Mrs. Zeruiah Post was born in
Jefferson County, N.Y., June 9, 1807. She was married on
March 6, 1831, to Joel Post, who was born in Vermont in
1805. They were the parents of the following named
children--Joel M., born Jan. 11, 1832; Mary E., Sept. 13,
1833; Lydia Ann, March 17, 1835; Margaret, June 22, 1837;
Lucy C., April 18, 1840; John S., Nov. 17, 1841; Harriet
E., July 20, 1844, and Melissa, March 17, 1847. Joel Post
died, and Mrs. Post was married the second time, to G.S.
Hayward, in 1852. He was killed by an accident in
California. One child was born of this union--Frank, born
Jan. 8, 1852. Mrs. Post came to Boardman Township, this
county, in 1839, and resided here two years. In 1844 she
moved to the neutral grounds. This was a strip of land
about forty miles long and twenty miles wide, to separate
the Sac and Fox Indians, who were then at variance; it is
now part of Allamakee County. She kept the Half-Way House
between Forts Crawford and Atkinson. The Indians were
around her on every side and she says that nearly all the
farms entered at that time was with money paid out by the
Government to the Indians, and obtained by the whites by
fraud and cheating. She relates several incidents of that
kind which came under her own personal observation. She
built the first hotel in the township, hauling most of
the lumber and material herself, from Elkader, a distance
of twenty miles. She is an energetic, business woman, and
deserves a great deal of credit for the brave manner in
whcih she has tided over difficulties, and gained for
herself a comfortable home and competence. source: History of Clayton
County, Iowa, 1882, p. 832-833 |
