Abraham C. Rarick

A. C. RARICK, one of the old and honored pioneers of Clarke County, is a native of Darke County, Ohio, born April 12, 1833, a son of Philip and Sarah (Chenoweth) Rarick. The father was a native of Pennsylvania, a son of Philip R., Sr. and Susan (Hikeswell) Rarick, who were among the first pioneers of Darke County, Ohio, locating in that county about the year 1818. They were the parents of thirteen children. Ten children were born to Philip and Sarah Rarick of whom our subject is the eldest. Eight of the children still survive – A. C., Isaac, Jacob, Adam, Charles W., Ira O, Susan and Caroline. David and Catherine are deceased.   A. C. spent his youth in assisting on the farm, and in attending the district schools. In 1851 he went with his father’s family to Jay County, Indiana, remaining there four years, completing his education in a college of that county.   In the fall of 1855 he started for Iowa, being about thirty days on the way. He first located in Knox Township, Clarke County, where he pre-empted a claim in the fall of 1856, proving 160 acres the following fall, which he still owns.  He was married September 7, 1859, to Mary Hunt born in Virginia, but at the time of her marriage a resident of Clarke County, Iowa, a daughter of James and Sarah (Garretson) Hunt. Of the eight children born to Mr. and Mrs. Rarick only four are living – Monroe, Allen, Alice and Eva. Those deceased are – Sarah, Sherman, Lydia and Charlie.  Mr. Rarick enlisted in the late war, in July, 1861, a member of Company [F], Sixth Iowa Infantry, and participated in the battles of Shiloh, Jackson, Mississippi, and siege of Vicksburg. He was wounded in the neck, being struck by a piece of shell. During the war he was promoted to Second Lieutenant, but resigned this position August 2, 1863, and returned to his home in Clarke County.   In 1864 he was appointed postmaster, holding that office one year. Mr. Rarick has met with success in his farming and stock-raising, and is now the owner of 240 acres of well-improved land under a good state of cultivation. He was appointed deputy surveyor in 1858, and in 1859 was elected county surveyor, and held the same office till 1861, when he resigned that he might go to the defense of his country’s flag. He is a member of the Grand Army of the Republic, belonging to Leslie Post, No. 189. Both Mr. and Mrs. Rarick are active members of the Methodist Episcopal church, and are numbered among the best citizens of Knox Township. In politics Mr. Rarick is a Greenbacker.

SOURCE: Biographical and Historical Record of Clarke County, Iowa, Lewis Publishing Company, Chicago, Illinois, 1886 p. 377