William H. Booth
Wm. H. Booth, son of Henry N. Booth, and Salina
Linderman Booth, was born in Illinois on July 22, 1843. He served in the 47th
Illinois Infantry during the Civil War, and in 1871 came to Seward township,
Nobles county. He and Philo Snyder were the only two residents of the
county found in a partial list of the settlers of 1871. The family came to this
community from Blue Earth county, Minnesota, where a son, Charles G. Had been
born on a farm near Mankato on November, 20 1866.
The five year old boy made the trip to the new home with his
parents, and one of the first sights to greet the eyes of young Booth upon his
arrival was a herd of 25 elk, which he saw about a mile west of his present
home.
While Wm. H. took a homestead, he was evidently more than a
mere dirt farmer. For we read in the Graham Lakes News in the Worthington
Advance of March 4, 1880 that "Wm. Booth of Seward has 180 head of sheep
that will shear about 5 pounds per head.
Booth thinks the profit on sheep to be greater and easier than on any other line
of livestock."
For many years, Mr. Booth was a leader in the farm, social and
church life of the Seward group. It was on his homestead that the long used
Seward Methodist Church erected on land given by Mr. Booth. His homestead was
the SW 1/4 of section 26, Seward township. Here he spent many happy years, and
here his death occurred on February 26, 1916.
Obituary for Wm. H Booth
W. H. Booth, one of the old pioneers of this community, passed
quietly away at his home six and a half miles south of this city on Sunday,
February 26, at the age of 72 years, after suffering a stroke of paralysis.
Deceased was born at Manchester, Illinois, on July 22, 1843. On February
18, 1863, he was married to Miss Hannah Trumble. From Manchester the couple
moved to Blue Earth county, this state, where they remained for five years,
after which they came to Nobles county and settled on the farm near this city at
which place death overtook him.
Mr. Booth's first wife having preceded him in death (February 1903), he
was again married, his wife surviving him. To the first union five children were
born; C. E. Booth of this city, Mrs. Libby Linderman, Mrs. Kurthower of
Washington, Mrs. M. Vail of Excelsior, and Mrs. Wm. Shanks of worthington.