Jerome Shadbolt

Jerome Shadbolt passed away at the venerable age of eighty-three years, six months and twenty-two days, on the 31st of October, 1906. He had long been a resident of Butler county, having arrived here in the year 1855. He was a man well known for his business integrity and enterprise and much of his admirable character is indicated in the fact that he was in partnership with one man for thirty-two years. He was born in Stillwater, Saratoga county, New York, April 9, 1823, and when three years of age was taken by his parents to Genesee county, that state, where he remained until he reached the age of twenty-four. It was on the 3d of September, 1846, in Batavia, Genesee county, that he married Miss Louise L. Main, who was born there May 13, 1829, a daughter of William and Sophia (Briggs) Main, the former a native of Maryland and the latter, of Boston, Massachusetts. Mrs. Main was a daughter of Dr. William Briggs, a native of England, who after coming to America enlisted as a physician and surgeon under General George Washington at the time when he first took command of the American forces. Dr. Briggs was a prominent member of the medical profession in Boston and was a splendidly educated man. Following the war he took an active part in governmental affairs. His daughter Sophia was left an orphan at the age of nine years, at the age of nineteen was a teacher in a high school of Boston and at twenty-two years of age was married, becoming the wife of William Main, a merchant of that city. She died in Batavia, New York. In their family were eight children who reached adult age but Mrs. Louise Shadbolt is the only one now living.

In the year 1847 Jerome Shadbolt and his young wife emigrated westward to what was then the territory of Wisconsin. They arrived in Milwaukee on the 14th of October but Mr. Shadbolt did not believe the little village by the lake would ever amount to much and made his way northward a distance of twenty-one miles, to Grafton, Wisconsin. There he purchased the water power rights and erected a large factory for the manufacture of chairs. The business proved very profitable and he made money in that connection until he sold out to his partner preparatory to coming to Iowa. He arrived in Clarksville on the 4th of July, 1855, and was thereafter a resident of Butler county. He was a contractor and builder by trade and here entered into partnership with John Madigan, the relationship between them being maintained most harmoniously and profitably for thirty-two years, during which period they erected many substantial structures in and around Clarksville. Mr. Shadbolt also operated a steam sawmill here for some time.

The only interruption to his business career came when in 1864 he responded to the country's call for troops, enlisting in the Fifteenth Iowa Volunteer Infantry, with which he went to the front. He participated in the celebrated march to the sea under Sherman and was in the grand review in Washington, D. C., where thousands of victorious Union soldiers marched through the streets of the capital city from which hung a banner emblazoned with the words: "The only debt that the country owes which she cannot pay is the debt that she owes her soldiers." With the close of the war he was honorably discharged at Davenport, Iowa. In his later years he held membership with the Grand Army of the Republic and took great delight in meeting with his old army comrades. He returned from the war and again resumed his place as a business man of Clarksville and in connection with his building operations he engaged in farming for five or six years.

Unto Mr. and Mrs. Shadbolt were born seven children: Jerome, who enlisted at the age of fifteen years for service in the Union Army, being at the front at the same time as his father, died December 15, 1871. Ida M. is the wife of William Walsh, of Clarksville. C. Sumner is living at Minneapolis, Minnesota. Albon B. is a resident of Bremer county. Rouen is the wife of J. P. Martin, of Butler county. Jessie O. is the wife of H. E. French, who is mentioned elsewhere in this volume, and Charles P., died in infancy. Mr. and Mrs. Shadbolt united with the Presbyterian church on the 15th of April, 1900. Mrs. Shadbolt is a charter member of the Women's Relief Corps and is the oldest living member of that body. She is at this time eighty-four years of age and a most remarkable woman for her years, still hale and hearty, physically and mentally. Mr. Shadbolt was ever a man of unassailable integrity and during his long residence in Clarksville he made many friends by reason of his enterprise, perseverance and reliability in business and his trustworthiness in other relations of life. He lived to witness many changes during the period of his residence here, covering more than a half century, and at all times he bore his full share in the work of general development and improvement.

SOURCE: Irving H. Hart, History of Butler County, Iowa, Vol. 2, p. 59-61