Elijah Buell, Lyons

THE subject of this sketch, an early navigator of the northern lakes, and one of the first settlers in the State of Iowa, is a son of Jephthah Buell, a ship carpenter of the town of Florence, Herkimer county, New York. He was born in 1803, and attended the common school of the neighborhood. His immediate ancestors resided in Connecticut, but his father was a native of New York. His mother (Rachel nee Strong), a worthy and estimable lady, was a native of Connecticut. His paternal grandfather was a native of France, and accompanied the Marquis de Lafayette in his famous expedition to this country in behalf of the war for independence. On the arrival of that nobleman he joined the federal army, and remained in the service during the entire period of the revolution. In 1811 his father opened a farm and settled near Sackett's Harbor, New York. The war of 1812 occurred during the residence of the family in this locality, and when nine years old Elijah witnessed the battle of Sackett's Harbor, and still retains a vivid recollection of the same.

In 1813 his father died. Two years later the widowed mother, with a family of eight children — three girls and five boys— removed to where the city of Cleveland, Ohio, now stands, she having a sister residing in that region. Prior to this time Elijah had obtained the rudiments of an English education, and also received a few months of instruction in the Cleveland Academy. He endeavored to qualify himself in the study of practical navigation, specially for the northern lakes, and in this branch soon became eminent. As a pilot or sailing master he had few, if any, equals, and certainly no superiors. Entering upon this employment at the early age of thirteen, he continued in it during the following ten years. He navigated these lakes long before the frontier forts were established. He supplied, subsequently, the military posts of Mackinaw and Green Bay with provisions, the firm of Mervin, Giddins and Co., of Cleveland, Ohio, being the contractors. In 1823 he left the lakes, and during the following twelve years devoted his time and energy to steamboating on the lower Mississippi river, an enterprise in which he was eminently successful, and became widely known for his ability as an experienced pilot and master. Prudent and careful, and faithful in the discharge of his responsible duties, his reputation as a sailing master on the lakes and as a pilot on the Mississippi has never been sullied with any serious disaster.

In July, 1835, leaving his family in St. Louis, he landed from a steamboat in the vicinity of the present village of Lyons. It was two years after the close of the Black Hawk war. Here he opened a farm, and the first year put under cultivation some thirty acres. During the following three years he continued the improvement of his preemption, until the first land sales at Dubuque in 1840, at which time he entered six hundred acres. At this period the nearest settlements were Galena on the north and Port Byron on the south. Previous to 1840, the land on which he had settled not having been surveyed, he traveled from Port Byron to New Boston to obtain the requisite information regarding numbers of land in the old military survey between those points. All his provisions and implements of husbandry had to be obtained at St. Louis. Provisions were very scarce, and prices for the same very high. In subsequent years he shipped wheat to St. Louis for six and a quarter cents per bushel, while his fare there and back was eight dollars. In 1842 and 1843 the Chicago market afforded greater attractions, and he hauled wheat thither, a distance of one hundred and thirty-six miles, for forty to forty-eight cents per bushel. At the expiration of the first three years his family, consisting of wife and children, joined him in his humble log dwelling.

At the time of his settlement here the Indians were quite numerous, but never troublesome, and in all his intercourse with them he invariably found them kind and faithful. Being possessed of indomitable industry. and perseverance, he started on his own account various enterprises pertaining to a new county, and made the wilderness "blossom like the rose." In 1849 and 1850 the point where he had settled was the principal crossing of the Mississippi by emigrants and gold seekers bound for California. At this point a thousand yoke of oxen have been transported across the river daily, affording much profit as a home market for all his farm surplus. At an early day Mr. Buell united with other neighboring settlers in organizing a common school for the mutual benefit of their respective children. Land originally sold at one dollar and twenty-five cents per acre, but in 1852 and 1853 decreased in valuation to sixty and seventy-five cents per acre. In 1856, however, the price of land again rapidly increased beyond the original government price, large tracts having been bought up by speculators, together with railroad grants. The three lines of railway that now cross the state have tended to equalize the valuation of land in Iowa. The seaboard is no longer the market for the western farmer, but a market is now provided at his own door. Notwithstanding the monopoly of railroads, they nevertheless furnish to every farmer a home market.

During his residence here Mr. Buell has dealt largely in real estate. He is at this time (1876) the owner of several farms in this section of country. His residence, beautifully located on an eminence overlooking the "Father of Waters," is a magnificent - and stately edifice, built in a neat and chaste style of architecture. Fine old shade trees adorn the grounds of the family mansion, imparting an air of comfort and quietude to those who enjoy its hospitality.

Mr. Buell is a reader and thinker. Indeed, having passed so many years of his life with nature only as his companion, he long since learned to do his own thinking, and to trust and have faith in himself. Having never played tricks with his own mind, his self-reliance has never betrayed him. True to himself and nature, he has been true also to his fellows. Having confidence in his own opinions and judgment, he invariably respects the opinions of others.

In politics, he is a Jacksonian democrat. He is decidedly independent, both as a thinker and actor, and has no sympathy with the party hacks who make politics a trade.

In religious matters he is peculiar. He has no faith in the popular theology. His views are somewhat indefinite. He is neither a skeptic nor a sectarian. Liberal and catholic in his religious sentiments, he claims the largest freedom in these matters, and awards the same to others. His motto through life has been never to owe a man anything, but "pay as you go," which is one great secret of his success.

Endowed with great bodily strength and vigor, he has a wonderful capability of endurance. Although somewhat advanced in life, his mind is active and vigorous, and his memory as tenacious as in youth. He is a remarkable specimen of manhood in its full maturity. His life has been eventful but filled with usefulness. Equally eminent in the various departments of business he assumed, he has achieved success in every enterprise undertaken, and ground his wealth out of poverty. He has accepted office only a few times, preferring to devote his entire time and energies to his legitimate calling. His nature is genial and social, and his manners simple, yet dignified and unostentatious.

In early life he married Caroline Boyd, who died in 1839. He was again married in 1840, to Louisa Peace, a highly respected lady of his neighborhood. His tastes are scientific and literary, and in the education of his children he has patronized the best and most thorough institutions in the country. The high position he holds as a private citizen in Clinton county has been won entirely by his own talents, integrity and industry, since he began in the world without a dollar.

Source:

The United States Biographical Dictionary and Portrait Gallery of Eminent and Self-Made Men. Iowa Volume.

Chicago and New York: American Biographical Publishing Company, 1878