Who was the oldest Hawkeye of them all?

Find A Grave Photo

Robert R. Blanchard died on April 1, 1916, at his home in Woodburn --- located in Clarke County not far west of the Lucas County line --- a few days short of his 79th birthday after a long and productive life. Among his claims to fame, as noted in the obituary, was self-proclaimed status as the "oldest Hawkeye living at the time of his death."

By that he meant the oldest child born in Iowa to permanent settlers who still lived in the state --- a claim difficult to prove both then and now.

Six years earlier, Robert's claim had been noted in The Osceola Sentinel during early January 1910. Henry Gittinger, editor of The Chariton Leader, picked up the paragraph reporting the claim and reprinted it on the front page of The Leader of January 10 under the headline, "How About It, Sumner?" thus challenging his old friend Sumner Smith, of Melrose in Monroe County just to the east, to respond.

+++

"R.R. Blanchard of this county (Clarke) is believed to be one of the oldest, if not the oldest, living native born residents of Iowa who has lived in the state continuously. He was born in Des Moines county, in Yellow Springs township, fourteen miles north of the present city of Burlington, April 27, 1837, and is now in his seventy-third year of his residence in the state. His father and mother came to Iowa, crossing the Mississippi at Fort Madison, in 1836, (according to) The Osceola Sentinel."

"The Leader," Henry wrote, "will wager that Sumner Smith, of Melrose, will run Mr. Blanchard a close second if not forcing him to the rear. Mr. Smith was born in Van Buren county, Iowa, about that time. How about it, Sumner?"

+++

Sumner, who had arrived in Melrose, where he operated a grocery store and served as postmaster, rose to the bait. His response was published in The Leader on January 17 under the headline, "Keeps History Straight."

Melrose, Iowa, Jan. 15, 1910

H.W. Gittinger, Chariton, Iowa

My Dear Sir: Answering your query of the 13th, will say that Mr. Blanchard takes the cookery, so far as I am concerned, as he lacks but two days of being one year older than I am, as I was born in the big bend of the Des Moines river, where the town of Keosauqua is now located, on April 25th, 1838. I have lived in what is now Iowa all my life.

Mr. Blanchard is not the oldest white person in Iowa. Mrs. Abigail A. Gray, of Albia, Iowa, was born at Flint Hills (now Burlington), Iowa, January 1835. Eleanor Galland, a sister of Hon Washington Galland, of Fort Madison, Iowa, was born at the pace where the town of Galland is now located, on the Mississippi river, about half way between Keokuk and Montrose, in June, 1830, and she is undoubtedly the first white child born in what is now Iowa. She is married and resides at this time in Wisconsin.

There is no doubt whatever but what the Hon. Washington Galland has been a contiuous resident of Iowa longer than any other person living, as he came with his parents, the late Dr. Galland and wife, to Fort Madison in 1827, when but about two weeks old, and has lived in Iowa ever since.

You were wrong in giving the residence of my daughter, Mrs. John G. Rickey, as Jackson township, as she lives in Whitebreast township.

Now, 'Henri,' I may not be a descendant of the late Capt. John Smith, whose life was saved by Pocahontas, but I am a direct descendant in the ninth generation of the late Hannah Dustin, one of the greatest heroines of ancient or modern times.

Sincerely yours, Sumner Smith

+++

Sumner had mentioned other Hawkeye contenders for the title "oldest" in his attempt to school Henry, including Abigail A. Gray, of Albia, born at Flint Hills (Burlington) on March 3, 1835, to John B. and Eliza Jane Gray. She came into Monroe County with her parents as soon as it was opened for settlement in 1843 and married William Gray (no kin, but conveniently with the same surname) on Dec. 18, 1853, also in Monroe County. They had lived at Albia since 1863.

And Eleanor Galland, born during 1830 just north of Fort Madison, who had disqualified herself by moving to Wisconsin. Eleanor has been widely recorded as the first child born to permanent settlers in what became Iowa, although there are other contenders for that honor. Eleanor's brother, Washington Galland, couldn't qualify in this race because he didn't arrive on Iowa soil, according to Sumner, until he was two weeks old, but certainly deserved honorable mention.

Whatever the case, Robert was the last pioneer standing in this small field when he died during 1916 at Woodburn. Abigail Gray died in Albia at age 76 on Feb. 3, 1912 (buried Oakview Cemetery); Sumner fell down a flight of stairs while visiting in Des Moines during June of 1913 and died as a result on June 19, age 75 (He is buried in the Methodist Cemetery at Melrose); and Washington Galland died April 22, 1915, at Fort Madison (He is buried in Keokuk National Cemetery).