William Bacon, b. Jul 24 1795, d. Aug 06 1878

[Oskaloosa Herald - Thursday, August 15, 1878] Death of an Aged Citizen. ------- William Bacon, a resident of this county for over 22 years, died on Tuesday morning, August 6th, at the residence of his son, John Bacon, in White Oak township. He was a man of remarkable longevity, and up to within a few days of his death, notwithstanding his advanced age worked upon his little tract of land and enjoyed excellent health. On Monday afternoon, 5th, he was seized with a congestive chill, and lapsing into a state of insensibility, died the next morning at about 5 o'clock. Mr. Bacon was born in the city of New York in 1795. He was the son of John Bacon, who was born in England in 1763, 12 years before the American Revolution, and who emigrated to America in 1794 or 95. He afterward removed to Washington county, Ohio, where he lived for 50 years and died and was buried upon the farm on which he first settled. Wm. Bacon, the deceased, was the eldest of 10 children, 7 of whom are yet living. The longevity of the family is unusual. The 7 surviving children, including Mr. Bacon at the death, averaged 70 years a total of 5 hundred and sixty years. From Washington county, Ohio, where he lived until 1856, the subject of this sketch removed to the neighborhood in Mahaska county where he died. The deceased was twice married, his first wife dying at the age of 33 years, and the last as long ago as 1845 or 46. By these marriages fourteen children were borne him, nine of are still living. Three sons, Martin, John, and Rufus P. are among the earliest settlers in this county, the last two named having lived here since 1848. The deceased spent the first 10 years of his boyhood in New York, and had a vivid recollection of the magnificent obsequies of Alexander Hamilton, who fell by the hand of Aaron Burr in 1804. General Hamilton's horse was led in the funeral procession draped in black, bearing the uniform and illustrious deceased. Mr.Bacon, during his life was a firm believer in the doctrine of the Universalist faith. Few men were of a more peacable or kindly nature, and he sank to his repose without an unkind thought of any toward him, and was laid away to rest by gentle hands and loving hearts with whom his memory will never lose its freshness or fade or whither away.

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