The Garretsons

The Garretsons by Donald Roger Hickman

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4. Bedford to Iowa
(Eli and Alice)

Shortly after Aaron's death in 1851, Hannah joined the Dunkard Church (German Baptist Brethren). Her children and their families appear to have drifted away from the Society of Friends.
Eli Garretson, our great-grandfather and, for the third time in a row, a 7^th child, was the only one of five brothers who did not serve in the Civil War. It is not known if this was because he had stronger religious beliefs (the Brethren were against wars also) or if it was just a personal decision. He was a young farmer in St. Clair Township whose nearby neighbours were the Benjamin McCreary family and he had married Rebecca Ann in 1859. His first child Jane was one year old the year the Civil War broke out and the timing was bad for him.
But not for his oldest brother and oldest child in the family. Thomas served four years in the 84th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry, part of the Army of the Potomac, and lived to tell the tale. He was 40 years old with six children when he joined up, and he and Sophia had one more child after the war. He went on to live just one month shy of 84 years.
Edwin enlisted in July of 1863 and served in Company E, 21^st PA Cavalry, his command being one of four companies which were placed on detached duty. During his service he contracted typhoid fever, but remained at the front and did not return home until chronic diarrhea set in, when he was granted a two-weeks' furlough. As his term of enlistment had expired, he never returned to the front but was mustered out in February of 1864. After the move to Linn County, Iowa, he was a farmer, Republican, assessor and school director. He and his wife Angela were members of the Christian Church where she was a deaconess. He retired in February of 1899 and then lived in Marion at the corner of Eleventh Street and Fourteenth Avenue.
After Aaron died, Hannah lived with her son Moses up until September of 1861 when he went down to Schellsburg and enlisted in Company H of the 55th PA Volunteers. The application shows he was 5' 10" tall with fair complexion, blue eyes and light hair. In December of 1862 he was in Beaufort, South Carolina where he decided to re-enlist for three more years. In the spring of 1864 he reported sick, possibly from sunstroke on the battlefield, which was to continually bother him for months. His letters from the battlefields illustrate the dreadful consequences of this awful war. His sickness continued and he was first taken to Baltimore and later to Philadelphia, from where brother Edwin brought him to Iowa in October, where he died eight days later at the age of 22. He was a Quaker by birthright but belonged to no church. Since he had no spouse or children, Hannah was paid his monthly pension of $12 until she died. When Edwin returned from the military, Hannah lived with his family until her death.
George (Riley) Garretson was just 16 years old when he went to Schellsburg to enlist as a drummer in October of 1861. He was only 5' tall with fair complexion, blue eyes and light hair. On the application form he made a point of scratching out the word "soldier" and entering the word "musician" above it. He served in Company G, 101st PA Volunteers until November of 1862 when he became ill and was medically discharged in Suffolk, Massachusetts. The doctor indicated on the form that "being a boy underfed, affected by chronic diarrhea." He returned home to Pennsylvania, but he recovered enough to re-enlist in February of 1864, this time in Company H, 55th PA Volunteers. Later that year he was wounded in the right arm at Chapman's farm, Virginia, but he stayed on until the close of the war. He returned to Iowa where the rest of the Garretsons were, married, had a family, moved to California where in 1926 at age 80 he was killed in an automobile crash in Lodi.
The Homestead Act of 1862 provided for settling on public lands free of charge if you lived on the property and maintained and improved it for five years. This probably appealed to Eli Garretson even though the Garretsons had resided in Bedford County for over 60 years. Iowa had available public lands; Pennsylvania did not. Not only that, residents of Bedford County were scared to death in the spring of 1863 after hearing that Confederate forces were at times not too far from the Bedford County border. They had heard that General Lee gave orders to invade Pennsylvania. The main points were to be Bedford and Blair Counties. The fear of invasion lessened later when all nearby Confederate troops were sent to the Gettysburg area. At any rate, they arrived in Linn County on 29 April 1864: Mother Hannah Garretson, son Eli Garretson and wife Rebecca with three children, son Edwin who was single, and probably daughter Mary with husband Moses Rogers and their children. They settled in Monroe Township near Toddville just north of Cedar Rapids.
Three of Hannah's daughters had died by then, son Thomas came out the following year with his wife and six children, son George (Riley) also came out in 1865, son Moses came in the fall of 1864 but died soon after, and daughter Deborah with her husband probably came in approximately the same period.
Our ancestors Eli and Rebecca went on to have 8 children, all girls! The parents are buried at Dunkard Cemetery.
Family of Eli M. Garretson

Eli M. Garretson born 9 Aug 1836 in Bedford Co., PA, died 14 Mar 1882 in Linn Co., IA, married 15 May 1859 in Bedford Co., PA to Rebecca Ann McCreary born 3 Aug 1840 in Schellsburg, PA, died 8 May 1915 in Linn Co.
Children:
1. Jane M. Garretson born 16 May 1860 in Bedford Co., PA, died 24 May 1949 in Linn Co., IA, married 13 Jan 1876 Linn Co. to Peter G. W. Van Fossen born 20 Apr 1852, died 14 Jan 1925 Linn Co.
2. Mary Hannah Garretson born 4 Apr 1862 in Schellsburg, Bedford Co., PA, died 9 Oct 1947 Linn Co., married 13 Mar 1883 to Samuel James Hagerman born 22 Jan 1853 Linn Co., died 15 Mar 1922 Linn Co.
3. Sarah M. Garretson born 1 Mar 1864 in Bedford Co., died 29 Jan 1950 in Linn Co., married 18 Dec 1884 to Homer G. Andrews born 8 Mar 1862 Linn Co., died 5 Feb 1953 Linn Co.
4. Lydia Ann Garretson born 22 Mar 1868 in Linn Co., died 1 Oct 1943 in Linn Co., married 19 Mar 1885 in Linn Co. to George Gray Hagerman born 20 Mar 1859 Linn Co., died 6 Oct 1942 in Linn Co.
5. Ida F. Garretson born 14 Oct 1870 in Linn Co., died 10 Mar 1969 in Linn Co., married 9 Dec 1888 Linn Co. to Francis Marion Newman born 29 Nov 1867, died 23 Sep 1923 Linn Co.
6. Elizabeth B. Garretson born 31 May 1875 in Linn Co., died 11 Jan 1876 in Linn Co.
7. Alice May Garretson born 11 Apr 1877 in Linn Co., died 21 Feb 1937 in Cedar Rapids, married 24 Dec 1893 to Gustaf Anders Gustafsson born 14 Apr 1871 in Hafvan, Sweden, died 10 May 1896 in Estherville, IA
2^nd husband of Alice May Garretson:
married 7 Dec 1900 in Toddville, IA to William Alpheus Hickman born 8 Sep 1873 in Benton Co., died 26 Feb 1954 Cedar Rapids
8. Elsie Maud Garretson born 11 Apr 1877 in Linn Co., died 5 Jul 1892 in Linn Co.

Alice May Garretson, our Grandma Hickman, was yet another 7^th child in the family, as were the three Garretsons in our line that preceded her. It was not discussed much at all in our family, but as we look back it appears that Alice had more than her share of misfortune. She was born in 1877 along with her twin sister Elsie Maud. Her father died at age 45 when she was just four years old. She had rheumatic heart disease from the time she was seven years old. Elsie died in 1892 when they were only 15. She married Gus when she was 16 years old, but he died 2 ½ years later leaving her a widow at 19 with a one year old child. She was a seamstress for a time before she married our Grandpa Hickman four years later, and their second child was struck by polio. Her grandson Paul served in the U. S. Army in World War 2, and just two months before V-E day he was killed in a flame-thrower accident at age 22. Her sister Elizabeth, born just before her, died at seven months, but the other six sisters lived to an average age of 86. In a final blow of unkind fate, she died before her 60^th birthday of heart trouble. She and Elsie and Gus are also buried at Dunkard Cemetery.

Nor you, ye Proud, impute to these the fault
If Memory o'er their tomb no trophies raise,
Where through the long-drawn aisle and fretted vault
The pealing anthem swells the note of praise.

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