Captain H. B. Doolittle Biography >From "History of Davenport and Scott County" Vol. II by Harry E. Downer-S. J. Clarke Publishing Co. 1910 Chicago. To view the picture of H. B. Doolittle that accompanies this biography, please go to the main Scott county, Iowa page at: http://www.celticcousins.net/scott/ and click on Pictures/ Documents section. Surnames: Doolittle, Twombly, Goodwin, Faulkner, Hibbetts, Highley, Murray, McMurray. Captain H. B. Doolittle, who was for a long period one of the postmen of Davenport, died in Marshalltown, Iowa, August 12, 1896, when he was fifty-six years of age. He had been a resident of Scott county since 1857, and took part in the great development of this section of Iowa. From the time of his advent until the outbreak of the Civil war he was a clerk in a crockery store in Davenport, but at the first call for troops which was sent through the country he enlisted in Company C, Second Iowa Volunteer Infantry. From the very first he was always in the thickest of the fight and with his regiment participated in many of the more important engagements. It was the battle of Fort Donelson, however, that left the strongest impress upon his memory. In that memorable struggle he held a position in the front rank of his regiment and when one of his comrades was struck with a Confederate bullet he seized the flag from him and was in the act of carrying it over the breastworks of th! e enemy when he, too, was wounded twice and had to be carried from the field of battle. Captain Thomas Twombly, who was beside him, thereupon seized the flag and carried it on. As soon as his wounds were healed he rejoined his company, of which he was now captain, and on more than one occasion distinguished himself for his bravery. He knew no fear in the face of duty. When the war was brought to a close Captain Doolittle returned to Davenport, where he secured a position as postman on the mail delivery force. For thirty years he was known to the citizens of this city until 1895, when he was compelled to give up his work. In his early manhood Captain Doolittle married Miss Rebecca Goodwin. Her father Hiram Goodwin, was born in Hamilton county, Ohio, September 22, 1819, and was a son of James and Nancy (Faulkner) Goodwin. Early in the 40's he came to Scott county, locating upon a farm in Lincoln township, on which he lived until 1897. During that period, he also gained some experience as a pilot on the Mississippi river. When he came here the land he secured had not been cultivated so that he had to break it as well as prepare it for cultivation, and the buildings which adorned it in later years were the results of his own labors. The tract comprised one hundred and twenty-seven acres and from it Mr. Goodwin derived a handsome income that enabled him to give his family every comfort and start his children well in life. He was married June 14, 1842, to Miss Delilah Hibbetts, a native of Knox county, Pennsylvania, and they had nine children: Mrs. Emily Highley, Alonzo L., Mrs. Theodica Murray, ! Mrs. Melissa McMurray, Thomas, Theodore W., Rebecca, Hiram P. and Orville F. Unto Captain and Mrs. Doolittle was born one daughter, Gertrude A., who is living with her mother in Davenport. They are members of the Baptist church, to which the Captain also belonged, and fraternally he was identified with the Grand Army of the Republic and the Masonic order. In politics he was a republican. He was one of those men who lived quietly but in strict accordance with the highest principles of manhood and whose every act was marked by that nobility which springs from a large and broad mind. ~~~~~~*~~~~~~ Elaine Rathmann ACC Scott Co, IA USGenWeb Project List Adm: *IA-CIVIL-WAR *IA-DANES