Harrison County Iowa Genealogy

ELLIS - Alexander B. M. ELLIS, of Missouri Valley, came to Harrison County in the autumn of 1854, and settled in Jackson Township, remained two years and then moved to Little Sioux Township, where he purchased a farm, remaining until 1870, when he moved to Morgan Township, lived four years and returned to Little Sioux Township, where he remained until he moved to Missouri Valley in 1881, at the same time disposing of his farm property.
Mr. ELLIS is a native of the Buckeye State, and was born October 12, 1833, in Brown County, Ohio. He is a son of John and Hannah (MARTIN) ELLIS. His mother was born in Kentucky, and removed to Ohio, when quite young. The father was born in Ohio, and died in 1849. The mother died in May, 1891. They reared a family of ten sons and three daughters, of whom our subject was the seventh child, and of this number eight are living -- one brother in Omaha, NE and the remainder in this county. One sister is the wife of James COOPER, of Little Sioux Township and the older sister is Mrs. M. MURRAY, of Little Sioux. The father was a farmer by occupation,and as a matter of family record, it should here be recorded that the father was buried in Brown County, Ohio, and that the mother was eighty-six years, six months and twenty days of age at the time of her death, and was buried in Soldier Valley Cemetery, while the father was forty-nine years of age at the time of his death.
Our subject's education was received in the common schools of Ohio. In 1851, one of his brothers came to Pottawattamie County, Iowa, and two years later was followed by another. Our subject came to Harrison, and on August 18, 1862, in the dark days of the Rebellion, when the sisterhood of States was in jeopardy, our subject enlisted in Company C, Twenty-ninth Iowa Infantry. He was mustered out August 19, 1865, and discharged fifteen days later at Davenport, Iowa. He was in the Southwestern Division, and later in the Gulf Division, of the Union Army. He took part in the battles of Spanish Fort, Fort Blakely, and Saline River. After the close of the war, he returned to Iowa, followed farming and worked at the carpenter's trade.
He was married May 20, 1858, to Lois A. PRATT, at Magnolia, Iowa. She was a native of Vermont, and came to this county with her brother in the autumn of 1856. Her brother still (1891) resides in Little Sioux Township. Her sister was married to S. J. SMITH, (now deceased). They came to the County in 1854.
Our subject and his wife are the parents of four children -- Flora, born August 21, 1859; Elmer M., March 18, 1862, and died February 18, 1864; Mortie S., born September 28, 1866; and Arthur, August 7, 1875.
Politically, Mr. ELLIS is an all the year around Republican. He is a member of the Grand Army of the Republic, Belden Post, No. 59, at Missouri Valley, while he and his estimable wife are both members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and bear the respect of the community in which they live.
Source: 1891 History of Harrison County Iowa.
Ellis Family Researcher: Bob Ellis (need updated email).
Pratt Family Researcher: Mark Grassman.
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ELLIS - Andrew M. ELLIS, a successful farmer of section 17 and 18, of Little Sioux Township, is the person forming the subject of this sketch.
He is a native of Ohio, being born July 12, 1839. He is a son of John and Hannah (MARTIN) ELLIS, natives of the Buckeye State. His grandfather ELLIS was named Hezekiah, and was of Welsh extraction. On the mother's side, the father was named Elijah MARTIN, and his wife's maiden name was BOGGS, and this branch of the family was of Scoth-Irish descent. Our subject was the ninth in a family of thirteen children, eight of whom still survive, all living in this county but one.
Mr. ELLIS' early education was obtained in Ohio and Iowa, at the common schools. He came to Harrison County in 1855 and began farming, which pursuit he has followed ever since. The first land he owned was forty acres on section 30, but his present farm comprises one hundred and twenty acres, seventy acres of which are under cultivation, and the balance in timber and pasture land.
Our subject was united in marriage in Little Sioux, February 22, 1866, to Miss Alice L. BONNEY, born April 10, 1844, being the daughter of Benjamin and Betsy (JINKS) BONNEY, natives of Pennsylvania, who originally came from New Hampshire. Mr. and Mrs. ELLIS are the parents of four children -- Alice May, now Mrs. SCOTT; Frank L., in Council Bluffs; Susan L. and Dora E., at home.
Mr. ELLIS enlisted as a member of Company H, Fifteenth Iowa Infantry, November 28, 1861, as a private, and was assigned to the Army of the West. He was at the battle of Shiloh, and was with his regiment until the evacuation of Corinth, and on account of sickness, was discharged August 10, 1862, at Bolivar, Tenn.
Politically, our subject gives forth no uncertain opinion, but has always voted for and supported the Republican party. He was a member of the Board of Supervisors in 1868, and has always taken much interest in the welfare of Harrison County, and watched its growth almost from the earliest history. When he came to the county, the nearest mill was on Pigeon Creek, near Crescent City, and the nearest postoffice and trading point was Council Bluffs.
Source: 1891 History of Harrison County Iowa.
Ellis Family Researcher: Bob Ellis (need updated email).
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ELLIS - Clark ELLIS, of the village of Little Sioux, came from Brown County, Ohio, with his mother and eight other children, in the spring of 1855, by the way of boat to St. Joseph, MO., and by stage to Harrison County, and located in Jackson Township, where they rented a farm one year, after which the mother and six of her sons pre-empted land in this county. Clark was a little past eleven years old. At that time there were but few people in the township and the nearest market point was Kanesville. The first winter their main food was hominy, and he well remembers of even eating the siftings from corn meal. There was plenty of game which helped out their subsistence in a good degree. He tells of being obliged, in the winter of 1856-57, to go to bed through the day to keep from freezing, while the snow sifted therough the "shakes" of the roof until it was a foot deep all over the house. He remained at home and when seventeen years of age he was the main support for his mother and six children, as his two older brothers had become soldiers in the Civil War.
In the month of August, 1862, he and two brothers, A. B. M. and J. H., enlisted in Company C, Twenty-ninth Iowa Infantry. He went South and served three years, receiving his discharge August 10, 1865, at New Orleans and was mustered out at Davenport, Iowa, feeling that he had done his share toward putting down the rebellion. He participated in the battles of Helena, Ark.; Vicksburg; fought their way to Little Rock, and was in the battle at Saline River, Ark., which lasted seven or eight hours, and the mud was knee deep. They returned to Little Rock, then went to Spanish Fort by the way of New Orleans where they had a sever engagement, also Whistler Station. He was taken sick with the lung fever soon after the Saline River engagement, and was in the hospital two weeks, after which he was detailed in the hospital department, where he commenced his first experience in the drug business; he got back to the ranks a short time before he was discharged and was made Corporal.
After coming out of the service he resumed farm life in Little Sioux Township, which he followed ten years, during which time he studied the drug business, and had been in a drug-store at odd times in Little Sioux.
May 1, 1875, he purchased his present location and moved in a stock of drugs, and has continued in this business ever since. As early as when he was eight years old, upon going into a drug-store, he resolved that if he ever lived to be a man he would become a druggist.
Our subject was born in Brown County, Ohio, October 25, 1843; the son of John and Hannah (MARTIN) ELLIS, and is the twelfth of a family of thirteen, all of whom grew to be adults. He attended his first school in Brown County, Ohio, and after schools were provided in Harrison County he attended here, but most of his knowledge has been gained by home study and practical experience.
Mr. ELLIS was united in marriage February 14, 1867, with Edna HALL, a native of Missouri, born January 14, 1852, and the daughter of Andrew HALL. Her mother died when she was yet a small child. The home of Mr. and Mrs. ELLIS has been blessed by the advent of three children -- Rufus N., Effie May, and Samuel Strausser.
Our subject is a member of Lodge No. 389, I.O.O.F., and Frontier Lodge No. 382, of the Masonic order at Little Sioux.
Source: 1891 History of Harrison County Iowa.
Ellis Family Researcher: Bob Ellis (need updated email).
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ELLIS - Hiram ELLIS, deceased, was a native of Brown County, Ohio, but became a resident of Harrison County in March, 1871. The date of his birth was April 6, 1829. His parents were John and Hannah (MARTIN) ELLIS, natives of Ohio. Hiram's early life was spent in the Buckeye State, and there he received a common school education. He worked on his father's farm until he became of age, and in 1854 emigrated from Brown County to near Hennepin, Putnam County, Illinois, where he farmed until he came to Harrison County, and rented a farm of Dave GAMET, in Little Sioux Township. The following year hepurchased a farm on section 2, Township eighty-one, and now owns one hundred and seventy-five acres of land, one hundred acres of which are under the plow and all surrounded by a good fence.
March, 1851, was a new era in this man's life, for it was during that month that he married Eliza PORTER, daughter of James B. and Mary (PETTIJOHN) PORTER, who were natives of Ohio. By this marriage union five children were born: Luella, now Mrs. HOPE; Maggie, now Mrs. CADWELL; Oliver J., of Wakefield, NE; James P., of Louisville, NE; and Willam C., at home.
Politically, our subject was identified with the Republican party, and in religious matters was a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church. He passed from the scenes of this life July 23, 1888, being sixty years of age.
Source: 1891 History of Harrison County Iowa.
Ellis Family Researcher: Bob Ellis (need updated email).
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COPELAND - Wickliffe B. COPELAND, takes rank among the early settlers of Harrison County. He came to St. John's in November, 1852, and remained there two years, and in February, 1855, removed to the site of his present (1891) home, having taken claim in the fall of 1852, and moved a small pole shanty to the place (which had been built by the Mormons) which he used until he could erect a log cabin, which had the primitive puncheon floor, and shakes for roofing. Their nearest post office and trading point was Kanesville (now Council Bluffs).
Mr. COPLEAND was born in Jackson County, Indiana, in January 1823. He is the son of Hugh and Charlotte (ALEXANDER) COPELAND. The father was a native of North Carolina, born in 1786, and died in Fremont County, Iowa aged about eighty-six years. Our subject's mother was a native of the South, and died in Fremont County, Iowa, in 1861.
When our subject was twenty years old, he commenced trying the realities of life for himself. He worked as a common laborer until he was married in 1845, to Malinda FRAZIER, a native of Tennessee, who was the daughter of Thomas and Mary (SHAFER) FRAZIER. Her father died in Indiana in 1851, and her mother in Pottawattamie County, Iowa, in 1870.
Mr. and Mrs. COPELAND are the parents of nine children -- F.J.; Mary J.; Vincent S.; Amanda J.; Oliver H.; Perry; Catherine S.; William T.; and James H. When Mr. COPELAND came from Indiana to Harrison County, he made the trip by ox-teams, and was a year on the road, for they stopped at Ottumwa, and also in Missouri. He and his wife are members of the Baptist Church.
Source: 1891 History of Harrison County Iowa.
Copeland Family Researcher: NA.
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FRAZIER - Samuel L. FRAZIER, of Calhoun Township, and living on section 22, came to Harrison County with his parents, March 12, 1855. They came to Pottawattamie County, in October, 1854. His father, John FRAZIER, settled in St. John's Township, on section 1, remaining there until his death, May 26, 1881. He was of Scotch descent, and was born in Tennessee, November 3, 1821. His father was a farmer, and John always followed this. He came to Indiana with his parents when a boy of nine years, and lived in Putnam County, until he came West, bringing with him $1,000. Upon coming to this county, he moved into a log cabin, built by some of early Mormon families. At the time of his death, he had five hundred and ten acres of well-improved land in Harrison County. He was married in Putnam County, Ind., in 1844, to Minerva C. HIBBS, a native of Kentucky, who was born, February 4, 1826. They reared a family of eight children -- George N., Samuel L, our subject; Mary J., John T., Andrew F., Ada E., Jacob E., and Mary E. Four of these children are living, three in Harrison County, and Mary E., now Mrs. George SUTTER, living in Sarpy County, Neb.

When the FRAZIER family came to this county, Council Bluffs was their nearest post-office and nearest trading point.

Samuel L. was born in Putnam County, Ind., June 1, 1849, and with his parents came to Harrison County, helping his father and attending the district school. When he was twenty-one years of age, his father gave himself and brother, George N., eighty acres - forty each - on sections 6 and 7, of St. John's Township, with a part of the tract in Calhoun, to which our subject moved in August, 1873, and erected a frame house, sixteen feet square. He now owns two hundred and thirty-four acres, one half of which is under the plow, and forty-five acres in timber land.

He was married, February 24, 1870. to Angeline MURPHY, a native of Indiana, the daughter of John and Zilphia A. MURPHY, and born, October 14, 1853. By this marriage union, six children were born -- Dora M., December 5, 1871; Estella, January 12, 1874; Albert, March 31, 1876; Inez, November 2, 1878; Florence Effie, July 13, 1881 and Herald R., September 22, 1884.

Mr. and Mrs. FRAZIER are members of the Christian Church, and in his politics Mr. FRAZIER is a supporter of the Republican party.
Source: 1891 History of Harrison County Iowa, pp. 312-313.
Frazier Family Researcher: NA.
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FRAZIER - George N. FRAZIER, of Calhoun Township, was born in Putnam County, Indiana in March, 1847, and is a son of John and Minerva (HIBBS) FRAZIER, and is the oldest of a family of eight children. He accompanied his parents to Harrison County in March, 1855. His education was received in the district schools of this county, except one term in Indiana. He remained at home until he was twenty-one years of age, and then commenced to work for himself upon land his father gave him, in St. John's Township. He was married November, 1868, to Rachel N. COX, a native of Putnam County, the daughter of Isaac W. and Mary A. COX, who came to Harrison County in 1852, and are now residents of Allen Township.

Our subject and his wife have reared a family of nine children, seven of whom are now living: Clara J., Ada J., Henry N., John I., Ora C., Mary A., Olive D., and two who died in infancy.

Source: 1891 Harrison County Iowa History, pp. 291-292
Frazier Family Researcher: NA.
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