Elias Marion (Bishop) Foust (1831 - 1914)

Born 25 Mar 1831 in Marion County, Ohio

Ancestors

Descendants

Died 29 Nov 1914 at age 83 in Warren County, Iowa

Biography

Elias Marion Foust son of Lucy Jane Foust, was born in Marion County, Ohio, 25 Mar 1831. In early youth he removed with his mother and step father to Shelby County, Indiana, and in 1847 they joined the tide of emigration which was pushing westward into Iowa. They stopped a year in Burlington and came on to Warren County in 1848.

The next year, at the age of 17, Elias bought 40 acres of land from the government for $1.25 per acre. He cleared the land of the heavy timber and brush, built a log cabin and started farming. Between 1848 and 1853 he also hired out to break ground with his ox-team for other newcomers to Warren, Polk and Madison Counties.

At one time he operated a ferry boat across the river from downtown Des Moines, which at that time was a very small settlement on the west bank close to the fork of the Des Moines & Raccoon Rivers, to the east bank where the Capitol Grounds are now. He had an opportunity to buy the ground comprising the Capitol and Expansion Grounds and he deliiberated for some time whether he should buy government land for farming or land which is now in the very heart of Des Moines. Had he chosen the latter, his decision would have made a great difference in a material way to his fanily. He decided to remain a farmer, however, and on this 40 acre hoestead he lived the rest of his energetic and industrious life, a period of 66 years. It is said that at the time of his death in 1914, he was the only man left in Warren County who had lived continuously, and died on, land entered from the government.

In 1853, Elias married Sarah Etta Bishop, who was born 23 Oct 1828 and died in childbirth 23 Dec 1854, age 26y2m (tombstone). No record has been found of this marriage, although we searched the records of Warren, Polk, Marion, Dallas and Madison Counties. We must assume that they were married by an itinerant or "circuit – riding" preacher who left no records. Nothing is known of her parentage, but Claude Bishop told us that she was a step-sister of Elias, and if that is so, she would have been a daughter of Jonathan J, Bishop, perhaps by a previous marriage of which we have no record.

On the 4th of Sept 1856, Elias, a widower with a 3-year-old son, remarried. Rev. Andrew Surber read the service which made Margaret Ann Hoover his new bride. She was the 4th child of Ephriam Hoover and Julia Ann Howrey, born in Shelby County, Indiana, 17 Feb 1839.She came with her parents and brothers and sisters to Iowa about 1854 and settled on a farm in Greenfield twp, about 2 miles northeast of Elias' homestead. After the marriage they set up housekeeping in the log cabin which Elias had built earlier. Here they lived until it became too small to accommodate their ever-growing family, which eventually numbered 13 children. Then they built a comfortable story-and-a-half frame house (which was destroyed by fire 16 Aug 1964). The log cabin later served as the home for Margaret's mother, Julia Ann, until her death 2 Mar 1891. It was then used as a weaving house where Margaret, in addition to her other duties as a busy homemaker, wove rugs and most of the cloth used in making clothes for the entire family.

Elias was a quiet, kind and gentle man. He had light, sandy-red hair; clear, bright, unfaded blue eyes and the stocky build of his German ancestors. He served with the Home Guard during the Civil War.

Margaret was quite prim and sedate – very beautiful in her youth – with dark brown hair and snapping brown eyes, and had a quick temper on occasion. They both loved to have their friends, and their children with their families, come to visit, though they themselves went away from home very seldom.

They were both baptized in the First Christian Church of North River about 1890, and although unable to attend services regularly, they remained steadfast in their faith in Christ.

Margaret passed away 28 June 1914, age 75y4m11d. A year previously she had been stricken with paralysis from which she hadn't recovered when a second stroke left her completely helpless and without the power of speech – only her eyes moved. Although at times her suffering seemed intense, she bore her affliction bravely until death released her. One of the daughters, Addie Kennedy with her family, moved in with the old people after the mother's first stroke, and took complete care of them until their deaths.

At Margaret's funeral at North River Church, Elias stood by her casket and softly murmured "It won't be long, Mother." It wasn't long, for he joined her just five months later, on 29 Nov 1914, at the age of 83y8m4d. During his very short illness he bore his infirmities patiently, yet often expressed a desire to soon meet Jesus and the loved ones gone on before.

They were both buried in North River Cemetery, beside his first young wife and her baby. Cause of Elias' death was given as "senility and Bright's disease" – Margaret's as "heart failure and dropsy".

Elias' will left equal shares to his children, "except I have given $160.00 to Mandy McGuire, $76.00 to Jane Hines, $150.00 to Ella Coe. At my death if there is no stone at Ella's grave, one is to be purchased and put there and taken out of her share."

Family links: Parents: Lucy Jane Foust Bishop (1809 - 1892)

Spouses: Sarah Etta Bishop Foust (1828 - 1854)* Margaret Ann Hoover Foust (1839 - 1914)*

Children: Andrew Jackson Foust (1854 - 1931)* Lucy Jane Foust Keeney (1857 - 1936)* Julia Ann Foust McGuire (1858 - 1936)* John Wesley Foust (1859 - 1941)* Henry Lincoln Foust (1861 - 1946)* Ephraim Foust (1862 - 1946)* Martha Ella Foust Coe (1864 - 1910)* Adda Sophronia Foust Kennedy (1866 - 1955)* Amanda Belle Foust McGuire (1869 - 1962)* Sara Etta Foust Chiles (1871 - 1958)* Jefferson Franklin Foust (1872 - 1947)* Dottie Destimony Foust Pegram (1875 - 1950)* Della May Foust Bishop (1879 - 1959)* Siblings: Elias Marion Foust (1831 - 1914) Elizabeth Bishop Michaels (1838 - 1864)* Mary Ann Bishop Clark (1840 - 1926)* Waitstill Melissa Bishop Tilton (1841 - 1865)* Almyra Elvina Bishop Cook (1842 - 1913)* Leander Kenneth Bishop (1845 - 1916)* William Palmer Bishop (1849 - 1913)* Ollie Araminta Bishop Hoover (1853 - 1918)*

Burial: North River Cemetery Summerset Warren County Iowa, USA

Find A Grave Memorial# 7948422

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Sources