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PERCY A. LAINSON, serving in his fourth term as sheriff of
Pottawattamie County, is an overseas veteran, a native of Iowa who has made an
enviable record as a soldier and peace officer.
Sheriff Lainson was born in Ida County, Iowa, in 1886, son of George J. and
Hattie D. (Terrill) Lainson. His father was born in Stratford, Canada, and his
mother in Northwestern Pennsylvania, and both are now living in Sacramento,
California. the paternal grandfather, William Lainson, was born in London,
England, and was married in Saint Peter's Cathedral in that city April 18,
1845. He was a clerk for Lord Darnelly's estate and was the first member of
the Lainson family to come to America. His son, George J. Lainson, came out to
Iowa about 1869, and for a number of years was on the road as a traveling
salesman. By trade he was a carpenter. His wife, Hattie D. Terrill, had been
adopted into the Lainson family. Her father, Jacob Terrill, was of
Pennsylvania Dutch stock and was a Union soldier and died about 1869. George
J. Lainson and wife are active members of the Presbyterian Church. he is a
Republican in politics and is affiliated with the Knights of Pythias. There
were four children in the family, Percy A. being the oldest. Florence is the
wife of R. I. Barrett, a hydraulic engineer at Sacramento, California; Elmer F.
is jailor under his brother, Sheriff Lainson; and Ruth married Mr. Keefer, a
hydraulic engineer at Sacramento.
Percy A. Lainson attended public schools in Iowa, as a youth clerked in a drug
store and came to Council Bluffs as an employee of the Pacific Express Company
and was assigned every task and responsibility in the routine of the
local office.
While working for the express company he joined the Iowa National Guard in 1902
and participated in its training regularly for a number of years. He went with
his company to the Mexican border in 1915, and in April, 1917, was
again called to the colors for service in the World war. He was mustered into
the national army in August, 1917, was in training at Des Moines and at Camp
Mills and sailed for overseas October 10, 1917. He started as a second
lieutenant and was promoted to first lieutenant while on the boat and later was
made captain of Company L of the One Hundred Sixty-eight Infantry, which was a
part of the famous Forty-second, Rainbow, Division. He was with his company
and regiment throughout its service in France, participating in some of the
hardest fighting of the war, and he returned home as commander of his company.
He received an honorable discharge May 19, 1919, and was immediately
commissioned as captain in the Iowa National Guard and helped reorganize his
local
company. Later he was promoted to major, and he served as state agent in the
office of the attorney general until elected sheriff.
Mr. Lainson was elected sheriff of Pottawattamie County in 1922 and has been
reelected three times. He has been in the office since 1923, and has given an
administration worthy of the high praise accorded it. Mr. Lainson married,
August 23, 1917, Elizabeth Roberts, who was born at Thurman, Iowa, and attended
school there and is a graduate of the Council Bluffs High School. They have two
children: Donald, born in 1918, and Jeanne, born
in 1920. Sheriff Lainson is a member of Grace Presbyterian Church at Council
Bluffs, is a member of the Royal Arch Chapter, Scottish Rite bodies of Masonry,
the B. P. O. Elks and the Fraternal Order of Eagles. He is a Republican in
politics. |
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