Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Henry was a farmer, well driller, water witch, inventor and collector of real estate. At the time of his death he owned 2 farms, 3 houses, and had financial interests in his sons' farms. Each time he moved, he retained ownership of the previous property and rented it out. While he was not considered to be wealthy and definitely did not live in an extravagant manner (we all felt that we must have considerable Scotch blood in our ancestry from the way he could "squeeze a nickel"), he lived a comfortable and successful life, leaving a nice inheritance for his wife and seeing his children set on successful careers of their own.

In the 1950's the Des Moines Register, Des Moines, Iowa ran a series of articles entitled "ALONG THE WAY" by Herb Owens. It featured people throughout the state of varying walks of life. One of the articles published in 1954 featured Henry. I quote that article here.

A photograph accompanies tahe article with the following caption, "Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, 69, semiretired farmer at Bedford has been widely known for 25 years as a waterwitcher."

THIS LONGFELLOW'S A WATER-WITCH

By Herb Owens.

LENOX, IOWA.- Swinging farm gates wide ahead of me, I drove through feed lot and cornfield and along winding cowpaths to find Henry Wadsworth Longfellow at work in "the back 40."

Longfellow, who with three sons owns more than 1,300 acres of his native Taylor County land, was helping with the unpoetic task of laying drain tile through a usually swampy section of pasture.

The name Henry Wadsworth Longfellow perhaps sounds a bit familiar. It seems there was another fellow of the same name, a New Englander pictured in long white hair and beard, who wrote poetry years ago. He was a half brother of the Taylor County farmer's great grandfather. "That fellow really had a knack for writing verse," said Longfellow. "Why, I understand he could sit right down and write it off. You know, he even wrote whole books of it."

Although Longfellow poems have been quoted for a half century to youngsters in Taylor county schoolhouses, the name in this area is more familiar because of six brothers - of whom Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, 69, was youngest- who were born in the county and settled on farms here.

Sideline

Before semiretirement to a home in Bedford several years ago, Longfellow carried on a sideline business of well boring. His hobby has been water-witching.

Now one of his sons has the well-boring business- as a sideline, too- but when confidence in his own "witching" gets shaky, he calls for Dad's able help.

For several months, Mr. and Mrs. Longfellow have been living at the 300 acre farm of their eldest son, Carl, 6 miles southeast of Lenox. Carl's wife, mother of five children, aged 2 to 14, was killed in a family car accident. The elder Longfellows have taken over the housekeeping.

Faith

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow places great faith in the powers of water-witching - although he can't explain it technically. He uses a branch of willow, elm, even a "dead stick" to detect the flow of water beneath the land surface.

"I've even used a bent pump rod- and made it work," he said. "A single vein of water usually runs down the center of a ridge," he said. "If there are two veins, they'll usually straddle a ridge. It isnt the water that pulls the stick down, it's some electronic action in the rocks and sand along it."

Longfellow said he has witched in 14 Iowa counties, from King's City, Mo to Bridgewater- but the toughest water searches were in Ringgold County, east of here.

Four years ago, son Ivan- on a farm near Clearfield took over the well-boring business, but Henry still performs many water-witching chores, without charge.

During my visit, Henry was pointing with pride to the work of his son Wilson Longfellow, who was demonstrating the ditch digging attachment on a tractor, with original conversion ideas to control speed, level and tile layins groove.

The Longfellows' daughter, Mrs. Faye Hunter, is on a farm near Bedford."

I must insert here that the information of the relationship to the poet is incorrect. And this is the story that was told in our family regarding our distant relative. My initial efforts to discover our family history were to determine this relationship. My first discovery was that the poet did not have a half brother. I did however have the benefit of the Longfellow information that was accurate back to my great great grandfather Lemuel V. Longfellow and his wife Mary Telitha Purcell, who moved to Taylor County, Iowa about 1800. Henry's great grandfather was a cousin, and a distant one, rather than a half brother.

Henry is remembered as an honest and successful farmer and was considered to be of a very moral character. When the first 15 of his grandchildren were at a young age, he promised that he would give $100 to each of us that did not smoke, drink, or gamble before we were 21 years of age. It turned out not costing him much as only one of the 15 made claim to the money.

Obituary follows:

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, fourth of seven children of Joseph Purcell and Mary Elder Longfellow, was born Dec. 4, 1884, on a farm seven miles east of Bedford, Ia. He has lived his entire life in Taylor County.

As a young boy he united with the Methodist Church at Platteville, Ia.

On Oct. 26, 1910, he was united in marriage to Alta Nash at her parents' home in Platteville, Ia. They started housekeeping on a farm south of Clearfield. Four years later, they moved to their home place northeast of Bedford.

To this union four children were born: three sons, Carl and Wilson, of Lenox, Ivan of Clearfield, and one daughter, Mary Hunter, of Bedford.

His entire life was spent farming and boring wells. He was well known over this entire area by his water witching and well boring.

In 1939 he semi-retired and moved to Bedford, where they resided until last April 10, when they moved to Clearfield.

He is survived by his wife, Alta, his four children, two daughters-in-law, one son-in-law, fifteen grandchildren: Duane Hunter of Omaha, Nebr.; John Hunter of Ames; Jerry Longfellow of Bedford; Paul Longfellow of Lenox; Mrs. Linda Grindstaff of Downey, Calif.; Julia and Alice Longfellow of Lenox; Mrs. Sharon Howes of Red Oak; Kenneth Longfellow of Conway; Jack and Mary Jo Longfellow of Lenox; Richard and Dixie Longfellow of Clearfield; Mrs. Diana Pantry of Clearfield; Mrs. Patricia Kemery of Blockton; five brothers: Frank, Charlie and Lemuel of Bedford; Tom of Newburg, Oregon; and Joe of Perry; one granddaughter is Connie Dee Longfellow, Clearfield; nine great grandchildren, nieces and nephews, other relatives and a host of friends.

He was preceded in death by his parents, one sister, Lucy, who died at the age of eight, one daughter-in-law, Ruth Snyder Longfellow, in 1954.