John William Colville
Birth: Dec. 28, 1819
Shenandoah County
Virginia, USA
Death: Apr. 15, 1888
Mahaska County
Iowa, USA
Colville, John
Copied from an article in the Oskaloosa, Iowa Newspaper
29 Dec 1819 – 26 Apr 1888
John Colville, living in North Spring Creek Township, was found dead in his bed this morning by his neighbors. It is supposed that he has been dead since Sunday, as he was not seen yesterday. Mr. Colville was a bachelor, aged about 70 years, and lived alone. He was born in Frederick County, Virginia in 1819, removed to Ohio in 1825 and to Mahaska County in 1853. In 1857 he joined the immigration to the West and settled in Kansas, where he remained until 1865, then returning to this county, where he has since resided. He has ever been a good neighbor, hard worker, sober and honest. No cause is known for his death. Coroner Barringer has the remains in charge, and is now holding an inquest.
Later: a reporter of the Herald has returned from the home of the deceased and states that no inquest was held over the remains, as his friend and relatives were satisfied that he died from natural causes. His clothing was found in his room apparently just as he left it, and his watch, which had stopped at 8:25 was hanging on the wall close to the bed. A lamp on the table was still burning at 2 o'clock this afternoon, and nothing about the house is the least indicated any violence or foul play. From the condition of the body and circumstantial evidence, it is thought the old gentleman died on Sunday night. If he died Monday night, it must have been early in the evening, as mortification was far advanced. The death probably occurred from heart trouble, although during the last winter Mr. Colville has enjoyed the best of health, and his friends have not entertained the slightest fear of his sudden death. On Friday last he walked over to Will Billick's farm, a distance of over half a mine and helped to appraise some sheep that had been killed by dogs.
Biography from Portrait & Biographical Album of Mahaska Co., Iowa, 1887
J. W. COLVILLE is a farmer and stock-raiser on section 32. Adams Township. He was born in the Shenandoah Valley in Virginia, Dec 28, 1819, and is a son of Robert and Hannah (Weston) Colville, who were natives of Virginia. He was a miller by profession, following that business in Virginia, and in Ohio, where he removed in 1826. He died in 1828 or 1829, and his wife in 1873. The subject of this sketch came to Mahaska County in 1853, and remained until the spring of 1857, when he emigrated to the State of Kansas, remaining there until the year 1865, engaged most of the time in the improvement of a farm.
While in Kansas, he was in the employ of the Government in the Quartermaster's Department, under Capt. Ensly, Chief Quartermaster of that Department, continuing in that service one year. He then engaged in the Overland Mail Service, under Ben Holliday, who carried the mails from Atchison, Kan., to Salt Lake, Utah, and remained in his service until after the close of the war, returning thence to his old home in the State of Ohio. where he engaged in merchandising until the year 1869, when he came back to Iowa, bought a farm, and has remained here ever since. His farm is in a high state of cultivation, and its improvements, house, barn and other things are of excellent quality. Politically Mr. Colville is a Greenbacker.
Family links:
Parents:
Robert Jameson Colville (1791 - 1833)
Hannah Ann Watson Colville (1791 - 1870)
Siblings:
John William Colville (1819 - 1888)
Nancy Colville Fry (1825 - 1891)*
David Harvey Colville (1826 - 1907)*
Mary Margaret Colville Williams (1861 - 1943)*
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