J. A. Rhinehart, b. 1839
J. A. RINEHART.
J. A. Rinehart, living on section 12, Lincoln township, is one of the prosperous farmers of the county and owns eighty-eight acres of valuable land within five miles of Oskaloosa. He also has a neat home and five acres of land just north of the corporation limits of the city. He dates his residence in the state and county from April 7, 1877. A native of Ohio, he was born in Tuscarawas county, March 24, 1839. His father, David Rinehart, was a native of Pennsylvania and went to Ohio with his mother. He was reared in Tuscarawas county and was married there to Mary A. Kain, a native of Pennsylvania. Mr. Rinehart was a blacksmith by trade and followed that pursuit for some years. In the fall of 1850 he removed to Indiana, locating in Wells county, where he took up his
abode upon a tract of land which he cleared and
improved, transforming it into a good farm.
There he reared his family and spent his last
days, carrying on agricultural pursuits during
the greater part of his life. His wife died in
Wells county in July, 1882, and he survived
her until the 21st of December, 1883, when he,
too, passed away. In the family were five sons
and a daughter, of whom four sons reached
adult age and all are yet living. Of this
number John and Daniel are residents of Bluffton,
Indiana, and Joe is living in Huntington,
Indiana.
J. A. Rinehart was reared to manhood in
Wells county, Indiana, his youth being divided
between play, work and duties of the
schoolroom. He was a young man of about twenty-
three years when, on the 6th of August, 1862,
aroused by a spirit of patriotism, he responded
to the country's call for troops, enlisting as a
member of Company H, Seventy-fifth Indiana
Volunteer Infantry. He went south, the
regiment being attached to the Army of the
Cumberland and later to the Army of the Tennessee.
He was first under fire at Chickamauga and he
afterward participated in numerous other
important engagements, including the battles of
Missionary Ridge, Resaca, Cassville,
Jonesboro, Peach Tree Creek, Chattanooga and
Kenesaw Mountain. He was in the Atlanta
campaign with the Fourteenth Army Corps, and in
addition to those already mentioned, he
participated in a number of lesser engagements, his
last battle being at Smithville. Becoming ill,
he was left at Bowling Green and later sent to
the hospital at Louisville, Kentucky, where he
suffered from typhoid fever. Subsequently he
rejoined the regiment at Murfreesboro and
served until the close of the war, when he was
mustered out and honorably discharged in June,
1865. Mr. Rinehart was a brave and loyal
soldier, never faltering in the performance of
any military duty and returned home with a
most creditable record.
Following the close of the war Mr. Rinehart
resumed farming. He was married in Wells
county on the 26th of January, 1868, to Miss
Nancy Jane Newhouse, who was born in Rush
county, Indiana, and was reared and educated
in Wells county. She was a daughter of
William Newhouse, a native of Virginia and a
granddaughter of John Newhouse, who
removed from the Old Dominion to Indiana with
his family in pioneer times. In that state the
father of Mrs. Rinehart was reared, being a
child at the time of his arrival in Indiana. His
youth was passed in Rush county and there he
married Sarah Sparks, a native of that state and
a daughter of Joshua Sparks. He followed
farming in Rush county and afterward in Wells
county, Indiana, and it was there that Mrs.
Rinehart was reared and educated. She became
a teacher, successfully following that
profession prior to her marriage. Following that
important event in their lives the young couple
located upon a new farm in the midst of the
forest in Wells county and there Mr.
Rinehart cleared about thirty acres of land, on which
he built a house. He continued the work of
improving the property and lived there for nine
years, on the expiration of which period he sold
out and removed to Mahaska county, Iowa.
This was in the spring of 1877. He located on
a farm in Garfield township and has since
owned it. Everything about his place is kept
in good condition. He has repaired the
buildings, and erected a new residence on the place.
He continued active farming there for twenty
years, and then rented the place, while he
removed to a five-acre tract of land near the city,
which he bought. He built thereon a neat
home and is now enjoying a well earned rest,
having retired from active business cares. He
is also a stockholder in the Farmers National
Bank, at Oskaloosa.
Unto Mr. and Mrs. Rinehart have been born
no children, but they have adopted, reared and
educated two boys, Charles V. and George H.
Rinehart, both of whom came to them about six years of age. The latter enlisted in response to President McKinley’s call for volunteers for the Spanish-American war, and joined the Fifty-first Regiment of Iowa troops. With that command he went to Manila and served until the close of the war, after which he returned with his regiment. but his health was impaired. He is a plumber by trade and he married Pearl Downs, by whom he has a son, J. Allen Rinehart. He makes his home in Marshaltown, while Charles V. is also married and resides in Oskaloosa.
Mr. and Mrs. Rinehart are members of the Christian church, Mr. Rinehart serving as one of its officials, he takes an active part in church work and contributes generously to its
support. He also belongs to the Grand Army post. Politically he is independent, supporting
the best men regardless of party. He believes in temperance principles and has strong prohibition tendencies. He is equally favorable to good schools and believes in the employment of competent teachers. As a member of the school board for many years, he has put forth his efforts in that direction with effective results. He is one of the few remaining veterans of the Civil war, and in all duties of citizenship has been as true and loyal to his country as when he followed the old flag on southern battlefields. He has been an active and useful Citizen
of Mahaska county, has aided in its development, and has lived an upright, honorable life. He and, his estimable wife are active church workers and are much esteemed in Oskaloosa and throughout the county.
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from Past and Present of Mahaska County, Iowa by Manoah Hedge
The S. J. Clarke Publishing Co. 1906
Past and Present of Mahaska County, Iowa
Mahaska County, Iowa Genealogy
Iowa Genealogy
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