for the care and labor which he bestows upon the fields. The property is lacking in none of the improvements and accessories of a model farm of the twentieth century and in its neat and thrifty appearance indicates the supervision of a practical and progressive owner. He makes a specialty of propagating seed corn and in addition to his farming interests is also engaged in the raising of stock, both branches of his business returning to him a gratifying annual income.
On the 31st of December, 1903, Mr. Lathrop was united in marriage to Miss A. Maude Lyons, whose birth occurred in Center Junction, Iowa, on the 31st of January, 1880. Her parents, Robert and Sarah (Barnhill) Lyons, are now residents of Plainview, Texas. Mr. and Mrs. Lathrop now have a son, Robert 'Wendell, and a daughter, Ruth Mildred. They, lost one child, who died in infancy. Mr. Lathrop gives unfaltering allegiance to the men and measures of the republican party, believing that its principles are most conducive to good government. Both he and his wife are well known and highly esteemed young people of the community, having won the kindly regard and friendship of all with whom they have been associated.
Source: History of Jones County, Iowa, Past and Present, R. M. Corbitt, S. J. Clarke Publishing Co., Chicago, 1910, p. 266. |
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© Copyright 1997-2013, The Art Department, © Copyright 2014-2020, Richard Harrison.
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