Written by Trini M. Tracy
Feb. 1, 2022

JAMES A. TIPTON (My Great-Great Grandfather) was born Oct. 6, 1828 in Carter, Wilson County, Tennessee. James parents are disputed currently. I have several people saying his father was Samuel Tipton...still others say his parents were William and Didimia Wray Tipton. I can't honestly say who his parents are even though I have done extensive research on James, his wife Louisa Rankin and his descendants.

Little is known of his previous whereabouts until the 1850 US Federal Census that places him as a single man living in District #46, Lafayette County, Missouri. Ironically, also living in the same exact location was his future wife, Louisa Frances Rankin and her family. This is where James met and married Louisa Frances Rankin on March 27, 1853. (Source: Missouri Marriage Records, Lafayette, Missouri, Ancestry.com)

James & Louisa had 10 children together:

1-Jesse William Tipton (1853-1935)
2-Eliza Frances "Louisa" Tipton (1854-1891)
3-Rebecca Virginia Tipton (1856-1926)
4-John Quincy Tipton (1859-1944)
5-Carolina Cordelia "Delia" Tipton (1863-1956)
6-Mary Ann Tipton (Bet. 1862-1864-Unknown)
7-James Madison Tipton (1866-1886)
8-Charles Edward Richard "Dick" Tipton (1868-1941)
9-Alfred Harrison Tipton, Sr. (1870-1967)
10-Jay Lee Tipton (1877-1942)

By 1856, James A. Tipton & Louisa Frances Rankin and children were living in Mills County, Iowa. (Source: Book titled, "History of Mills County" listing James A. Tipton in Mills County, Iowa from the Glenwood Library, in Glenwood, Iowa)

The Mills County biography of James A. Tipton reads:

Tipton, James A., farmer, section 34, P.O. Bartlett; born October 6, 1827 in Wilson county, Tennessee. Moved with his parents when nine years of age to Lincoln county, Missouri, and then three years later went to Cale county, Missouri, where he grew to maturity, working at farm labor and attending the subscription schools. When nineteen years old he went to Mexico but soon returned. In 1854 he came to this county, locating near Wahbonsie lake, and four years later he settled on the farm where he now resides. James was married in March, 1852, to Miss Louisa Rankin, a native of Kentucky. They are the parents of ten children, nine now living: Jesse W., Eliza F., Rebecca V., John Q., James M., Mary A., Cordelia J., Charles and Alfred H. Mr. Tipton has secured since coming to Mills county, a good farm of ninety acres. He has held various township offices and served with credit in the war of the rebellion. Page # 628 Lyons Township

James A. Tipton mustered in the US Army on Nov. 10, 1864 with Company A, 17th Indiana Regiment, serving as part of the Union side of the conflict during the Civil War in Indianapolis, Indiana. After I read James' military record, I have come to the conclusion that James enlisted for another man by the name of Henry Warren (Unknown if any relation to him) of Liberty Township, Indiana. I assume after reading this record that James A. Tipton did not know Mr. Henry Warren personally. In exchange for James Tipton's substitution, Henry paid $300 to James as was customary and common in the Civil War. Henry Warren was free from the encumbrance of serving in the war and James A. Tipton was mustered in as a Private at age 36.

It is a curiosity to me why he was in Indiana in the first place as he was married by this time and had six children all living in Iowa, perhaps we will never know why. If nothing else it confirms his military experience and interestingly enough it gives an idea of what James A. Tipton looked like. His military record reads his description as: Blue eyes, Sandy Hair, Fair Complexion and 5" 5 1/4 inches high.

Other than his stint in the Civil war, James A. Tipton had his family and life in Lyons Township, Mills County, Iowa for over three decades. (Source: 1860, 1870 and 1880 US Federal Census Records) In 1885, James & Louisa were living in Lincoln, Monona County, Iowa with some of their children. (1885 Iowa State Census, Ancestry,com)

James A. Tipton died on Mar. 19, 1889 of asthma, bronchitis, lung trouble from an abscess as well as blood poisoning. (Source: Iowa Deaths & Burials Record, Book 1, Page 22, FamilySearch.com) On May 1, 1890, Louisa Rankin filed for a pension for her husband, James A. Tipton based on his Civil War service as a Private. (Civil War Pension Index, Roll #474, Ancestry.com)

James A. Tipton was buried in the Hite City Cemetery in Whiting, Monona County, Iowa. (FindAGrave Memorial #11668479, FindAGrave.com)