IAGenWeb Project - Clayton co.


Thomas Edgar
Mendon Twp.

Thomas Edgar, blacksmith, round-house of the C., M.& St. P. railroad, was born in Fifeshire, Scotland, Feb. 1, 1844; his parents were John and Mary (McCahan) Edgar. They had a family of three children-- two sons and one daughter. Thomas came with his parents to America when he was four years of age, and settled in Licking County, Ohio. When thirteen years of age he began to learn the blacksmith's trade, in Ohio, and continued until 1857, when he went to what is now Corry, Erie County, Pa., and in 1859 returned to Ohio, and worked at his trade until Aug. 28, 1861. He enlisted in Company E, Thirty-first Ohio Infantry Volunteers, and remained in the service until the close of the war, and was promoted to Sergeant of the company. He was shot through the left hand at the battle of Chickamauga, Ga. At the close of the war he went to Erie City and the oil regions, and Toledo, Ohio; in 1869 he came to Davenport, Ia., and worked for the Rock Island & Pacific R.R. two months, then came to North McGregor and has worked for the C., M. & St. P. R. R. ever since. He married Malinda Vanlaningham June 22, 1869, at Davenport. She wa a daughter of Parly Vanlaningham, a farmer. Mr. and Mrs. Edgar have seven children-- Laura R., Albert S., Florence, Lotta, Robert E., Fred W. and Anna. Mr. Edgar has been a member of North McGregor City Council four years and School Board three years, and inpolitics is independent, and inclined to vote for the best man. He is an old employe for the C., M. & St. P. R. R. Co., and an enterprising representative man of North McGregor, where he has been identified since 1869. He was one of the first Aldermen of the town, and helped to organize the town of North McGregor.

source: History of Clayton County, Iowa, 1882, p. 977-978
transcribed by Sally Scarff and Marlene Chaney

 

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