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Below is a family biography included in History of Union County, Iowa published by S. J. Clarke Publishing Co., in 1908.  These biographies are valuable for genealogy research in discovering missing ancestors or filling in the details of a family tree. Family biographies often include far more information than can be found in a census record or obituary.  Details will vary with each biography but will often include the date and place of birth, parent names including mothers' maiden name, name of wife including maiden name, her parents' names, name of children (including spouses if married), former places of residence, occupation details, military service, church and social organization affiliations, and more.  There are often ancestry details included that cannot be found in any other type of genealogical record.

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T. J. Lamb, a veteran of the Civil war, who for more than a half century has been a valued citizen and leading representative of the farming interests of Union county, now lives on section 26, Pleasant township, where he has made his home for forty-four years. A detailed account of his early residence here would give a correct picture of the pioneer times, for he has shared in all of the hardships and privations of frontier life in Union county, where he arrived in September, 1850. To one who travels over the county today and sees its well kept farms, its flourishing villages and it many evidences of a modern civilization it is hard to realize that at the time Mr. Lamb arrived the county was almost an unbroken stretch of wild prairie, over which roamed deer and other wild game, while the Indians were still frequently seen, having not yet relinquished their claim to the district as a hunting ground. In the summer months one could ride for miles over the flower-strewn prairies and in winter gaze out over the unbroken sheet of snow, there being scarcely a track or footpath to indicate that the advance guard of civilization was here. In the changes which have been wrought, bringing the county to its present condition of improvement, Mr. Lamb has borne his part and therefore his life record cannot fail to prove of interest to many of our readers.

It was near Jeffersonville, Indiana, on the 26th of May, 1839, that he was born. His father, Benjamin Lamb, was a native of Virginia, a son of Henry Lamb and a grandson of Henry Lamb, Sr., who was of English birth and ancestry and came from London to the new world, being among the first colonists of North Carolina. Benjamin Lamb was reared to manhood in Indiana, where the family removed at a very early day. He was married there to Miss Lottie Adkins, a native of that state, where she spent her girlhood. Mr. Lamb gave his attention to farming in Indiana and became a prominent and influential resident of his community, owning and cultivating nearly three hundred acres of land near Albany. On selling that property he came to Iowa in 1850, purchasing land here on the same section where his son T. J. Lamb now resides. His farm included three hundred and twenty acres which was raw prairie when it came into his possession but the track of the plow was soon seen across the fields and the planting and harvesting were carried on until the farm was brought under a high state of cultivation. He and his father both spent their last days here, while Mrs. Lottie Lamb died in Indiana. Following her demise Benjamin Lamb was married a second time.

T. J. Lamb is one of a family of eight sons and six daughters, all of whom reached adult age. He was but eleven years of age when the family came to Iowa, so that he was reared amid the conditions and environments of pioneer life and aided in the arduous task of opening up and improving a new farm. He drove ox-teams to break the fertile soil and did his full share toward carrying on the farm work at the time when much of the labor now accomplished with machinery was carried on by hand, for farm implements were very crude as compared with the modern helps of the farm.

Mr. Lamb continued at home until after the outbreak of the Civil war. When twenty-four years of age he enlisted in 1863 in the Eighth Iowa Cavalry. Two of his brothers were serving in the Eighteenth Iowa Infantry, one in the Sixth Kansas Cavalry, while five brothers-in-law were also members of the army. Going to the front T. J. Lamb with his regiment was assigned to duty in the Army of the Cumberland. He went out as corporal and was promoted to the rank of sergeant. He participated in the battle of Waverly, Tennessee, also in the siege of Atlanta and was wounded while on picket duty by a gunshot in the right knee, which permanently disabled him. For a time he was in the hospital at Waverly and later at Nashville, while subsequently he was sent to Louisville, Kentucky, later to St. Louis and on to Keokuk, Iowa, being honorably discharged in that city on the 1st of September, 1865. He did not recover his health for several months and has never fully recovered from the injuries sustained at the front, thus making a great sacrifice for the preservation of the Union.

As soon as possible Mr. Lamb returned to his home and wife. He had been married in 1860 in Pleasant township, to Miss Malinda Stark, a native of Polk county, Iowa. They settled on a farm which is now his home, Mr. Lamb’s father having given him a deed to forty acres and with this as a nucleus he has extended the boundaries of his property by the purchase of an additional tract of eighty acres. He cleared away the timber and brush and prepared the land for the plow, so that in course of time he gathered rich harvests, for the soil is naturally productive and responds readily to the care and labor which is bestowed upon it. Year by year he has carefully carried on the farm work and the well kept appearance of his place with its modern equipments and accessories indicates his progressive and practical spirit.

In 1904 Mr. Lamb was called upon to mourn the loss of his wife, who died on the 21st of August of that year. There were six children born unto them: Walter B., who is married and is now engaged in contracting and building at Lamoni, Iowa; Edgar E. a farmer of Triplet, Missouri; Willard L., who follows farming in Pleasant township; George O., also a farmer of Pleasant township; and James R.; and Mrs. Nettie Hank. The son, James R., is married and is carrying on the home place, being numbered among the representative, wide-awake and enterprising farmers of the community. He has three children, Freddie, Cloyd and Charley, and Mr. Lamb has altogether seventeen grandchildren.

Politically Mr. Lamb, has been a life-long republican since casting his first vote for Abraham Lincoln in 1860. Each nominee at the head of the ticket since that time has received his support and he is also interested in local elections and attends the primaries, being recognized as one of the leaders of his party in this locality. He served for fourteen consecutive years as justice of the peace, his decisions being strictly fair and impartial. He was also township trustee for two years and whether in office or out of it is ever loyal to the welfare and best interests of the community. He has also been a member of the school board and the cause of education finds in him a warm friend, while as highway commissioner he stood for good roads. He has been a delegate to numerous county and district conventions of his party and has served as township committeeman for a number of years. He has served on the grand, county and petit juries and was also on the United States grand jury at Des Moines. Fraternally he is connected with the Masonic lodge at Thayer and with the Odd Fellows society. He was a charter member of Hopeville lodge, in which he filled all the offices and is a past grand. He likewise became connected with the Rebekah degree and was a member of Hopeville Post, G. A. R., of which he has served as commander. In matters of citizenship he has ever stood for progress and improvement, manifesting the same loyalty which he displayed when he wore the blue uniform of the nation and followed the stars and stripes on southern battlefields.

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This family biography is one of 247 biographies included in The History of Union County, Iowa published in 1908.  For the complete description, click here: Union County, Iowa History and Genealogy

View additional Union County, Iowa family biographies: Union County, Iowa Biographies

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