John Baxter was born in Barnstable, Massachusetts, in 1800, and was
Captain of a schooner on the Providence and Philadelphia line until 1835, when he came to Portland and purchased a claim of Alexander Seely. Upon concluding his purchase he returned for his family,
and brought them on in November, 1835, remaining at the cabin of J. W. Stakes, near Prophetstown, until the next spring, when he moved his farm on the Dutch bottoms, also keeping a store near Sharon, in 1847 or 1848. In 1855 he went to Geneseo, Henry County, where he now resides.
Mr. Baxter married Miss Esther Howe, in 1825. Mr. and Mrs. Baxter had thirteen children, nine of whom are living: John, who married Miss Melvina Andrews, and lives in New York; Amos, who married Miss Minerva Emery, and lives in Portland; Esther, who married Samuel Dennison, and lives in Moline; Louisa, who married Andrew Crawford, and lives in Chicago; Azula, who married Hiram Fogg, and lives in Moline; Augusta who married Chas. W. Perrin, and lives in Genesco. Hiram lives in Iowa; Samantha in Chicago, and George W. in New York, and are unmarried.
Bent & Wilson History of Whiteside County Page 351
