James B. BOLTON, b. 1839
James B. Bolton, president of the bar association
of Mahaska county and a resident of the
county since the spring of 1863, was born in
Knox county, Ohio, in 1839. His early education
privileges were supplemented by study
in Martinsburg Academy, of his native state,
and for three years he was an assistant teacher
in that institution. Subsequently he attended
Kenyon College in Ohio, pursuing his course
there at the time of the outbreak of the Civil
war.
His patriotic spirit aroused, he put aside his
textbooks and volunteered for service with
the Fourth Ohio regiment. Going to Laurel
Hill, Virginia, he was there taken ill, and because
of this disability was discharged. The
colonel of the regiment was President Andrews
of Kenyon College, who became ill about the
same time that Mr. Bolton did and was taken
home and died. In 1862 Mr. Bolton re-enlisted
in Company A, Eighty-fourth Ohio Infantry,
under command of Captain Merriott and Colonel
Savage. During his three-months' service
he was on duty most of the time at Camp Denison,
Cincinnati, and helped build a pontoon
bridge across the river between that city and
Covington, Kentucky.
When discharged from the army Mr. Bolton
returned to Ohio and in the spring of 1863
came to Mahaska county, where he has since resided.
For a number of years he engaged in
teaching school, following the profession for
nine terms in this county, previous to which
time he had successfully taught in the country
schools of Ohio, giving his attention to the
profession in the winter months, while in the
summer seasons he followed farming. In the
summer of 1865 he purchased three yoke of
oxen and broke eighty acres of prairie near the
Dunkard church, in the northern part of the
county. He cultivated this until 1870, in which
year he removed to the city of Oskaloosa and
after reading law was admitted to the bar in
December of that year. He has practiced here
continuously since and has a good clientage,
connecting him with much important litigation,
his standing at the bar being indicated by his
liberal practice and the uniform regard which
is tendered him by his brethren of the legal
fraternity.
In the spring of 1865, in this county, Mr.
Bolton was married to Miss Ann McMains,
a daughter of John McMains, and they became
the parents of two children, but the
daughter died before the birth of the son, L.
C. Bolton, who is now the manager of the Batton-Hoover
Coal Company. He is also a practicing
lawyer, who was graduated from Cornell
College, and has practiced at this bar. For
a number of years Mr. Bolton has been a Mason
and has taken the degrees of the Knight Templar
commmandery and of the Mystic Shrine. He
is a charter member of the Elks lodge of Oskaloosa
and was the first exalted ruler here.
During the long years of his residence in Mahaska
county he has ever directed his labors for
the benefit of public interests as well as for the
development of a successful business career and
he has made an honorable name for himself
and a worthy place in the regard of his
fellow men.
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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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