My Genealogy Hound

JAMES L. JETER.
Many of those who came to Union county at an early day and were numbered among the founders and promoters, laying the, foundation for its present prosperity and progress, are no longer residents of this locality. Some have removed to other districts, while many have been called from the scene of earthly activities. Among those who still remain and have been witnesses of the growth and development of the county as it has merged from frontier conditions and taken on all of the evidences of a modern civilization is James L. Jeter, who resides on section 9, Jones township. He has lived in Iowa since 1853, in which year he took up his abode in Marion county, while in 1855 he made his home in Union county, where he is now one of the prosperous farmers and well known citizens, having here one hundred and twenty-one acres in the home place, while in connection with his son he owns eighty acres more.

Mr. Jeter is a native of Virginia, having been born near Bedford on the 13th of March, 1837. His father, Henry Jeter, was born in Virginia, where he was reared and married. The grandfather, Henry Jeter, Sr., likewise a native of the Old Dominion, was of Scotch ancestry. The family was established in the new world during the colonial epoch in the country’s history. Henry Jeter, Jr., was married, in Virginia to Miss Martha Ann Deton, a native of that state. By trade he was a miller and after his removal from Virginia to Tennessee was engaged in the milling business in the latter state for twelve years. Subsequently he took up his abode in Morgan county, Illinois, where he followed farming for eighteen months prior to his removal to Marion county, Iowa, in 1853. Two years later, in 1855, he entered land from the government, securing a claim on sections 21 and 22, New Hope township, where he had one hundred and sixty acres. It was wild prairie upon which not a furrow had been turned nor an improvement made but soon the track of the plow could be seen and as the sod was broken the seed was planted and in due time golden harvests were gathered. Mr. Jeter carried on the work of the farm there until 1861, when he crossed the plains to California, making the long and arduous journey across the hot stretches of sand and through the mountain passes. After reaching the Golden state he engaged in gardening near Cloverdale, where he died in 1871.

James L. Jeter was one of a family of four sons and two daughters, of whom three sons and one daughter are yet living. Taken to Tennessee in his early childhood, he there remained until sixteen years of age, and when a young man of eighteen years he drove across the country with both horses and oxen traveling after the primitive manner of the times and aiding in the arduous task of developing a new farm. With the family he shared in all the hardships and privations incident to pioneer life, when the struggle for existence was often a difficult one, the settlers being denied the comforts known to the older east. Mr. Jeter and his brother broke the sod and continued to work for their father until twenty-four years of age.

It was in 1861, in Jones township, that Mr. Jeter married Miss Lucy C. Evans, who was born in Indiana but was reared in Iowa. They began their domestic life upon the farm where they now live, the tract of land having been given to Mrs. Jeter by her father, Jacob Evans, who had entered three hundred acres as a government claim in 1854, Mrs. Jeter being given one hundred and twenty acres of this. With characteristic energy the subject of this review began the difficult task of transforming the wild tract into cultivated fields and with the work of farming he also improved the property through the erection of a good dwelling and substantial barns and outbuildings for the shelter of grain, stock and farm machinery. He also set out an orchard and raised good fruit and in connection with the cultivation of cereals for which this soil was especially adapted he likewise took up the work of raising and feeding stock.

In 1907 Mr. Jeter was called upon to mourn the loss of his wife, who died on the 17th of April, of that year. In their family were seven children, five sons and two daughters, still living: Morris B., who for more than twenty years has been living in Montana; Cora, the wife of John Zahller, a resident of Thayer; Charles M., a successful farmer and stock-raiser of this county; Edna, the wife of Charles Zahller, of Thayer; Henry H., who follows farming in Jones township; James L., Jr., also follows farming in Jones township; and John G., who at the age of twenty years lives at home and is in partnership with his father. They also lost their first-born, Buena Vista A., who died at the age of sixteen months.

Since age conferred upon him the right of franchise Mr. Jeter has been a stalwart democrat, casting his first presidential vote for Stephen A. Douglas in 1860 and for each nominee at the head of the national ticket since that time with the exception of Horace Greeley. He is interested in local elections and is recognized as one of the leaders of the party in his locality. He was first called to public office when chosen township clerk, which position, however, he resigned. He has been elected and served as assessor and has taken the census five times in his township. He has continued in the office of assessor for a long period, remaining in the position since 1896, and has made altogether twenty assessments in Jones township. He has also been township trustee and his public service has ever been such as has reflected credit upon himself and proven entirely satisfactory to his constituents. He has figured prominently in public affairs in his township since locating upon his farm in 1861 and his worth is widely acknowledged, for no trust reposed in him has ever been betrayed in the slightest degree. He has served as a delegate to numerous state and county conventions and has acted on the federal grand jury, has been foreman of the county grand jury and also a member of the petit jury. Fraternally Mr. Jeter is a Mason, belonging to Concordia Lodge, No. 215, A. F. & A. M., at Thayer, and to Tesera Chapter, No. 67, R. A. M., at Alton. He has served as high priest in the latter and for several terms has been master of the lodge. He likewise belongs to Thayer Lodge, No. 240, I. O. O. F., in which he has filled all of the chairs and is a past grand. He has a very wide acquaintance owing to his activity in fraternal and political as well as agricultural circles and his position in public regard is an enviable one.

To give in detail his life record would be to present a comprehensive picture of the county in pioneer times. More than a half century has passed since he came to Union county and for fifty-five years he has lived in this state. A study of the history of Iowa will show the conditions which then existed. The settlements were largely along the rivers, particularly along the Mississippi, yet here and there the hardy pioneer had made his way to the borders of civilization and was reclaiming the district for the use of the white man. Indian occupancy was of recent date and there were many indications of the fact that deer and other wild animals disputed the claim of the white man to this region. In the summer months the prairies were covered with their native grasses and starred with a million wild flowers, while in the winter they presented the appearance of one great unbroken dazzling sheet of snow. Comparatively few roads had been made and the homes of the settlers were widely scattered. The railroad, the telegraph and the telephone were largely unknown quantities in Iowa, but there came into the state a class of citizens who stood for development and progress. Mr. Jeter, among this number, has contributed in substantial measure to the upbuilding of Union county.