M.D. Fox M.D. Fox is ranked with the earliest pioneers of Clinton township, Sac County, Iowa, and to him belongs the distinction of having named the township. It is therefore appropriate that some personal mention be made of him in this work. M. D. Fox was born in Trumbull county, Ohio, May 7, 1842. The Foxes trace their ancestry back to George Fox, a Quaker, who came from England to America during Colonial times and settled in Pennsylvania. Samuel Fox, the father of M.D., was born in New Hampshire in 1794, and was a soldier in the war of 1812. He married Dorothea Bullock, also a native of New Hampshire, and a descendant of English ancestry. Her father was a soldier in the war of 1812 and was killed in that struggle. They had fourteen children, five sons and nine daughters. The mother died in Lee county, Illinois, age forty-four, and the father departed this life in 1875. He was a farmer, a Democrat, and a Methodist. When the subject of our sketch was a lad the family moved to Michigan, and after living there five or six years took up their abode in Lee county, Illinois. He was reared on a farm and received his education in the common schools and the Lee Center Seminary. In 1863 he enlisted in the Eleventh Iowa Infantry, and served until 1865. He was in the battles of Atlanta and Jonesborough, and at the latter place received a flesh wound. His brother, William H., now a resident of Sawyer, Michigan, was a soldier in the Twelfth Illinois Infantry. After the war the subject of our sketch settled in Clinton county, Iowa, near Lyons. Still later he moved to a place near De Witt in Clinton county, and in 1874 came from there to Sac county. Upon his arrival here, he purchased 160 acres of wild land in Clinton township, which he has improved an to which he has added forty acres more. He has it well fenced, under a good state of cultivation and substantial buildings upon it. The residence, a story and a half frame, is 16 x 14 feet, with an L, 16 x 24 feet, and an addition, 12 x 14 feet. The grove and orchard comprise ten acres. In May, 1866, Mr. Fox was married, in Clinton county, Iowa, to Lydia F. Bennett, who was born in Fayette county, Pennsylvania, daughter of William H. and Mary Ann (Wood) Bennett. She was reared and educated at their native place and was a successful teacher previous to her marriage. Her father died in Davenport, Iowa, at the age of sixty-two years, and her mother passed away in Colorado at the age of seventy-one. They had six children, one son and five daughters. Mr. and Mrs. Fox have six children, as follows: Flora A. Chauncy B., Jessie M., Fanny L., Harry B. and Howard M. Politically Mr. Fox affiliates with the Republican party. He has most acceptably filled several of the township offices. He served as Justice of Peace fifteen years, was Trustee several years, and also served on the School Board. He is a member of Colonel Goodrich Post No. 117, G.A.R., Odebolt, and is at present Vice-President of the Sac County Soldiers' Relief commission. Mrs. Fox is President of the Woman's Relief Corps. Both he and his wife are worthy members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and she is a teacher in the Sabbath school. Transcribed by B. Horak, November 2002

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