Captain Milton B. Frisbie, one of the prominent farmers of Pottawattamie County, was born on a farm in Madison County, New York, September 16, 1831, the son of Seth B. Frisbie, who was born in Litchfield, Connecticut, and was of English descent. Three brothers of that name came from England, and the family gradually spread over the country and became pioneers in New York and Illinois. Joseph Frisbie, the grandfather of our subject, moved from Litchfield to Vernon, Oneida County, New York, in 1820, by wagon, and settled on a farm. Stephen Wade and family, old settlers of Connecticut, and of English descent, came at the same time. Joseph Frisbie was an old man of seventy years when he moved from Connecticut to New York State with his family, then consisting of grown men and women with their families. He was married in Connecticut a second time when over seventy years of age to a Miss Mott, a relative of the family Dr. Valentine Mott, of New York City. Joseph Frisbie was the father of six children, three by his former marriage: Eli, Pardon, Medad; and three by his second wife: T. Goodwin, Joseph and Seth B.

Seth B. Frisbie, the youngest son of the above and the father of our subject, was born in Litchfield, Connecticut, August 8, 1807, when his father was seventy-five years of age and his mother twenty-five, a difference of fifty years in their ages. He was married in Vernon, Oneida County, New York, to Elizabeth Wade, and they were the parents of four children: Milton E., Hiram C., Seth B. and Helen E. Mrs. Frisbie was the daughter of Stephen and Louisa (Hill) Wade, and they were the parents of five children: Elizabeth, Schuyler, Tracey, Franklin and Virgil B. Mr. Wade was a substantial farmer, and a member of the Presbyterian Church, of which he was a deacon for many years. He died about ten years after coming to New York. The eminent Ben Wade, of Ohio, was a descendant of the same stock, and it is related that Schuyler Wade, an uncle of Captain Frisbie, was fined fifty cents for laughing in church, and fifty cents for walking in the highway before sunset on Sunday. Seth B. Frisbie was a boy of fourteen or fifteen years when he came with his father to New York State. He learned farming in early life, and after marriage lived in Oneida and Madison counties. In 1837 he moved to Wood County, Ohio, which was then a wilderness covered with dense timber, and where he bought 240 acres of land, built a log house and cut out his farm. During the first year the only meat they could get was venison, with which the country abounded. In this wilderness Mr. Frisbie made his home, but the severe labor of subduing the wilderness proved too much for him, and after seven years' struggle he died, June 8, 1842, at the early age of thirty-five years. Both he and his wife were members of the Presbyterian Church. Politically he was an old-time Whig, and took an active part in the famous "Log Cabin and Hard Cider" campaign, which resulted in the election of the elder Harrison. There was an intense excitement in Perrysburg, the county seat, and each township contributed logs with which to build a log cabin for headquarters, with a coon skin nailed to the door. A barrel of cider was on the top, and the war cry "Tippecanoe and Tyler too" has descended to this day. The election raised the price of coon skins to $1 each, and one old bachelor of the township collected seventy-two of them, and was the richest man in cash in the township. From such rugged scenes as these sprang the descendants of our pioneer ancestors, who bravely entered the wilderness and made possible the pleasant homes of the present day. Mr. Frisbie was a man of great energy of character and a practical business man. He built the first steam flouring mill in Wood County, and had he lived would have left the impress of his life well marked in that country.

Captain Milton B. Frisbie, our subject, received a very limited education, as he was but six years of age when his father moved into the wilderness of Ohio, and the schools of the State then were few and far between, and the school houses were built of rude logs, had puncheon floors, and rough benches of slabs for seats.

The Captain well remembers the trip through the woods to Ohio by team. His father died when he was but ten years of age, and after three years his mother returned to New York State with her children. She was again married, and after four years moved to Cayuga County, and here our subject lived until May, 1872.

When Abraham Lincoln made his first call for 300,000 men, Captain Frisbie promptly responded, and September 23, 1861, enlisted in Company G, Seventy-fifth New York Volunteer Infantry, for three years or during the war. He served as a private for thirteen months, and for soldierly conduct and gallant bravery was promoted to Captain of Company H, Third Louisiana Infantry, and served in that capacity until the expiration of his term of service. He was in the siege of Port Hudson, Red River campaign, the capture of New Orleans, and many minor battles and skirmishes. He was first under fire at Labadieville, Louisiana, under General Butler and Brigade Commander Weitzel. In the last year of his service he was disabled by sickness, but continued to serve until about one month before his time expired, when he came home in a disabled condition.

After his return from the war he continued farming in Cayuga County, New York, where he remained until 1872, when he moved with his family to Pottawattamie County. He had bought 240 acres of wild land here in 1871, and like many of our brave soldiers became an Iowa pioneer. When he came to Layton Township it was a new country being a wild prairie.

By dint of hard work and energy Captain Frisbie has converted his land into a fine farm, on which he has made many improvements, beautiful groves and many fine shade trees. Politically he is a strict Republican, voting as he shot. He is a man of high character, and an honorable citizen. He has served as Justice of the Peace, and has also been School Director. He is now the president of the School Board. He was the second Postmaster at Walnut, and has also served as Township Trustee, Supervisor, etc. Socially he is a Mason, being a member of Blue Lodge No. 492, at Marne, Cass County, Iowa. He is a member of John A. Dix Post, G.A.R., No. 408, and was commander three terms from its organization. Captain Frisbie is a well preserved man of fifty-nine years, standing five feet ten in height, and weighing 200 pounds. He is a clear thinker and a good talker, expressing himself in good, concise language.

He was married in the year 1856 to Lucy Knapp, a daughter of Ezra A. and Sophronia (Waters) Knapp, and they have seven children, viz.: Milton B., who died in infancy; George E., who died at the age of ten years; Reuben F., a teacher; Helen E., Emeline, a teacher; Milton B. and George E. Ezra A. Knapp, the father of Mrs. Frisbie, descends from a family of Saxony, Germany, who, in 1540, emigrated to Sussex County, England, and in 1630 William Nichols Knapp and Roger Knapp emigrated to America; the former was born in Sussex County, England, in 1570, and settled in Watertown, Massachusetts, in 1630, and was one of the founders of that town; the latter was born in England, and settled in New Haven, afterward Fairfield, Connecticut. He was the progenitor of Mrs. Frisbie's family. In his will he mentions "wife Elizabeth and children: Jonathan, Josiah, Roger, Lydia, John N., Eliza and Mary," all of whom were settlers in Fairfield, Connecticut, where the great-grandfather, grandfather and father of Mrs. Frisbie were born. Oliver Knapp, the grandfather of Mrs. Frisbie, was a farmer, and emigrated to New York in 1810, settling in Oneida, New York, where he lived until his death. They were the parents of Amasa, Seymour, Thomas, Ezra A., Eliard and Eliza. Ezra A. Knapp, the father of Mrs. Frisbie, was born in Connecticut in 1798, and came with his father to New York State, where he was married to Sophronia Waters, and they were the parents of six children: Edwin A., Jairus S., Leonard, Emeline, Lucy, and one deceased in infancy. The eldest, Ezra A. Knapp, was a substantial farmer, of Oneida, New York. He died at the age of forty-three years. He was a member of the Baptist Church, and an old time Whig politically.