Pottawattamie County, Iowa's Poets,
Found in Poets and Poetry of Iowa
By the American Publishers' Association.
Iowa 811.08 P752 No publishing date given.

REV. GEORGE CROFTS

Born: Leroy, Ill., April 9, 1842.

Rev. George W. Crofts is the author of Golden Rod,
volume of poems that has been lauded highly by the
press. He was the poet of the National Farmers' Congress,
and has contributed over three hundred choice poems to
current literature. Mr. Crofts was married in 1866 to
Miss Nellie A. Potter, and now has two children.
This minister and poet is now a resident of Council Bluffs, IA.

GOLDEN-ROD

As summer dies, the golden-rod

A benediction falls,

And tells us of the peace of God

Within the jasper walls.

It speaks of rest, O heart of mine!

Mid autumn's mellow glow,

I taste the fruit of labor's vine,

Ah, too, the fruit of woe.

And all is sweet, all turns to gold,

At last, fair rod, like thee,

The once dark clouds in fold on fold

Spread out a golden sea.

After life's toil and pain comes bliss,

And o'er the earth abroad

There reigns a prince whose sceptor is

A stalk of golden-rod.

LULU JOHNSON

This lady is an invalid and resides in Avoca, Iowa.
She contributes both prose and verse to the periodical Press.
Her mother is also a poet of great ability.

SUNBEAMS OF LIFE

Gentle words of greeting,

Simple though they be,

Shineth like the sunbeams,

Thro' all eternity.

Kindly words and actions,

Maketh life's pathway drear,

Like the rainbow's crescent,

Is the soul's hope here.

Of the great eternal

That shall be revealed,

When life's foes are vanquished

And the bliss of heaven sealed.

Of the joys immortal

That from man are hid,

Of the soul's awakening

When earth-life has fled.

REV. THOMAS THICKSTUN

Born Cassewago PA , July 3, 1824.
After receiving instruction in the common schools of his native town,
Mr. Thickstun taught for awhile, at the same time studying medicine,
And after three years he attended a course of medical lectures at,
Cleveland Ohio. At the age of twenty-one he entered the Kingsville
Academy of Ohio, which he attended for three years. In 1852 Mr.,
Thickstun was married to Miss Sopha M. Lyon of Casadga, N.Y.,
And for the following seven years they both taught in Meadville Academy
Of Pennsylvania. They next came west and both taught in Chatfield
Academy and then in Hastings Central Academy, Minnesota, where
He also served as Baptist minister in the latter place. The Rev.
Thomas F. Thickstun has also filled pastorates at Waverly and Pella, Iowa,
And is now pastor of the Baptist Church of Council Bluffs, Iowa, of
Which church he was the principal founder, having traveled twenty-five
Thousand miles in its interests, raising thererby the sum of seven thousand Dollars.
Mr. Thickstun has two sons, Will L. And T. Duane: and
three Daughters, Flora E., Hattie E. and Carrie L. M. In November of 1892,
Mr. Thickstun was bereft of his wife, a lady of education and a loving
Mother, and a poetess from early years. The Rev. Thomas F. Thickstun
Is the author of about two hundred poems, which appear from time to
Time in the periodical press.

MY GRANDSON

Mellow and softly fell the splendor

Of the rising new-born day;

When through our home in royal accents,

Sounded a voice, "I've come to stay."

He came amid the wealth and beauty,

The rich-robed hue of autumn days

When festal fires of radiant glory,

O'er earth and ocean grandly blaze.

He came, dear boy, that brilliant morning,

Rare sounds, kind words were in the air,

Sweet sylvan songs, as sung by angels,

Were rippling 'round us everywhere.

The clouds were fled; a living splendor

Spread o'er the land from east to west;

The sun shone forth in all his brightness,

When he began his quest.

As bright, as mellow as this morning,

As full of song and melody, --

My boy, so cloudless, joyful, golden,

From youth to age may your life be.

And when across the silent river,

You pass from earth to endless day,

May Heaven's own appointed spirit,

Then guide thee up the star-lit way.

EDWIN FORREST WATTS

Born: Taylor Co. Iowa, March 29, 1859.
At the age of thirteen Edwin was left an orphan, and from
That time he was compelled to make his own way in the world.
In 1884 he entered the journalistic field and in 1886 started a
Crusade against the corrupt management of the Iowa State
Institution for the Deaf, the fight was carried to the legislature,
And the charges of Mr. Watts were sustained and the management
Removed. In 1891 he was a delegate from Pottawattamie Co.
To the state convention, and he has since filled various other
Positions of trust. Mr. Watts was married in 1885 to Miss
Eva Availia Cobbs, with whom he now resides in Council Bluffs,
Engaged in journalistic work.

GOOD BYE, OLD YEAR

Good bye, old year, good bye!

And welcome to the new,

It is with a tear and a sigh

I bid you a kind adieu.

How many desolate homes

Are there, old year, to-night,

You have seen in your earthly roams

In a twelve months' dizzy flight?

How many fathers and mothers,

Whose tears are mingled to-night

Together with sisters and brothers,

For a dear one that's lost to sight?

How many thoughtless boys and men

Have waited so patient for you,

To swear off from gambling den

And to loved ones at home be true?

Good bye, old year, you're through,

Old scores are settled to-day,

To-morrow I commence the new

And a happy and better way.

DAVID R. WITTER

Born: LaPorte, Ind., Feb. 11, 1843.
The subject of this sketch is the author of the well known songs
Entitled Isabelle, Elma of the Vale, Essie, Little Wanderer, and
Numerous other songs which have been set to music, and published
By John Church Co. And S. Brainards Sons. Mr. Witter has also
Contributed scores of poems and prose articles to periodical
Literature, which have received high commendation. He went to
Iowa in 1853, and for the past twenty three years has been a
Resident of Council Bluffs, where he is very popular.

ISABELLE

By the sparkling waters of the rill,

Within a deep and shady dell,

All silent save the ancient mill,

We pledged our troth, fair Isabelle;

To me 'twas Paradise on earth,

My cup of happiness complete,

O transient days of joy and mirth,

We part perhaps no more to meet.

O Isabelle, lov'd Isabelle,

My heart is ever true to thee;

The vows we pledged within the dell

Are written in eternity.

O cruel hearts, did tales unfold

That I was false to thee, the dell,

That 'twas the story oft times told

Of man's duplicity and guile;

Thus from my love didst alienate,

Another heart supplanting mine,

No more the tryst at garden gate,

No more to kneel at thy fair shrine.

And now farewell, I bid adieu,

Beyond the billows fleck'd with foam;

No more my native shores to view

In stranger lands my feet will roam.

In the days of sadness and despair

I look away beyond the sea,

Thy vision meets me in the air,

And I am once again with thee.

My guardian angels from all harm

Thy footsteps quide, on life's highway,

May roses vie to lend a charm

But to renew each brighter day;

Unto life's close what ere betide,

My heart will hold thy memory,

Thy angel form still by my side,

Sweet presence tho' of imagery.

EDWARD E. WRIGHT

Born: Harrisonville, Ohio, April 23, 1859.
At the age of nineteen Mr. Wright commenced teaching school,
And taught ten terms. In 1881 he learned the milling trade at
Akron, Ohio. That business not being congenial, however, he
Took up the study of shorthand, and became the amanuensis
Of Mr. Burdette, who was editor of the Burlington Hawkeye
At that time. Since 1883 he has been located in Council Bluffs,
Iowa, and is now a partner in the firm of Waring and Wright,
Stenographers and Law Reporters. Mr. Wright is the author
Of two published works entitled Everard and Eulalia, and The
Lightning's Flash, and is engaged in writing the sequel to the
Latter work. Mr. Wright was married in 1886 to Miss Ella T. Reardon,
And has one son, Ralph Howard, born in 1889.

TERROR AND EREBUS

Oh, ships that sailed the wintry seas,

In the far frozen North.

At what lone port did you at last

Cast anchor and hold forth?

Where are the merry crews that filled

Your cabin holds and decks?

Are some alive? Or did all fall

Victims to death and wrecks?

Where are you now? And what your plight?

Together do you stay?

Or have you wandered separate

To distant climes away;

Forgetting each the other's part

Played in the drama cruel,

Upon the lonely Polar seas,

Where storms are born to rule?

Oh, stately vessels that you were!

How many anxious eyes

Have sought in vain for your return!

How many grievous sighs

Escape the weary hearts that wait!

We hear the north wind blow;

And sit and ponder on you fate,

That heaven alone can know.