John Ralston

In presenting to our readers the history of John Ralston we record the life work of one who has long been recognized as a leading, influential and respected citizen of Monroe county. He is now living retired in Albia, but for many years was engaged in farming and stock raising in Monroe county, and in his business affairs his conduct was so straightforward and honorable that his word was recognized as good as any bond. Mr. Ralston was born in eastern Ohio on the 15th of August, 1830, and is a son of James and Martha Ann (Gordon) Ralston, both of whom were natives of Scotland. The father spent the first eighteen years of his life in the land of the heather, and thence crossed the broad Atlantic in a sailing vessel, eventually becoming a resident of eastern Ohio. He first settled, however, in Virginia, and from that place removed to the Buckeye state. His first wife died during the early boyhood of her son John, who was the youngest of their three children, the others being Andrew and Nettie. After her death James Ralston was united in marriage to Elizabeth Mathers, who was born in 1807 and was a resident of Ohio. Five children graced this marriage: Martha, Samuel, Robert, James and Maggie. A third time Mr. Ralston was married, Miss Mary Reed, a native of Pennsylvania, becoming his wife. There was one son by that union, William. For several years James Ralston continued to make his home in Ohio, but in the fall of 1860 he severed his business connections there and came to Iowa, spending his last days in Madison county, this state, where he died in 1867 at the age of eighty years.

John Ralston spent the years of his minority in Guernsey county, Ohio, and on attaining his majority sought a home in Iowa, for he believed he would have better business opportunities in the western district, where competition was not so great. Here he took up carpentering, but in his earlier years he had taught school in Ohio. In 1860 he became a resident of Madison county and was living here at the time of his enlistment for service in the Civil war. He was in the army the last nine months of the long struggle for the preservation of the Union, being drafted for service, after which he became a member of Company D, Fifteenth Iowa Infantry. He was with Sherman on the celebrated march to the sea, and after the close of hostilities was mustered out in Washington, D. C. His brother Robert served throughout the entire period of hostilities as a member of the Fourth Iowa Cavalry. At the close of the war Mr. Ralston returned to his home in Madison county and for twenty years was interested in farming and stock raising. In 1885, however, he took up his abode in Monroe county, settling in Albia, where he is now living. However, he spends about six months each year upon his farm in Madison county. About six years ago he established a tanning factory in Albia, organizing a stock company for this purpose, but eventually he sold out and the factory has since been moved elsewhere.

On the 22d of November, 1862, Mr. Ralston was united in marriage to Miss Harriet Bell, a daughter of William and Mary Bell, who were natives of Ohio. They became the parents of two children, Mary and Emma. The wife and mother, however, died in 1890, passing away at her home in Albia on the 5th of September of that year, after which her remains were interred in the Albia cemetery.

Mr. Ralston has always had firm faith in Iowa and its future. When he came here as a young man he believed that the state was entering upon a period of progressive development and was therefore anxious to ally his interests with those of the early settlers. Taking advantage of the business opportunities, he steadily worked his way upward, brooking no obstacles that could be overcome by determination and earnest purpose. His life record has at all times been one that would bear the closest investigation and scrutiny, and through his well directed business affairs he has not only won a competence, but has also gained the respect and regard of his fellow-men.

SOURCE: S. Thompson Lewis, Biographical and genealogical history of Appanoose and Monroe counties, Iowa, p. 615-7