Convention Member Van Banks Delashmutt
Born January 4, 1802, in Ohio County (now Tyler County) West Virginia. He was the son of Mary Ankrom and William Waugh Delashmutt. He married Martha “Patsy” Wells Inghram on March 7, 1821. Mr. Delashmutt served as sheriff in Virginia in 1829, and was elected to the Virginia legislature for the 1834 term. Later in 1834, Mr. Delashmutt and wife Martha Wells Inghram moved west, stopping in Jefferson County by 1840. Halted by Dragoons at the “Dead Line” of westward expansion, he remained in the Jefferson County area until new territory opened in 1843. One of the first to cross over into what became Mahaska County, Mr. Delashmutt settled in Scott Township, near Talley’s Ford at old BelleFountaine, in the neighborhood known as the Six Mile Prairie. Upon coming west, he was elected in 1841 at Burlington, Iowa, to the first Territorial Legislature. After arriving in Mahaska County he served as delegate to the first state constitutional convention and in the following years served in every county capacity. His contributions shaped the destiny of the county in countless ways. An intelligent, thoughtful man, he reached out to aid friends, neighbors and strangers alike. His home, near the well-worn trail that forded the Des Moines, was open to all who passed his door. A Mormon group of about 100 made a winter encampment on the DeLashmutt farm in the mid-1840s. Around 1845, Van Delashmutt, along with Edward Delong, donated land for a community resting place. Originally known as the Six Mile Cemetery, today it is the restored DeLong/DeLashmutt Cemetery. Mr. Delashmutt’s wife Martha died in 1853; He married her sister Mary H. Inghram in 1869. Mr. Van Delashmutt died February 16, 1882, in Oskaloosa, and was laid to rest beside his friends and family in the community cemetery he helped to create.
Source: Mahaska County Commission for the Preservation of Pioneer Cemeteries