Biographies | 1896 Bios
James Allcott
His birth occurred in Wapello county, April 25, 1865, and he is a son of George and Elizabeth (Murdock) Allcott, the former a native of Ohio and the latter of New England. In 1860 they came to Iowa, and near the city of Ottumwa the father passed away at the age of twenty-five years. His widow still survives and is now living in Fort Scott, Kansas, with one of her children. They were highly esteemed people, whose many excellencies of character won them the warm regard of all with whom they came in contact.
James Allcott was reared on the old homestead farm and was only five years of age when his father died. He then went to live with an uncle, with whom he remained until eleven years of age, after which he began working by the month as a farm hand, and was thus employed for a number of years. He has carried on agricultural pursuits throughout the greater part of his life, and is an energetic, practical and ·progressive farmer.
On the 5th of July, 1877, was celebrated the marriage of James Allcott and Miss Minerva Barto, one of the fair daughters of Dallas county. Her parents, John and Margaret (Stump) Barto, came from Indiana to Iowa in 1853 and cast their lot with the early settlers of the Hawkeye State. Mr. Barto was an honored pioneer hotel-keeper in this section, and was probably as widely and favorably known as any frontiersman in Iowa. He was a man of pleasant, genial manner, highly esteemed by all who knew him, and his circle of friends was indeed extensive. He was familiar with the entire development of this section of the country, aided in its upbuilding and took a commendable interest in its welfare. To Mr. and Mrs. Allcott were born five children, as follows: Fred B., John B., Harold C., Glenn S. and Lois G.
After his marriage, Mr. Allcott located on a part of the old Barto farm, which his wife's father had secured from the Government, transforming it from a tract of wild land into rich and fertile fields. He continued to rent that property for three years, after which he removed to Guthrie county, there purchasing eighty acres, which he cultivated until some years later, when he sold out and bought a tract of land in Van Meter township, Dallas county. This, in connection with what his wife received from her father's estate, constitutes their fine farm of 300 acres of choice land. Mr. Allcott is a Republican in politics and proudly cast his first vote for R. B. Hayes. The members of the family are connected with the Methodist Episcopal Church, and are well educated, refined and intelligent people, whose genuine worth and devotion to all that is calculated to uplift humanity has made them worthy the esteem of all.
A Memorial and Biographical Record of Iowa, Chicago, The Lewis Publishing Company 1896, pg. 749.