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Harrison County Iowa Genealogy

Biographies - 1891 History of Harrison County Iowa

Page Twenty Four

C Lytle | McQueen | J Vore | P Vore | W Vore | Crow | McEuen | Lanyon | Neal | Hunt



LYTLE - Charles H. LYTLE, a successful farmer of Washington Township, living on section 10, came to that location in the spring of 1866, and was one of the first settlers of the county. At first he bought one hundred and sixty acres of wild land, and broke all but twenty acres of this tract up, the first year, and built a split log house 14x20 feet in which he lived until 1868 and then built a hewed log house 16x22feet, in which he lived a year and then ribbed it on the outside, weather-boarding and plastering it. This house is still used (1891) and is one of the warmest in the county. To this house has been added a frame kitchen 12x22 and another room 12x15 feet. From time to time he has addedd to his farm until he is the possessor of three hundred and forty acres, eighty acres of which is on section 3, and is used for pasture land.

When our subject came to the township there were but few settlers. There was one log school house at Walker's Grove, and in 1868 there was one built on section 15, near our subject's house. In the schoolhouses were held religious services. There was no settlement in Washington Township, of any account, except at Walker's.

Mr. LYTLE was born in Summit County, Ohio, September 15, 1840, and in the fall of 1856 came with his parents to Shelby County, Iowa, where his father settled on a piece of wild land on which he lived one year, then left their farm and moved to Pottawattamie County, near Council Bluffs, where they rented a farm and remained in that vicinity until coming to Harrison County in 1866.

He married in Shelby County, February 7, 1866 to Miss Ann HALLIDAY, by whom nine children were born -- Charles H., deceased, James A., deceased, Ira, deceased, William F., deceased, Sadie P., Charles H., George H., James A., Alice R., Ira A., Jesse S., Emma P., and William.

Anna (HALLIDAY) LYTLE, wife of our subject, was born in Wales, and when quite samll her parents emigrated to America, settling near Davenport, Iowa, and a few years afterward moved to Shelby County, Iowa, where our subject's wife remained until she was married. She is a member of the Latter Day Saints Church.

Source: 1891 History of Harrison County Iowa.
Family Researcher: Pamela Poyfair.
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MCQUEEN - William H. MCQUEEN (retired) came to Harrison County in the spring of 1865, just at the close of the Civil War, and settled on section 9, of Taylor Township, where he purchased two hundred acres of wild land at $3.75 per acre. The same is situated on the Missouri Bottoms. Here he erected a rough frame house 16x20 feet, one story and a half high. The first year he broke only ten acres of his land, but the next year he broke about forty acres. His original house served the purpose of a residence with an addition which he made to it, until 1875, when he built a story and a half frame house, 18x28 feet, and an ell 14x20 feet, with porch and pantry added. He has also a frame barn 16x30 feet. His home farm now consists of two hundred acres, all under cultivation. He has a farm of eighty acres in Jackson Township, which makes him quite an extensive land owner.
In 1885 he left the farm and went to Modale, where he engaged in general merchandising, in which time he sold out his business, and has since lived a retired life. In 1888 he and his wife took a trip through Ohio, visiting his parents, who lived at that time in Carroll County. He also attended the Grand Army of the Republic Encampment at Columbus, and visited many friends and relatives in the Buckeye State. The summer of 1889 and 1890 our subject spent in the Black Hills country, he having a son Charles C., who is a ranchman in Fall River County, South Dakota. Upon coming to this county our subject had but little means, but being possessed of a good education, he taught school winters and farmed summers. He passed through two sieges of grasshopper raids, and in 1868 they caused the total failure of crops. Mr. MCQUEEN received $300 for teaching school, or he could hardly have existed in the country.

To acquaint the reader with our subject's earlier life and his wife's domestic relations, it may be said that he was born November 26, 1829, in Carroll County, Ohio, then known as Jefferson County. He is a son of Elisha and Lydia (TOPE) MCQUEEN. They were natives of Washington County, Pennsylvania. The father was born August 9, 1802, and died in Carroll County, Ohio, in February, 1890. The mother was born in 1805, and died at the same place in December 1890. These two old companions on the road of life, having filled their mission well, passed from the scenes of earth during the same year. They reared a family of six children, our subject being the second child in the family of three daughters and three sons. He remained at home with his parents until October, 1848, when he commenced teaching school, and followed it for a number of years. He taught winters, and to school summers, for several years, and attended the academy at New Hagerstown, Carroll County, several years. There were two departments in this school, and only had one change of teachers while he was there, and this was occasioned by the lady teacher getting married, after which our subject put one of his advanced pupils in charge. In 1859 he went to Canal Dover, Tuscarawas County, Ohio, and took charge of his father-in-law's mercantile business, which he conducted until 1860, and that spring came to Poweshiek County, Iowa, and commenced teaching at Brooklyn, following the same until about the time he came to Harrison County. The last year he was there he was in the grocery business and bought and sold out three times. This was during Civil War times.

Our subject was united in marriage, in Carroll County, Ohio, October 25, 1853, to Miss Mary WALTERS, the daughter of William and Elizabeth (MCKEE) WALTERS, and to them have been born five children -- Elisha W., Amanda M., James L., Charles G., Frank W., all of whom are living.

Mary (WALTERS) MCQUEEN was born near New Cumberland, Tuscarawas County, Ohio, August 17, 1836, and lived with her parents until the date of her marriage.

Our subject is a member of the Sons of Temperance, and was a member at Leesville, Ohio, in 1854, and was made a Mason at Urichsville, Ohio, in the fall of 1854. He now belongs to the Masonic lodge at Missouri Valley. He was made a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, at Brooklyn, Iowa, in 1862, and now belongs to the Mondamin Lodge. He was a charter member of the Masonic lodge at Brooklyn, Iowa, and was its first S. W.

Mrs. MCQUEEN is an acceptable member of the Methodist Episcopal church, and is an exemplary christian.

Mr. MCQUEEN, in his political choice, is a Democrat, and has held all the local township offices, except constable. He is a Notary Public at the present time. In the campaign of 1876, he was a candidate on the Democratic ticket for the office of County Recorder. The Republican majority at that time ws three hundred and thirty-four, yet through his ability and popularity, he was only defeated by twenty-seven votes.

Frank W., son of our subject, was born in Harrison County, Iowa, May 14, 1867. He received his education at the common schools, and attended the Commercial college at Omaha, during the summer and fall of 1888. He then came back to Modale, and opened a general store, carrying about $2,000 in stock. He was married in Des Moines, Iowa, June 12, 1890, to Miss Linnie MCGREW, daughter of Nathan B. and Anna (HICKOCK) MCGREW. Linnie (MCGREW) MCQUEEN was born in Williams County, Ohio, November 19, 1868, and in 1882, her parents moved to Des Moines.

Source: 1891 History of Harrison County Iowa.
Family Researcher: Suzanna Wells.
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VORE - John VORE, of LaGrange Township, son of Pierson and Cynthia VORE, is the second of a family of eleven children. He was born in Guernsey County, Ohio, May 10, 1824. His early schooling was received in his native county, and when his parents moved to Athens County all was new and wild, and he had very few school privileges after that. The last term of school he attended the lady he afterward married was attending. He remained at home until the date of his marriage, September 15, 1846, when he was united to Zilpha Ann WHITMORE, who was one of a pair of twins born July 18, 1823, in Athens County, Ohio. She was the fourth child of a family of eight children. Her twin mate was Cyrus B. Her father, Aaron WHITMORE, was born in Connecticut, September 24, 1790, and died in July, 1875. Betsey B. (WARREN) WHITMORE, was born September 27, 1793, and died January 22, 1885.

Immediately after the marriage of our subject he located on a tract of land he bought of his father, and lived upon the same eight years, when he sold out, fitted out two wagons, with horse teams, and started for Harrison County, arriving November 11, 1854. He first located in Twelve-Mile Grove, in Douglas Township, where he bought eighty acres of land, which he lived n until March 29, 1855, at which time he traded his land for a larger tract in Crawford County, and was there until March, 1867, when he rented his land and moved to his present place, selling his Crawford County place two years later. Since he moved to his present place he has erected a house, the upright of which is 16x34 feet, with fourteen-foot posts, also an ell 16x32 feet, one story high. He has an orchard of two hundred bearing trees, and the total amount of land he owns in Harrison County is six hundred and eighty acres. Mr. and Mrs. VORE have reared a family of six children--John Morris, Pierson E., Margaret L., William O., George W. and Albert A.

John Morris is a carpenter at Woodbine; Albert is a farmer in LaGrange Township; Pierson lives in Nevada; Margaret died June 29, 1871, aged twenty-seven years; William O., lives in Nevada; and George W. is a locomotive engineer in Minneapolis.

When Mr. VORE came to the county he had but little means, and passed through the general hardships co-incident to pioneer life. He well remembers how he and his wife commenced keeping house, with what furniture they had on a sled, and also that small change was very scarce, and he does not believe that he ever spent $5 foolishly until he was past twenty-five years of age. He is now surrounded with all the comforts of life, and contemplates retiring from the farm in the near future.

Source: 1891 Harrison County Iowa History, pp. 576, 577
Family Researcher: NA
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VORE - William F. VORE (Portrait), one of the pioneer boys who found their way to Harrison County in the autumn of 1855, settling in Harris Grove, will form the subject of this sketch.

His father, Pierson VORE, was born in Pennsylvania, April 2, 1799, and was one of the eldest children of Peter and Rebecca VORE. Peter was a shoemaker by trade, and was of German descent, and When Pierson was a small boy his people removed to Maryland, where he received a limited school education, his father being a poor man, as were most of the people in those days. He never attended school but three months in his life, but having a good memory, and using his leisure hours in gathering up what he could, he became a fairly well-informed man. Later on his parents removed to Athens County, Ohio, where they both died. Pierson remained at home until he was married to Cyntha JOY, who was born April 4, 1804. They were married October 10, 1822. Some years after his marriage he rented land and finally bought forty acres of timber land and commenced clearing up a farm upon which he lived about five years, and then sold and bought one hundred and sixty acres in Athens County, Ohio, and three years later sold that and bought another farm to which he added until he had two hundred and fifty acres, which he sold in 1850, and removed to another part of the same county, and purchased a farm on which he lived some years, and sold for $25 per acres. We next find him fitted out with three wagons and seven horses emigrating with his family to Harrison County, Iowa, arriving November 8, 1855. He had been here the August before and purchased the places on which he first located. His son John, had been here a year ahead of him. The family moved into a log cabin on a forty-acre tract, and the following season erected a frame addition to this house, which was one of the first frame buildings in the Grove. He was a successful farmer, and was never in debt unless it was on land. He was hard working-man and took pride in seeing his family well situated, helping each boy to land as fast as he could.

William F. VORE, our subject, received his education in the district schools of Athens County, where he was born December 26, 1835. He was married April 19, 1861, to Elvira A. BAUGHN, who was born near Cincinnati, Ohio, July 8, 1843, and is the daughter of Charles and Pensel BAUGHN, and was the third child of a family of twelve--six boys and six girls. Her parents came to Harrison County in 1856. Mr. and Mrs. VORE are the parents of eight children, six of whom died in infancy. The living children are Fannie E. and Mattie Maud. Fannie attended the district schools of LaGrange Township, and the High School at Logan, after which she taught several years. March 4, 1886, she was married to Edward BOWEN, who now lives in Union Township.

After the marriage of our subject he settled on land his father had given him, moving into a cabin that had been erected by some of the early Mormons. In this he lived three years, and then erected a brick and frame house, in which he lived about twenty years, and then erected his present fine two-story frame house. He now has five hundred and fifty-five acres of land, one hundred and thirty-five of which is kept under the plow, while one hundred acres are timber and pasture-land.

Politically our subject is a supporter of the Republican party. He is a member of Crysolite Lodge, A. F. & A. M. at Logan.

Great has been the change in Harrison County since Mr. VORE first looked upon its sloping hill sides and fertile valleys. When he came here wild game, including deer, elk and turkeys, were in abundance. Council Bluffs was the nearest trading point. Building material was very high when he built his brick house; it burned June 13, 1887.

Source: 1891 Harrison County Iowa History, pp. 601, 602
Family Researcher: NA
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CROW - Stephen CROW, who had been a resident of Harrison County, since the closing year of the great Civil War, coming as he did in the spring of 1865, when he settled on section 13, of Boyer Township, where he bought two hundred and forty acres of land, upon which there was a small log house, and about eighty acres of land broken. In this log house the family lived until 1868, when he built a brick house, 24x36 feet, and two stories high, with a kitchen 16x20, one story high. The house is provided with a basement, about forty feet long, by sixteen feet wide. In 1878 Mr. CROW built a barn 20x30 feet, with a basement the same size; the upper part being used for hay and grain, and the basement for a horse-barn.

When our subject came to the county the towns of Dunlap, Woodbine and Logan, had not been laid out, and he had to do his trading at Council Bluffs, but had mail accomodations by a Post-Office called Harrison City, with Mrs. L. D. BUTLER as Postmistress.

Mr. CROW was born in Geneseo County, New York, February 1, 1817, and remained there until he was three years of age, when his parents emigrated to Huron County, Ohio, where he remained with his parents until of age, and then went to Cass County, Michigan, where he remained until the autumn of 1846, farming and teaching school. We next find him in Cass County, Illinois, where he bought a farm and cultivated it until his coming to Harrison County.

He was married to Miss Elizabeth PRATER, in Cass County, Michigan, June 16, 1844, and by this union ten children have been born -- Benjamin F., born October 15, 1845; Washington I., born January 20, 1847; Marquis D., born February 23, 1849; Leonidas M., born January 11, 1851; William H., born June 16, 1852; Laura E., born October 26, 1854; Stephen E., December 16, 1856; John C., born September 12, 1858; Charles L., born June 27, 1860; Elmer E., born ?? 24, 1862.

Washington I. died at home, as the result of a gun shot inflicted by a man who was living in the same house with Mr. CROW's people. His death occurred December 6, 1875, never speaking after he was shot. A detailed account of this premeditated murder appears elsewhere in this volume.

Mrs. CROW was born in Wayne County, Indiana, August 6, 1826, remaining with her parents, who moved to Cass County, Michigan, when she was three years of age, in 1829, when that was yet a Territory. Her father, Jonathan PRATER, was born in Harden County, Virginia, September 16, 1796, and died in Cass County, Michigan, March 4, 1847. He was married to Miss Rebecca GRIFFIN, by whom eight children were reared; our subject's wife being the fourth child. The mother was born in North Carolina, March 12, 1797, and died in Cass County, Michigan, April 6, 1872.

Stephen CROW, Sr., the father of our subject, was born in Hartford, Conn., in 1780, and died in Sandusky County, Ohio, in 1843. His wife was Lucy ELWELL, born in Bennington County, Vermont, in 1790, and died in Sandusky County, Ohio, in 1841. They were the parents of nine children, four sons and five daughters; our subject being the sixth child.

In his political belief, Mr. CROW is a staunch supporter of the Republican party, and in his religious belief is Missionary Baptist.

Since coming to this county, he has held all the school offices of Boyer Township. He stands high in the community in which he lives, and has been an industrious hard working man, having been on the frontier in the "Buckeye," "Wolverine," "Prairie," and "Hawkeye" States.

Like many other loyal citizens, our subject felt it his duty to go to the front in the Rebellion. He enlisted in the Sixty-First Illinois Regiment for three years. He was at the memorable battle of Pittsburg Landing, under Gen. Prentis. He was in prison fifty days, exchanged and went back to his compnay and was at the siege of Vicksburg and witnessed the surrender of thirty-two thousand seven hundred and ten rebels, which he says was a sorry sight to behold.

Sources: 1891 History of Harrison County Iowa.
Family Researcher: Jeff Purser.
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McEUEN - William H. McEUEN, who came to Harrison County in 1880, arrived at Logan March 12. He bought a place the following June in Boyer Township, consisting of eighty acres, which he held three years and then moved to his present home on section 1, where he owns a farm of three hundred and ten acres, situated in Boyer and Jefferson Townships. It was wild land, but has by his plowshare been brought to a high state of cultivation. He has a commodious farm-house, 18x28 feet, and two stories in height, with an addition 18x28 feet. He generally keeps about fifty head of cattle.

William McEuen was born in Litchfield County, Conn. February 13, 1830, the third of four children born to his parents, Charles and Aurilia (RAMSEY) McEuen. The father was born in Connecticut and the mother in New York. They emigrated to Geauga County, Ohio when William was age 9, where they spent the remainder of their days. William later lived in Windsor and in Geneva, Ohio before coming to Harrison County, Iowa in 1880.

William married Miss Sarah E. WOOD Sept. 9, 1858, in Geauga County, Ohio. She was a native of Ohio, the daughter of Abram and Betsy WOOD. She was the third child of a family of six. William and Sarah had one child, Frank G., who married Ella Walton of Ashtabula County, Ohio. They live in Harrison County at present.

While living in Ohio, for three years he was a commercial traveler, selling oils and paints. During this time he dealt in cattle he shipped to Buffalo, N.Y., before any regular yards had been established there, and afterwards shipped to Albany, N.Y. He bought cattle in Chicago before the city had her Union Stock Yards.

Since coming to Harrison County he has been successful in his agricultural pursuits, and is surrounded to-day with a comfortable home and has the respect of all who know him.

Sources: 1891 History of Harrison County Iowa.
Family Researcher: Erica.
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LANYON - Thomas J. LANYON, proprietor of a general store at Little Sioux, Iowa, has been a resident of Harrison County, since 1858, and consequently would very naturally find a place among the representative men of this county as forming a part of this history.

Our subject was born in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, July 17, 1848. He is a son of Thomas and Sophia (CAMPION) LANYON, who were natives of England, but emigrated to America in 1832. The father was born in Cornwall, and the mother in Leicestershire. Both parents are deceased; the father dying in 1854, and the mother in July, 1887, aged seventy-eight years.

The early life of our subject was spent in the city of Pittsburg; he received his education there and at Preparation, Iowa. In his parents' family there were seven children, our subject being the fifth. In 1859 our subject went to Magnolia and entered the newspaper office of George BRAINARD, who was then publishing the Republican. One year later we find him at Onawa, Iowa, with D. W. BUTTS, on the Cordon, and in 1862 he came to Little Sioux and hired out to Isaac GAMET, on a farm and there remained until 1865, following farming for the next two years. He was with the surveyors, who established the line of the Sioux City & Pacific Railway, with whom he was associated about six months; was then employed in a drug store for about eight months. We next find him clerking in the store of D. M. GAMET, from some time in 1869, to July 7, 1870, when President U.S. GRANT appointed him Postmaster, which position he held for seventeen years, ending January, 1886.

On March 22, 1877 (although the 1905 Directory shows the the date as 4/21/1877) he was united in marriage at Little Sioux, to Miss Ella M. PETERS, the daughter of Richard L. and Lydia Ann (BUTTS) PETERS. By this union five children were born, four of whom still survive -- Marion T., Ralph H., Clement Earl, Leon (deceased), and Teressa. (Note: There is an F. M. LANYON marrying an Ida TARLTON on 3/19/1879 in the 1905 Directory).

Politically our subject is a Republican, and he is numbered among the honored members of Frontier Lodge, No. 382, of the Masonic order at Little Sioux. He has been Secretary of the School Board since 1883, and Township Trustee for several years. He started his present business in 1871, with a very small beginning, but has gradually worked up the scale, and now has a paying business established. In 1877 he erected his present business house, and in 1884 built his residence which adjoins his store.

Sources: 1891 History of Harrison County Iowa.
Family Researcher: Karen Winfield.
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NEAL - William NEAL, a farmer located on section 6, of Allen Township, came to Harrison County, in the spring of 1885. The first four years he lived on the George PUGSLEY place in Lincoln Township. He then bought eighty acres of unimproved land, constituting his present farm. Mr. NEAL was born in June, 1857, in Piatt County, Illinois. He is the son of John and Amelia NEAL, natives of Ohio, who were the parents of eleven children, names as follows: Samuel and George (deceased); Anna, William, Charles, Ellen, Martha, Eliza, deceased; John, Emma and Elizabeth.

Our subject came to Iowa when a small boy, with his parents, who settled in Linn County, and remained with them until he had reached his majority. He then went to Page County, where he worked at farm labor for two years, leasing land. He then removed to Taylor County, Iowa, where he rented land for eighteen years, after which he removed to Monona County, remained two years on rented land, and then came to this county. Thus far in life our subject has lived the life of single blessedness. However, he is fortunate, in that his mother and sister keep house for him.

Sources: 1891 History of Harrison County Iowa.
Family Researcher: N/A.
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HUNT - William A. HUNT, came to Harrison County in February, 1884, and rented land for five years, after which he bought the place he now occupies in Cass Township.

Mr. HUNT was born in the town of Day, Saratoga County, New York, May 20, 1837, and remained in that section until he came to Harrison County, Iowa. July 7, 1870, he was united in marriage to Crista A. FULLER, by whom six children have been borb: Isaac L., Erwin E., John A., Ida M., Lester J., deceased; and Angie E.

Our subject's father's name is Isaac, who was born in New York State, and married Angeline CORRA, also a native of the Empire State. They reared a family of five children of whom our subject was the oldest. The father was engaged at lumbering and rafting logs and timber.

Sources: 1891 History of Harrison County Iowa, pp. 905-906.
Family Researcher: N/A.
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