Robert Melvin Peet:  (March 20, 1856 - )

Robert Melvin Peet (Mel) was a representative of one of the earliest pioneer families to move to Jones county. He was also an extensive landowner, having some valuable property in this county.  His home is pleasantly situated, about five miles from Anamosa, on land that has been in possession of the Peet family since 1840.

His father, James M. Peet, was married June 5, 1845, to Miss Ann Dallas, a daughter of Robert and Isabel (Couts) Dallas, of Red Oak Grove, Cedar county, Iowa. They began their domestic life on the farm and there reared their family numbering two sons and two daughters. 

William G., born May 8, 1846, was married February 8, 1872, to Miss Eliza E. Saum, a daughter of George Saum, a prominent farmer of Walnut Grove, this county. William G. died December 12, 1893, leaving a widow, two sons and one daughter. Lorenda E., who was born December 3, 1848, died March 17, 1877. 

Robert M., the next member of the family, is the subject of this review. 

Orra D., the youngest, was born July 30, 1864, and died May 24, 1904, leaving a husband and one daughter. After a happy married life covering almost three decades, Mrs. Peet was called to her final rest on the 22d of September 1874. In about three years the eldest daughter was called to the home beyond, and subsequently the father left the farm to the management of his son Robert M. and removed to Anamosa, where he had purchased a comfortable home. He was married a second time, July 5, 1877, to Matilda Weaver, of this city, who died some time in 1906. He passed away August 13, 1888. In his young manhood, when much of the land in Jones county was still unclaimed, he made his way to this district to brave the trials and privations incident to the establishment of a home in a new country. He could relate with interest the incidents of those early days when the homes of the settlers were widely scattered and when the thriving towns and cities of the present were then, many of them, unknown. He was a most industrious and successful man, whose probity was unquestioned and had the love and respect of all with whom he lived. He was never identified with any church organization but the Golden Rule was ever the basis of his conduct. In the highest and best sense of the term he was ever and essentially a gentleman, and at his death he stood crowned with honors and years, surrounded by a host of warm friends who gave to him the reverence that should ever be tendered to one of his years.

Robert Melvin Peet, the immediate subject of this review, was reared to habits of industry and economy. He was trained in the work of the fields at an early age.  His education was begun at the usual age in the district schools near his home and he mastered the branches of learning that fitted him for life's duties and responsibilities.  

In 1877, when his mother died and his father retired, Robert M. Peet assumed management of the entire homestead farm and is now the owner of this tract, to which he has since added, so that his possessions now embrace eight hundred and twenty acres, all in one body, and two hundred and sixty acres in another tract in Greenfield township, Jones county. He likewise owns two hundred and seventy-six acres in Marion township, Linn county, this state. His home place is well improved with substantial barns and outbuildings, and the house which he occupies is a modern country residence, pleasantly located about five miles from Anamosa. Mr. Peet is extensively engaged in general farming and stock raising and is numbered among the most prominent and prosperous men of his section of Jones county. His interests have at all times been thoroughly identified with those of the county and while he has prospered, his success has been gained only by strict adherence to the most honorable and businesslike methods.

Mr. Peet was married on Thanksgiving day of 1878, the date being November 28, to Miss Carrie Belle Carbee, a daughter of William and Harriet (Smith) Carbee, who were natives of New Hampshire.

Unto Mr. and Mrs. Peet have been born six daughters and two sons, Harriette A. Orra Almeda, Minnie, Alice, Bessie, Almora Louise, Florence Lorenda, James William and Robert Melvin, Jr.

Mr. Peet is a democrat in his political views and has taken quite a prominent and influential part in public affairs, being a member of the thirtieth and thirty-first general assemblies and also serving as a member of the board of supervisors for four years. His extensive business interests make such heavy demands upon his time and attention that he finds little opportunity for active participation in politics. He is not slow, however, in lending his influence to the cause of any worthy movement or measure instituted by his fellow citizens. His enterprising and progressive spirit has made him a typical American in every sense of the word and by constant exertion, associated with good judgment, he has raised himself to the prominent position which he now holds, having the friendship of many and the respect of all who know him.

Source: History of Jones County, Iowa, Past and Present, R. M. Corbitt, S. J. Clarke Publishing Co., Chicago, 1910, p. 634.

JAMES M. PEET:  (1821 - 1874)

James M. Peet, was born in Solon, of Cortland County, NY, on September 1, 1821, to Gideon and Abigail (Wildman) Peet, of Trumbull, Connecticut.  In 1801, following their marriage, James' parents had moved to Solon where they would take up farming and would raise James and his siblings. It was there that Gideon and Abigails family were brought up in their earlier years, and where James would become accustomed to farm work.   

In 1838 the Iowa territory was formed.  Gideon  had became attracted to the prospects of the more open land, along with the rich black soil it would offer the farmer, and in 1840, at the age of 19, James travelled, with his parents and six brothers, to the Fairview Township, of Jones County, Iowa. The Iowa Territory would exist until Iowa was split from it and acquired statehood in 1846.  In Fairview, of the Fairview Township, of Jones County the family settled on 560 acres of land that had been entered by Gideon, at the land offices in Dubuque, IA. and would become the new farm that Gideon had dreamed of.

Following Gideon's death in 1843, Abigail, along with her sons, continued to run the farm, and when Abigail died in 1846, James bought out the other heirs and became the sole proprietor of the farm.

By additional acquirements, James would eventually become owner of about nine hundred acres.  Of these eight hundred would be employed in growing crops.  Through James' efforts, his farm would receive five first prizes as the best farm and as the best-managed farm in the county. 

 June 5, 1845, James was married to Miss Ann Dallas, the daughter of Robert Dallas and Isabel Couts, of Red Oak Grove, Cedar Co., Iowa.  They had four children.  Their son William G., was born May 8, 1846, their Daughter, Lorenda E., was born December 3, 1848, and died March 17, 1877.  Their son, Robert M., was born March 20, 1856, and their daughter, Orra D., was born on July 30, 1864. 

William G., was married February 8, 1872, to Miss Eliza E. Saum, daughter of George Saum, Walnut Grove, Jones Co., who was a wealthy and prominent farmer. 

Robert M. was married November 26 (Thanksgiving), 1878, to Miss Carrie B. Carbee, who was daughter of Capt. William Peach Carbee, of Linn Co., Iowa. Her father was killed during a charge at the head of a company in The Battle at Champion Hill in 1864. 

William G. and Robert M. Peet, were prosperous farmers and successful stock-breeders, in Jones Co., for nearly forty years.  

James Peet was a laborious, enterprising farmer, enthusiastic in raising blooded stock, and judicious in the selection of his crops for profitable general farming. His improvements were first-class and his farm was attractive to all members of his family.  

Ann (Dallas) Peet, died on September 22, 1874.  and with the passing of his wife the farm lost its charm to James.  He then gave charge of the farm to his son Robert M., and retired.  On the 5th of July, 1877, he  married Miss Matilda Weaver, of Anamosa,  and they moved to  a home they had purchased in Anamosa.  Hard work, along with practical judgment and good business practices, rendered him financially independent and he passed his later years with Matilda.

James Peet was not a member of any church organization or secret society. He was not closely bound to any political party.  He was a conservative Independent, and had more faith in practices than professions. He was a public-spirited and honorable citizen. 

He loved recounting the experiences of pioneer life.  He laughed when reminded of the "beautiful coverlet" of snow which sometimes fell upon his bed in his "airy" chamber. He smilingly told of social calls upon neighbors fifty miles away. He told, with pride, of the good crops raised on land that had been tilled with the bungling plow that held a wooden molding-board.  He loved to tell of the "vigilant" exploits of the outlaws, who were compelled to "hug a black-jack" as their curses were changed, by stinging persuasions, "to abject promises and piteous prayers".  He would tell of convicted criminals "reported" to have been run into the Mississippi and bound to logs, which they were advised to keep "right side up with care," as they floated to the Gulf.  He would tell of grain selling at 6 1/4 cents per bushel and of frozen feet, and threatened "bear-hugs". He loved to tell, with enthusiasm, of the varied hopes and fears, trials and triumphs of the Western pioneers.

James died August 13, 1888.  

 

GIDEON NELSON PEET:  (1776 - 1843)

Gideon was born July 31, 1776 in Trumbull, CT, to Gideon Peet (1742 - 1823) and Bethia 

(Betty) Burton (born in 1742) and was baptized on September 15, 1776.  He was married February 22, 1801 to Abigail Wildman, born July 20, 1783 in Danbury, CT. Gideon was an expert mechanic but followed farming as a life work.  Congress had aquired land in Cortland County, New York to compensate  Connecticut militia (and their heirs) for their participation in various campaigns in the American Revolution.  Gideon's father had acquired a tract of this land,  and in 1801, following his marriage to Abigail, Gideon and a couple of his brothers travelled to Solon, in Cortland Co, NY, where he would pursue that dream and set up a farm on his father's property.  With all their personal possessions packed on a horse they set off to the west, with the young bride riding while the groom walked beside her. They slept and cooked as they went. As they neared their destination, Gideon carefully blazed the trees to mark the way for others to find their ways through the woods, (or to find their way out if necessary).  When they arrived at Solon, Gideon began to cut the trees and build the log cabin which would be their new home.  At their new home they reared a family of eight sons and one daughter, all of whom would live to become heads of their own families. 

The home in Solon NY

In 1838 the Iowa Territory was formed.  Gideon, ever the pioneer, then moved to Iowa in 1840, with Abigail and six unmarried sons, and were followed later by his son, John. The family first traveled to the town that is now Chicago. From there they continued to travel west from Chicago on the "plank road" with their team of oxen. When they came to the Mississippi River, they crossed by flatboat to Dubuque, IA.  Gideon believed that Iowa offered better advantages and possibilities than the older settled east, and he had decided upon Jones County as a suitable place to locate. Accordingly, he went to the US Land Office in Dubuque and purchased 560 acres of land, in the Fairview Township of Jones County. He then travelled to his new home, by way of The Military Road.   They settled on their new land, and opened a farm there.

The frame house built by Gideon in the early 1840’s was destroyed 

by fire in the mid-1980s and replaced with a new home. 

Gideon lived to enjoy his new home for only a brief period. He died October 10, 1843, in Fairview, IA, and was buried October 18, 1843, at the Wilcox Cemetery in Fairview, IA.  

His sons assumed the management of the home farm for their widowed mother, and when she died on December 3, 1847, in Fairview, IA, she was buried alongside Gideon in the Wilcox Cemetery.

GIDEON PEET:  (1742 - 1823)

Gideon Peet was born February 24, 1742, in Stratford, Connecticut   

He was enlisted April 9, 1759 into the 3rd Regiment of the 1759 Campaign (French and Indian War) and was discharged November 25, 1759. 

He was married March 12, 1764 to Bethia (Betty) Burton, who was born 1742 in Danbury Connecticut, the daughter of William and Eunice Burton.  Gideon and Bethia then moved to Trumbull Connecticut.

He was recorded as being involved in several military campaigns. 

It is recorded in the history of Kent, CT., that in June 1775, Gideon Peet, along with a Connecticut militia, were sent to Fort Ticonderoga.  The fort had been captured the previous summer, but due to disagreements with Ethan Allen and Gideon's militia, Benedict Arnold had abandoned taking up an inventory of captured arms to set aside for future use, and had resigned his commission.

The famous Knox Expedition, also referred to as

"The Noble Train of Artillery"

The following winter, Gideon's Connecticut militia escorted Henry Knox, when George Washington assigned him to retrieve the 59 cannons that been set aside, the previous summer.   The cannons  were mounted on sleds, and hauled back by teams of oxen, under the escort of the Connecticut militia.  They were carried  across 200 miles of iced rivers and snow-covered wilderness,    Strategically mounted on the hills surrounding Boston, they would aid General Washington, in holding General Gage under siege, and after several failed attempts to counter his attacks, the English were forced to retreat by sea, from Boston to Halifax, Nova Scotia on March 17, 1776.  Following this enterprise, Gideon returned to Connecticut, and would be credited with seven months of service.

In a third enterprise, he served as private in the 5th Connecticut Line under Capt. Josiah A. Lacey's Company of Col. Philip Burr Bradley's Regiment from July 1, 1777 to January 1, 1778.  They marched to Saratoga, to thwart Burgoyne's attempt to invade from Canada, in the English drive to gain control of the Hudson River and force an overwhelming retreat on the part of the colonists.

The names of Sgt. Gideon Peet and others, all of Trumbull, CT., are found on a 1778 alarm list  of the 9th company of the 4th Connecticut Regiment. 

Bethia died April 24, 1803, in Woodbury, CT, and at 61 years of age, Gideon rode horseback from Stratford, Connecticut to Cortland, New York, where he lived the remainder of his life with his son, Gideon, Abigail and their family.

 Gideon died 1823, in Solon, NY, and is buried in Solon, Cortland Co, NY cemetery.  His grave is obliterated

(DAR death records #30309; Abstract of graves of revolutionary patriots, v 3, serial 10094; v 5)