ROBERT D. McGEEHON, ATLANTIC.

If any resident of Cass County is justly entitled to the name "Pioneer of Pioneers" it is Robert D. McGeehon of Atlantic, who became a resident of this county fifty-four years ago. He is a native of Lawrence County, Pa., born December 23, 1827. Duncan McGeehon, his grandfather, was a native of Scotland, where he was born about 1754, coming to Philadelphia some five years before the outbreak of the Revolutionary War. He worked in the Quaker City one year to repay his passage money. He was a leader in the Patriot Army, serving as the captain of a squadron of light horse cavalry.

He was the body-guard of Washington at Valley Forge, and his command covered the retreat at the battle of lower Sandusky where he lost about half of his men. During the terrible campaign in Valley Forge, Captain McGeehon lost part of the toes on one foot from freezing, and it is believed that the exposures of that trying period materially shortened his life. Soon after the close of the war (about 1784) he moved from Lancaster County, Pa., to Washington county, and settled on Chartiers creek, ten miles from Pittsburg, then known as Ft. Duquesne, where he died in 1792. In 1777 he had married a Miss Duncan, and by her he was the father of six children, of whom William, the father of Robert D. McGeehon, was the fifth, being born January 9, 1789. The widow of Duncan McGeehon lived to be ninety years old, finally passing away in Washington county, Pa.

William McGeehon, the father, married Margaret Geary, May 30, 1809, in Washington county, Pa., and soon after moved to Beaver County, Pa., fifty miles northwest of Pittsburg, and settled on the farm now owned by Addison McGeehon, in Little Beaver township. Of his seven children three were girls, all of whom died in childhood. The father himself died in Lawrence County, Pa., May 12, 1829, his wife surviving him fifteen years and dying September 23, 1844, at the age of fifty-seven. Mrs. William McGeehon was a native of Ireland and came to this country when two years of age. On her mother's side she was of Scotch parentage.

Robert D. McGeehon passed his early life on his father's farm in Beaver County, but when eighteen years of age left the homestead to learn the blacksmith's trade in Seneca county, Ohio. He followed this vocation for seven years and then decided to migrate further West in search of a permanent home. After traveling through nine States, he finally settled in Logan County, Ill., where he remained for two years, after which he started for Missouri. He crossed the Mississippi river at Hannibal, traversed the State to St. Joe, and then continued this overland journey north into Cass County; stopping for a time at Indiantown, he passed on to Glenwood and to Turkey Grove and at last located on section 13, Atlantic (now Grove) township, on the 13th of July 1852. During all of his journeyings in search of a location he was accompanied by his two friends, George Shannon and Morris Hoblit, both single men. They did not locate permanently on farms, Mr. Shannon passing on after a time to Iranistan, where he opened the first blacksmith shop; Mr. Hoblit returned to Illinois, studied medicine, graduated from Rush Medical College, Chicago, and in after years settled at Grove City, in the practice of his profession; there he remained until his death in 1864.

Upon locating in Atlantic township Mr. McGeehon at once erected a log cabin and put up ten tons of hay, preparatory to breaking out his land in the following spring. In September of that year (1852) he returned to Bloomington, Ill., and on the 26th of that month married Mary J. Hoblit, the sister of his companion, the ceremonies which made them man and wife being performed at St. Francisville, Mo., on the banks of the Des Moines River. The young couple at once returned to Cass County and while the husband was completing his log house, lived in Indiantown. The coming winter was bitter cold, but it is said to have been passed in comfort and supreme happiness. Two children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Robert D. McGeehon, viz.: Helen M. McGeehon, December 22, 1854, and Adelaide McGeehon, June 11, 1856, the latter dying in the following November. The family continued to reside at this location until 1862, when Mr. McGeehon changed his residence to Grove City, and in 1869 to Atlantic. He continued to increase his holdings of land until he was the final owner of one thousand acres, being at that time one of the largest real estate owners in the county. In August 1872, Mr. McGeehon engaged in the mill and elevator business, which was discontinued when his buildings were destroyed by fire. Later, in connection with his son-in-law, Ira M. Needles, he became interested in a fruit farm and nursery, and at the present time is living a life of honored retirement. He has been for many years a deacon in the Congregational Church and, although he is in the decline of physical life, is bright mentally, and highly honored for what he has accomplished in the advancement of Cass County. Helen M. McGeehon, the elder daughter of Robert D., was married to Ira M. Needles in Atlantic, on the 22d of December 1875. To them were born seven children: Kate, born March 20, 1877; Amanda, March 20, 1880; Mary, December 6, 1881; Selden, July 2, 1883; Helen, April 21, 1885; Johnson, August 14, 1888; and Margaret, August 29, 1896. Kate Needles, the first born, was married to George W. Todd, September 26, 1899, while Amanda, her younger sister, was united to Edward T. Stark just two years thereafter.

Transcribed and contributed by Chris Light from "Compendium and History of Cass County, Iowa." Chicago: Henry and Taylor & Co., 1906, pp. 421-423.

See also Pages 52-53 [Reliable Pioneers, First House in Grove Township, and Goes After a Wife sections in Chapt. III Settlers Prior to County Organization.] Pages 58-65 include an early personal account written by R. D. McGeehon.

See also Pages 220-227 [Early Settlement, Little Incidents of '55 and '56, Grove City and Early Items sections in Chapt. XXI Grove Township.]