William Dinsmore

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Oskaloosa Daily Herald, p 7, Thursday Aug 19 1909, Oskaloosa IA- William Dinsmore death:
DINSMORE. — William Dinsmore was born in Guernsey county, Ohio, April 7, 1822, from which place he moved early in life with his parents to Perry county, Ohio. When but 11 years of age he was bereft or father, mother and one sister, there being eight children left orphans, the youngest, Albert, being but nine months old. The children soon became scattered, being cared for by kind friends and relatives, William living with Dan Martin, then of Ohio. Early in life he left the Martin home to become the apprentice of his brother Samuel in the wagon making trade. In 1840 he was converted and joined the Newark Baptist church as a charter member, of which he was the last one to pass to his reward. On the 10th of May, 1843, he was initiated into the Masonic lodge at Brownville, Ohio, and at the time of his death he was the oldest Mason in Iowa and a charter member of the Fremont chapter. In 1844 he was united in marriage with Miss Mary Hampson of Ohio, and to this union were born nine children, five of whom are dead. In 1851 he went to California, where he spent about two years. After returning to Ohio he with his brother Samuel and their families came to Martinsburg, Iowa, in 1857, and there he resided until 1865, when he moved to Fremont, Iowa. He served in the Civil war in Co. 11 of the 47th Iowa Vol. Inf., and during this service he contracted the disease of which he had since suffered. While living in Martinsburg and finding no church of his choice, he united with the Methodist church of that place, but upon moving to Fremont he again affiliated with the Baptist church and has always been a loyal supporter of the cause. On the afternoon of Saturday, Aug. 11, 1909, he was called to the home above by the One whom he loved so well.
Father Dinsmore has been one of the landmarks of Fremont, a signal board along the uneven pathway of life, pointing the weary and the wayward ever toward the better and brighter life which he found in the service of his Lord. His affiliation with the Baptist church of this place has been one of the most tender and beneficial and his place in the services was always filled as long as strength of body permitted. His consecrated life and good works has earned him a position in the hearts of his co-workers in the Master's vineyard that shall always be remembered and will continue to bear fruit. As a citizen he was honored and esteemed far above the average because of his scrupulous honesty and integrity. As a friend his value could not be estimated and as a counselor he was always wise and considerate, seeking always the welfare of his Lord and following the dictates of a pure conscience directed by his Divine Guide alone.
In his last hours the faith he had followed for more than a half century was brighter than ever before. His whole thought seemed to be on the conversion of the young people and one of the last messages to fall from the lips of this man of God was to tell the young people to become Christians, not nominal ones, but spiritual Christians. He said he had carefully studied the route of the journey he was about to take; he knew the dangerous places and he was convinced that his Guide was able to carry him through to the land of rest with his Redeemer.
To mourn his loss he leaves besides his aged wife, four children: Daniel Hamer, near Fremont; Charles Franklin, of New Sharon; Mrs. Lillie McClain, near Fremont, and Mrs. Mary Alice Krout, of Fremont; one brother, Capt. G. Dinsmore, of Waupaca, Wis., and one sister. Mrs. Katherine Wilson of Newark, Ohio; also twenty-one grandchildren and eighteen great-grandchildren. The funeral services were held Monday afternoon at the Fremont Baptist church, conducted by the pastor, Rev. Edmund Brown. The sermon was preached by Rev. R.R. Hoptin of Danville, an old friend and former pastor of the deceased. The address was exceedingly fitting and well handled. The services at the grave were under the direction of the Masonic order.
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Veteran--Co. G, 47th Infantry of Iowa

William Dinsmore fought in the United States Civil War for the Union Side. He was listed as being from Iowa. He was a Corporal H in the 47th Iowa Infantry (100 days, 1864).

47th Regiment, Iowa Infantry (100 days, 1864)
OVERVIEW: Organized at Davenport July 13, 1864. Ordered to Helena, Ark., and duty there and in District of Eastern Arkansas, 7th Army Corps, Dept. of Arkansas, to September. Ordered to Davenport, Iowa, September 1. Mustered out September 28, 1864.

Regiment lost during service 57 Enlisted men by disease.

William Dinsmore
Residence: Iowa
Age at Enlistment: 43
Enlistment Date: 9 May 1864
Rank at enlistment: 6th Corporal
State Served: Iowa
Survived the War?: Yes
Service Record: Enlisted in Company H, Iowa 47th Infantry Regiment on 04 Jun 1864.Mustered out on 28 Sep 1864 at Davenport, IA.
Birth Date: abt 1821
Sources: Roster & Record of Iowa Soldiers in the War of Rebellion

OBIT:
The funeral of William Dinsmore, the oldest mason in Iowa, who died at his home in this city Saturday afternoon, August 14, was held at the Baptist Church yesterday, the sermon being preached by the Rev. R. R. Hepion.
Mr. Dinsmore was born in Guernsey County, Ohio, April 7, 1822. He was initiated into Jackson Lodge No. 85, A.F. and A.M. at Brownsville, Ohio, May 10 1842, was passed on May 24, 1843, and raised on June 7, 1843.
He was a charter member of Toleration Lodge No. 236 of Fremont, Iowa which has been in existence more than forty years. At the time of his death, he had been a Master Mason in good standing for a little more than sixty-six years, a record seldom beaten.
The Cedar Rapids Evening Gazette, August 17, 1909

https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Dinsmore-715

Wife: Mary Hampson
Children:
John Wesley Dinsmore
Cornelia Catherine Dinsmore
Daniel Hamer Dinsmore
James William Dinsmore
Leah "Lillie" Ellen Dinsmore McClain
Mary "Allie" Alice Dinsmore Krout
Josephine "Josie" Dinsmore Higgason
Charles Franklin Dinsmore
Samuel Edwin Dinsmore

The story of Iowa Pioneers
William and Mary (Hampson) Dinsmore
The westward trek across the Mississippi River reached its peak about 1857, the year that William Dinsmore and his wife Mary packed up all their worldly goods and came to Iowa. They brought with them their son, Daniel Hamer, a baby daughter they called Lillie and a fervent hope for a better life in what was then the western frontier.
They had been married 13 years when their journey began from the village of Jacksontown, Ohio, located in Licking County a few miles east of Columbus. They came by covered wagon across streams and rivers, unbroken prairie and land recently claimed by other emigrants a few years before.
Like most of the newcomers to the Hawkeye State, they were attracted by the fertile land, which was selling for less than half the price of similar land just east of the Mississippi in Illinois. Horace Greeley wrote in his New York Tribune that no State nor Territory can hold out inducements to settlers equal to Iowa." He had advised Josiah B. Grinnell in 1854 to "Go West, young man, go West, and grow up with the country."
Many people living in Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana and other eastern states had already taken his advice. Between 1838 and 1846, the population grew from 22,859 to 96,088. New counties were established as settlers spilled over into central and northeastern Iowa. Following Constitutional Conventions in 1844 and 1846, Iowa was admitted to the Union on Dec. 26, 1846.
"Iowa is probably not quite so fertile as Illinois," Greeley wrote, "but its prairies are smaller, its timber better distributed, and its plains more frequently cut by the ravines of swiftly running streams. We consider it more healthful in the average than Illinois, while its population, mainly emigrants from New England and New York, are decidedly intelligent, moral and thrifty."
"We have traveled far less in Iowa than in other Western States, but have seen none, on the whole, to be preferred to this for a home," Greeley concluded. A large portion of the lands in Iowa had been purchased by the settlers and was increasing in value according to the improvements made on them. In Illinois and other states east of the Mississippi, speculation had run wild, resulting in inflated land prices.
A Davenport editor asked, "What other state or what territory offers greater inducements of cheapness of land, fertility of soil, rich abundance of mineral wealth, healthiness of climate, greater freedom from financial burdens and heavy taxes, a more moral tone of society, better schools, more churches, greater freedom of opinion and action, than our own glorious State of Iowa?"
Keokuk and Mahaska counties, located in the third tier of counties from the southern line of the state, were included in the territory known as the "New Purchase," which was opened to settlers on May 1, 1843. The United States government had obtained the land in a treaty made with the Sac and Fox Indians on Oct. 11, 1842. The Indians agreed to remove themselves from the land within three years. The first claims were allowed in Keokuk county in 1844.
William Dinsmore was first lured to the west in 1851 when he went to California during the great "gold rush." But he stayed there only a couple of years before going back to his wife and son, Daniel Hamer, in Ohio.
Their decision to leave Ohio for Iowa in 1857 was undoubtedly influenced by reports they had received from the Daniel Martin family, who had made the journey to Keokuk county in 1854. Daniel Martin had been named guardian of William and his seven brothers and sisters following the deaths of their parents, William and Helen (Hayes) Dinsmore, in the spring of 1833.
William, born April 7, 1822 in Guernsey County, O., was barely 11 years old at the time his parents died and he made his home with the Martins for several years. Although he left "in early youth" to become an apprentice wagon maker to his older brother Samuel, he would always be grateful to the Martins and they would remain close life-long friends.
Daniel Martin, who helped Samuel arrange for homes for William's other brothers and sisters, arrived in Keokuk county in 1854 and settled in Steady Run township on a farm where the town of Martinsburg is now located. He laid out and sold the first lots the following year in the community which was named for him.
The founder of Martinsburgh--the original spelling had an "h" on the end-- and his wife, Sarah, had lived in Licking county, O., near Newark. Of their 11 children, at least two of them were treated by the Dinsmores as part of the family and are included in several early family photographs. They were Gilbert Brady "Doc" Martin, a painter who remained at Martinsburg until his death, about 1931; and Rachel, who was married to Robert S. Scott and died at Hedrick in 1927. Another son, R.S. Martin, bought the year-old Martinsburg Journal in 1886 and moved it to Hedrick in 1888. His sons, Walter and C.M. "Kitty" Martin, published the Journal until 1932.
The Martin family surely sent word to Ohio by 1856 of the opportunities available in their new community and urged Samuel, William and their wives to join them. William and Mary had already suffered the heartbreak of the deaths of three of the five children by then born to them.
Their firstborn child, John Wesley Dinsmore, was born July 2, 1845 at Jacksontown and he died on Feb. 14, 1846. Cornelia Catherine Dinsmore was born March 14, 1847, also at Jacksontown, and she died just a few months later on Sept. 28, 1847. After the birth of Daniel Hamer their third child, James William Dinsmore was born July 10, 1853 at Jacksontown. He was not quite two years old at his death on May 15, 1855.
All three Dinsmore infants who died while the family was in Ohio are buried in the Hampson Cemetery near Pleasantville in Fairfield county, ancestral home of William's wife, Mary. Her father, John Hampson, had obtained a grant of the west half of section 3, range 18 in Pleasant township of Fairfield county on Mar. 6, 1806, signed by President Thomas Jefferson.
The Hampsons were among the original settlers of that community, were prominent landholders and well respected. Mary was born June 15, 1824 on the family farm near Pleasantville in the eastern part of the county. She was the youngest of seven children born to