Alfred Ross Wilcox

On the long list of the brave men who went to the front as soldiers of the Civil war appears the name of Alfred Ross Wilcox. Unscathed, he faced death again and again on southern battlefields but met it at length by drowning when a passenger of the ill-fated steamer Golden Eagle that burned near Johnstown when making a trip on the Mississippi. Mr. Wilcox was a native of Gallia county, Ohio, born March l, 1835, a son of Hiram and Elizabeth Alvia Wilcox, the latter a native of the Buckeye state, and the former born in the town of Chenango, Tioga county, New York, November 9, 1797. They never came to Iowa but spent their entire lives in Ohio, where they passed away in the same year. The father was a minister of the Methodist Episcopal church.

Alfred Ross Wilcox pursued his education in the schools of his native county, was there reared to manhood and took up the occupation of farming. He continued to carry on general agricultural pursuits, following his removal to Iowa in 1850, at which time he located on Village creek near Ottumwa. There were still many evidences of frontier life in that section of the state at that day. With characteristic energy he began the development and improvement of his farm and converted the plains into rich and productive fields. He was living thereon when he responded to the country's call for aid, enlisting as a member of Company K, Fifteenth Iowa Volunteer Infantry, with which regiment he served until the close of hostilities. He participated in many hotly contested battles, took part in the long, hot marches and the weary waiting in winter quarters. At the battle of Shiloh he was wounded in the left leg but as soon as able he resumed his place in the ranks and remained in that command until mustered out.

When the war was over Mr. Wilcox returned to the home farm near Ottumwa, having been married before that time to Miss Sarah McMillen, who died while they were living in Ottumwa, and was buried there. There were five children of that marriage: Alvenza, of Ottumwa; Mary, the wife of Harvey Bigford, of Kansas City, Missouri; Cora, who is the wife of Charles Keating, of Des Moines; Alvia, who died at the age of twenty-four years; and William, who was a twin brother of Alvia and died at the age of thirty years. Coming to Appanoose county Mr. Wilcox was here married to Anna Cole, who died at Lineville, Iowa. They had three children of whom one is now living, Josie, a resident of Des Moines. On the 3d of June, 1877, Mr. Wilcox was united in marriage to Louisa J. Crews, a daughter of James and Delania (Allard) Crews. The father, a native of Chattanooga, Tennessee, was of Dutch and Irish descent and throughout his life followed the occupation of farming. His wife was a native of New York and belonged to one of the old American families. On removing westward they located on the Goshen prairie in Missouri near Lineville, Iowa, where the father carried on farming for a few years and then took up another claim to which he removed five miles north of Lineville. They were among the early settlers of that section, locating in Wayne county, Iowa, seventy-five years ago. They built their cabin out of logs and experienced the usual hardships and privations of pioneer life at that early period. The father died in Holt county, Missouri, in 1881, and the mother passed away in Kansas in 1910, having survived him for almost three decades.

After Mr. Wilcox's third marriage he removed to Unionville, Iowa, where he lived for two years and then established his home at Eldon, Iowa, where he worked as a section boss until he was run over and had his left foot cut off. This left him in a crippled condition for life, rendering further labor of that kind impossible, so that he established a grocery and dry-goods store in Eldon. This he conducted with a fair measure of success until 1880, when he started for St. Louis for the purpose of purchasing an artificial leg. He took passage on the ill-fated steamer the Golden Eagle that caught fire and burned to the water's edge opposite Johnstown. His body was never recovered. Mrs. Wilcox conducted the store for a short time after his death and then closed out the stock, removing in 1883 to Centerville, purchasing here a nice home at No. 1012 West Maple street, where she has since lived. The children of the third marriage are: Lucy L., the wife of Charles Wilson; and Louisa J., of Chicago. Mr. and Mrs. Wilson make their home with their mother and they have two children: Earl, twelve years of age; and Frankie, nine years of age, both attending the Central high school.

Mr. Wilcox was a republican but had no aspirations for office. He held membership in the Methodist Episcopal church to which his widow belongs and he was a member of the Masonic fraternity and of the Grand Army post at Unionville. He had many friends among his fraternal brethren and enjoyed in large measure the confidence and trust of those with whom he was associated in the various relations of life. He always endeavored to live peacefully with his fellowmen, to do unto others as he would have they do unto him and was known as a reliable and enterprising merchant, a loyal citizen, a faithful friend and a devoted husband and father.

SOURCE: L. L. Taylor, Editor, Past and present of Appanoose County, Iowa, Volume 2, p. 97-9