CHAMPNEY - Charles C. CHAMPNEY, a farmer residing on section 15, of Jackson Township, has been a resident of Harrison County since the spring of 1867. He first located in Cincinnati Township, where he purchased one hundred and twenty-five acres of wild land, and made the necessary improvements, and subsequently added sixty acres more to his farm. He remained on that place until 1884, when he sold and bought the two hundred fifty-acre farm he now lives upon, which was partly improved at the time. Here he made marked improvement, providing more house room, digging a good well, and erecting a wind mill; also set out an orchard of one hundred and fifty trees.

Mr. CHAMPNEY was born in Oswego County, N. Y., in August, 1838. He is the son of Lorin and Julia (GREENWOOD) CHAMPNEY, natives of the Empire State, who had a family of five children--Charles C., Martha, Loretta, Julia, deceased, and Almon. Our subject lived with his parents until he had attained his majority, and then rented land for himself until he came to Harrison County in 1867.

He was married March 7, 1861 to Helen CLARK, the daughter of Lewis and Harriet CLARK, who were the parents of eleven children--Jane, deceased; Ann, deceased; Lucena, William, decease; Charles, deceased; Olin, Henry, Almira, deceased; Minerva, deceased; Louis, deceased and Helen deceased.

For his second wife our subject married Julia GILBERT, March 1, 1871 and by this union the following children were born: Nellie, September 30, 1864; Ada, March 22, 1873, deceased; Frank L., April 15, 1876; Charles f., July 25, 1877 and Grace, February 21, 1885.

For his third wife Mr. CHAMPNEY married on October 7, 1890, Emma MCWILLIAMS, the daughter of John and Mary MCWILLIAMS, natives of Ohio, who had a family of ten children, our subject's wife being the fifth. The children's names were Catherine C., Jane, deceased; Matilda, deceased; one died in infancy; Emma, William, deceased; Worth, deceased; Maria, deceased; Abbie and Charles.

Our subject and his wife are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church.

Source: 1891 Harrison County Iowa History, pp. 624
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CRAWFORD - Logan CRAWFORD (Portrait), an early settler and prominent farmer of St. John's Township, will form the subject of this biographical notice. He was born in Union, Conn., January 13, 1822, and can trace his ancestry back to Hugh CRAWFORD, his great-grandfather, who with five brothers came from Belfast, Ireland, and were of Scotch descent. The great-grandfather married a lady named CAMPBELL from Ireland, and their son Samuel was born there, and followed farming for a livelihood. He was the grandfather of our subject. In this family there were five sons--Luther, John, Samuel, Ingoldsby W. (the father of our subject), and Charles, all of whom are now deceased.

Ingoldsby was born in Connecticut, August 7, 1786, and was reared on his father's farm and in his day was quite a prominent man in New England, serving as a member of the Legislature, State Senator, and Collector of Customs at New London, Conn., hold the last named position eight years. He received his appointment from Gen. JACKSON, then President of the United States. He was also Judge of his county for several years, and an honored member of the Masonic fraternity, attending the general Grand Chapters of the United States. He married Rhoda TAFT, a native of Mendon, Mass. She was the daughter of Daniel TAFT, and a descendant of the TAFT family, to which present Consul of the United States belongs, as well as a relative of Judge TAFT, of the United States Supreme Court. Our subject's parents had a family of nine children, all of whom taught school--Calista, who for her first husband married a Mr. LYONS, a cousin of the telegraph man--Prof. MORSE--and later married Mr. SESSIONS. She is now deceased; Daniel T., deceased; Caroline, Mrs. NEWELL, deceased; Sarah Ann, deceased; Logan, our subject; Ossian, a resident of Wales, Mass.; Marcia, Mrs. LAMBERSON, now a resident of Livermore, Iowa; Harriet, decease; and Alonzo, a resident of California.

Our subject spent his early life on his father's farm, obtaining a good business education attending an academy at Brooklyn, Conn., where he boarded with Mr. MATHER, the father of Prof. MATHER, of geological fame. He also attended Worcester County Manual Labor High School, in Massachusetts, under S. S. GREEN, the author of "Green's Analysis." After leaving school, our subject taught school winters and worked on the farm in the summer time. In 1847 he located in Dodge County, Wis., where he worked in a sawmill, and took up a piece of land, and when the railroad was run from Fond du Lac to Watertown, he assisted as flagman in the survey and worked the following summer in a plow factory at Mayville, and that fall (1851) was employed by Mr. SEWELL, of the railway company, to run the compass, which he did until July, when he was transferred to Illinois, to run the Northwestern from Chicago towards Janesville, and in May, 1854, came West.

He was united in marriage September 21, 1851, to Helen M. RISING, daughter of Oliver and Hannah (HAWS) RISING, a descendant of the GOFF family of New Hampshire. She died February 29, 1884, and was the mother of five children, three of whom still survive. The children were: Virginia, Mrs. PURCELL, born July 27, 1852, and died April 7, 1889; Penina, Mrs. PURCELL, born February 14, 1854, now a resident of St. John's Township; Ira, born November 19, 1855, living in St. John's Township; Clinton, born November 19, 1857, died September 29, 1881; Esther, now at Ames, Iowa, in the Library of Iowa Agricultural College.

Mr. CRAWFORD first located in Calhoun Township, purchased timbered land on section 32 and entered one hundred and twenty acres of wild prairie land, which he partially improved but subsequently sold. In 1857 he pre-empted swamp land in St. John's Township, the same being a part of his present farm, to which he has added at various times until he now has three hundred and sixty acres, all enclosed by a substantial fence and under cultivation.

November 27, 1861, he enlisted in Company H, Fifteenth Iowa Infantry, as a private, and was assigned to the Army of the West. He participated in the following engagements: Shiloh, Corinth and Vicksburg. At the battle of Corinth he was wounded in the head by a gun-shot. Before their time expired, the regiment re-enlisted in the Veteran Corp and joined Gen. Sherman on his famous march to the sea. At Atlanta, Ga., he was shot, left on the field in the hands of the enemy, who took him prisoner and sent him to Macon, Ga., and from there sent to Andersonville, where it was found by the Rebels that he was an officer (he having been promoted to Second Lieutenant), therefore they did not keep him at Andersonville, but returned him to Macon, where he remained until the last of August, when he was sent to Rickersville, a station four miles from Charleston, where he remained until December, when he was exchanged. His wound was a severe one in the left lung, the effects of which will go with him through life. He was exchanged at Charleston Harbor, S. C., December 14, 1864, returned home, receiving his final discharge February 19, 1865.

Politically, Mr. CRAWFORD is a supporter of the Republican party; and among the local offices he has held may be mentioned, that of County Surveyor, having been appointed to fill a vacancy and elected twice. He has also been Justice of the Peace in Calhoun Township.

As a historical item, it may be mentioned, that the winter Ingoldsby W. was twenty-one years of age, he taught school in the center of the township (of Woodstock, Conn.), near the residence of Deacon MORSE, the grandfather of the great telegrapher, and many times accepted invitations to dinner with him, Mr. MORSE being very much interested in all educational work, and always asked, "How many scholars had you t-day?" and at the end of the term says, "I can tell you the daily attendance at your school."

Source: 1891 Harrison County Iowa History, pp. 627, 628, 629
Family Researcher: NA To Page Index--- To Bio Index
FOX - Joseph FOX, a resident of section 20, Jackson Township, came to the county in the spring of 1860. He came here a poor man and located at Little Sioux, and commenced driving a stage for the Northwestern Stage Company, between Sioux City and Council Bluffs, and followed the same for six years. At that time there were but two houses between Little Sioux and Onawa, and four houses between Onawa and Sergent's Bluff. He then bought and operated a hotel at Little Sioux for six years, and then rented a farm in Little Sioux Township, remained a short time and came to the place he now occupies, having lived upon his present place seven years. He has devoted his time to the breeding of standard-bred horses and cattle.

Our subject was born in Erie County, N. Y., in April, 1840. He is a son of Adam and Mary FOX, natives of New York and Germany, respectively. They reared a family of four children--Frank, Joseph, Antony and Ambrose. Our subject removed from New York when twelve years of age. He unfortunately had a mother who was not a real mother, but a step-mother, with whom he did not agree, as is quite often the case, so he bid his father good-bye and went to Racine, Wis., and worked in that vicinity by the month until 1860, when he came to Harrison County, Iowa.

Appreciating the advantage of a good home, he sought to provide one for himself, so in April, 1864, he was united in marriage to Sarah CLARK, the daughter of William and Margaret CLARK, natives of Ireland, who had a family of seven children, our subject's wife being the fourth. The children were Joseph, David, deceased; John; William, an infant, deceased; Sarah and Jennie.

By this marriage union two children have been born--Frank, born in October, 1868 and George in August, 1870.

Our subject is a member of the Odd Fellows order, belonging to Lodge, No. 387, at Little Sioux.

Source: 1891 Harrison County Iowa History, pp. 629
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HEDGES - Samuel E. HEDGES, one of the enterprising farmers of Jackson Township, residing on section 33, has made Harrison County his home since the autumn of 1881, when he bought forty acres of partly-improved land in Little Sioux Township. Here he built a one-story house 16x20 feet, set out an orchard of thirty trees and built him a good fence. This place cost our subject $22.50 per acre. After four years he sold the place and rented land for three years, and then bought the place he now occupies, which consisted of thirty-seven acres of improved land, to which he has added many good improvements, including outbuildings and an orchard.

Our subject was born in Hancock County, Ohio, September 17, 1853. His parents are John and Athelinda HEDGES, natives of the Buckeye State, who had a family of seven children, he being next to the oldest. The children's names were--Mary, deceased; Samuel E., our subject; Emily, deceased; Jacob, deceased; Jessie, deceased; Rachel; Diba, deceased; and Flora, deceased.

Our subject lived with his parents until he grew to man's estate, when he worked on a farm by the month for two years. We next find him in Nebraska, where he bought forty acres of land, and remained there two years, sold out and moved to Harrison County.

Mr. HEDGES was united in marriage September 7, 1876, to Christie KING, the daughter of William and Elizabeth KING, natives of Ohio, who had ten children, as follows--John, Jane, Addis, Mary, Eli, Cyrus, Barkley, Christie, Susie and Emily.

Our subject and his wife are the parents of three children--Wilbur, Emily, deceased and Calvin.

Mr. and Mrs. HEDGES are acceptable members of the Methodist Episcopal Church.

Source: 1891 Harrison County Iowa History, pp. 630
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MCCABE - John C. MCCABE, editor of the Logan Observer, has been a resident of Harrison County, since April 10, 1865, one year more than a quarter of a century, and has been closely identified with every interest of Harrison County from that day to this, and hence very naturally, would find a place on the pages of Harrison County history. But before reviewing the career of this man's life as it has been found in Harrison County, we turn the attention of the reader the Empire State--New York--and to a point near the line of King County, where our subject was born May 5, 1840. His parents were Francis and Elizabeth (CONNAUGHTY) MCCABE. The father was a native of the county of Cavan, Ireland, and born about 1817, and was married when nineteen years of age, and sailed for America, landing in New York harbor April 16, 1840, after a six weeks' voyage on the ocean. For six years they lived near Albany, and then moved to Canton, Mass., fifteen miles from Boston, where they remained until 1848, and then moved to a point near Oshkosh, Wis., locating on a farm where the father died in May 1884. The mother of our subject died February 11, 1863, aged fifty-five years. Mr. MCCABE's father and mother reared a family of eight children, seven of whom still survive, our subject being the second child, the eldest, Terrence MCCABE, lives in Raglan Township, this county.

John C., our subject, attended the common district schools in Wisconsin, until nineteen years of age, assisting his father to clear up a farm, the surface of which was covered with heavy timber and stone. This was no small task as the reader will know, when it is said that the greater part of this farm is now fenced with stone gathered from the farm.

About this time our subject attended the High School of Oshkosh. He bid farewell to his old home in the Badger State, August 30, 1861, and came to Scott County, Iowa, where he was engaged as a clerk three months for his uncle, Cornelius MCCABE, but not being pleased with that occupation, he taught school from that time until 1864. For the next eight months it is found that he traveled in different states and territories, teaching school, which profession he followed until about 1880, teaching at least five months of each year, within four townships of Harrison County. In the spring of 1867 he bought a farm on sections 12 and 13, of Raglan Township, consisting of one hundred and twenty acres, which he carried on, besides teaching school. When he purchased the place it had a log cabin 12x16 feet, in which he lived until he sold the place to John V. WALKER in the autumn of 1869. The following winter he went to the Missouri Bottoms, having a contract with the Sioux City & Pacific Railroad Company, to furnish ties for them. We next find Mr. MCCABE cultivating a farm on shares in Magnolia Township, but in the spring of 1870 he purchased one hundred and twenty acres of land on section 28, of Allen Township, the same being wild land, and that season he broke considerable prairie and erected a house, moving to the place in 1871. Through hard work and good management Mr. MCCABE added two hundred to the original tract, giving him a half section of rich Harrison County soil. The improvements on this place consisted of two hundred and thirty-five acres of plow land, a good story and a half farm house 18x26 feet, with a kitchen 14x24 feet, also an orchard of about three acres planted out in the spring of 1870, which is now very productive of valuable fruit.

At the general election in the autumn of 1887, Mr. MCCABE was elected to the office of County Surveyor, having been deputy Surveyor for about twelve years prior to that date. April 24, 1888, he came to Logan and assumed control of the duties of his office, serving one term of two years. We next find our subject planted in the editorial chair of the Observer at Logan, which newspaper plant he purchased December 19, 1889, and still continues to operate, the further particulars of which will be found in the village history of Logan, in connection with the other newspapers. Mr. MCCABE is a practical, forcible, editorial writer. In addition to his journalistic work, he does a large amount of surveying, and is probably better posted regarding that portion of Harrison County west of the Boyer River, than any other man who has looked upon a compass and carried a chain, in the county.

November 27, 1866, our subject was united in marriage to Cordelia I. PATCH, a native of Ohio, born June 19, 1847, and the daughter of Joel H. and Hannah (ROBINSON) PATCH. Mrs. MCCABE is the fourth child of her father's family; her mother died when she was ten days old. Her father again married a lady who died before he came to Harrison County. He emigrated to this county in 1853, and died in Morgan Township, while there on a visit, his home being in Magnolia Township. He was born October 14, 1814, and died January 21, 1879.

Mr. and Mrs. MCCABE are the parents of five children--Frank H., born April 17, 1870, and now works in his father's office; John A., July 24, 1871, deceased; Clark, October 22, 1872, deceased; Daisy R., August 26, 1878; Robert M., November 14, 1880.

Politically, Mr. MCCABE is a stanch supporter of the Republican party, and comes nearer to being able to give a hope for the political faith he holds, than almost any man in his community. He is a member of Logan Lodge, no, 355, I. O. O. F., Columbian Encampment, No. 101 at Logan, and Magnolia Lodge, No. 126, Ancient, Free and Accepted Masonry.

Mrs. MCCABE has been identified with the Presbyterian Church for three years. Both our subject and his estimable wife are well known throughout Harrison County, "Mac" being the same plain, common sense every-day man, whether on the farm, in the school room, carrying the tripod, or in the sanctum of the Observer, and hence counts his friends by the on word--Legion.

Source: 1891 Harrison County Iowa History, pp. 631, 632, 633
Family Researcher: NA To Page Index--- To Bio Index
LASEUR - William LASEUR, a farmer residing on section 17, of Allen Township, has been a resident of Harrison County since the spring of 1868. He came to Dunlap without any means and hired out to work on a farm, and continued to this work and rent land for twelve years, when he bought the farm upon which he now lives, which consisted of eighty acres of party improved land, for which he paid $12.50 per acre. He has since added to this land, and now owns one hundred and twenty acres; sixty-five of which are under to the plow. He also owns a ten acre timber lot. Upon this place he erected a house 14x20 feet, with a wing the same size, together with a kitchen the same size. He also built a granary 12x14 feet.

He was born in the state of New York, January 16, 1846, in Oneida County. He is a son of Amasa and Didama (COATS) LASEUR, natives of France, who had six children: Frederick, Eliza, Clara, Frank, deceased, William and Charles.

Our subject's parents died when he was but five years of age, and he was adopted by a man named FOLETT, of Chenango County, New York, with whom he remained until sixteen years old. His foster father gave him a fair education at the common schools, and also two terms of select school. Upon the breaking out of the Civil War, he enlisted as a member of Company I, One Hundred and Fourteenth Infantry, under Captain S. H. WHEELER and was mustered into service at Norwich, N. Y., and was sent from there to Baltimore, where he did guard duty a month, and then joined the Gulf expedition to New Orleans, and remained in this department about one year and a half, participating in the engagements at Sabine Crossroads, Pleasant Hill, the siege of Port Hudson, and other minor engagements, and was then sent to Washington and engaged in the Shenandoah Valley campaign, with General SHERIDAN, and fought at Winchester, Cedar Creek, Fisher's Hill. He was wounded in Cedar Creek by a gunshot in the hip, and laid in the hospital, Philadelphia, four months. After his recover he went back and served until the close of the War, receiving his discharge at Elmira, N. Y., in June, 1865, and worked by the month from that time until he came to Harrison County.

He was married in May, 1876, to Sarah HENDRICKSON, daughter of James and Jane HENDRICKSON, who reared a family of eight children. The parents were natives of Tennessee, and their children were born in the following order: Adolphus, Lizzie, deceased, Sarah, Alfred, Frank, Cornelius, Milton and Benjamin.

Our subject and his wife are the parents of seven children: William, deceased, Pauline, Edna, Fred, Josephine, Frank and Clara.

Our subject is a member of the Grand Army Post at Little Sioux. His army record, together with the fact that he was left an orphan when but a small child, has caused his life to be one of a checkered character, but be it said to his credit, he has always proven himself to be a man of high sense of honor, always ready to do his part and go wherever duty calls.

Source: 1891 Harrison County Iowa History, pp. 633, 634
Family Researcher: NA To Page Index--- To Bio Index
MCCABE - Terrance MCCABE, a resident of section 14, Raglan Township, has been a resident of this county since April, 1866--the closing year of the Civil War. He first located on one hundred and twenty acres of partly improved land, constituting a part of his present farm. The place had a log house and eighteen acres of land under the plow. This log cabin served the family seven years, when he built a house 16x20 feet, in which they lived nineteen years, when high water drove them out by flooding and filling in with mud and water, which was fourteen inches deep on the floor. He then built another house two stories high, 16x32 feet with an addition. He commenced in Harrison County poor, but has kept adding to his land until he now has one hundred and eighty-three acres, one hundred acres of which is under the plow and the balance in pasture and timber; all enclosed with a good fence. He has built a barn 20x3 feet, and has a large set of stock scales and other valuable improvements, including an orchard of two hundred trees. It was his ill-fortune to live in the county during the grasshopper years, and when the vast army spread their wings and took flight they darkened the very heaves at noonday, and with their going they carried away with them a large portion of our subject's crops, which made the subsequent years quite hard for him.

Mr. MCCABE was born in Ireland, November 28, 1837; he is the son of Francis and Eliza MCCABE, who were also natives of the Emerald Isle; who had a family of eight children--Terrence, John C., Mary A., Francis, Eliza, Frances and Agnes.

His parents came to America when he was but two years of age, leaving him in his native land with his grandparents, with whom he lived until nine years old, at which time he came to America with friends and met his father at Boston Harbor, with whom he lived until he was of age. His family settled on a farm in Wisconsin in 1848, and he was then twenty years old, and in the winter of 1860-61, he followed logging in the pine districts of Wisconsin. In April of that year, the thundering cannon fired on Ft. Sumter and was the signal of a great conflict, the sequel of which was only found at the end of a four-years' bloody rebellion. Our subject who was fired with the spirit of patriotism, only born of the love of liberty, and only carried out by self-sacrifice and hardship, enlisted as a soldier in the Union army, a month after the Stars and Bars were unfurled to the breeze. He became a member of Company B, Third Wisconsin Infantry, under Capt. SCOTT, enlisting at Oshkosh. He was sent to Hagarstown, Md., and from there to Harper's Ferry, Va., and was at the engagement of Balls Bluff, Winchester, Cedar Mountain, Second Battle of Bull Run, South Mountain, Antietam, Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, Gettysburg and Mine Run. He was in the service from May, 1861 to May, 1864, when he received his discharge, after which he went into the Quartermaster's Department with Gen. THOMAS' army where he remained until the spring of 1866 and then came to Harrison County, Iowa.

He was married July 20, 1865, to Martha J. DUGGER, the daughter of William and Cyrena DUGGER, natives of Tennessee. His wife was one of a family of eleven children, of whom the following are the names: Martha, Thomas, Sarah, Alonzo, deceased, John; Melvina and Harriet, deceased; Margaret, Wallace, Lafayette and Alice. Eight of these children are living.

Our subject and his wife have had their home blessed by the advent of ten children--Caroline, William, John, Terence D., deceased, Eliza, Peter, Frances, Mary, Agnes and Nellie.

Mr. MCCABE is a member of the Masonic order, belongs to Magnolia Lodge, No. 126.

From the day our subject landed in Boston, at the age of nine years, his had been a varied experience, having lived in this, his adopted country prior to the rebellion, and having marched through the long campaigns, beneath the burning Southern skies, tented in the field, and been in the ranks, where grape and canister shot fell like hail, participating in the largest battles of that terrible strife, and then returning to farm life in Harrison County, in advance of railroads, it may be said that he has seen much of true hardship.

Source: 1891 Harrison County Iowa History, pp. 634, 635
Family Researcher: NA To Page Index--- To Bio Index
JONES - Albert M. JONES located on section 23, of Jackson Township, came to Harrison County in the spring of 1865, when he located on the farm he now occupies, consisting of seven hundred and eighty-four acres. It was all wild land and he at once began improving it. He built a house, the main part of which was 18x22 feet, and an addition, 12x18 feet. He built a barn, twenty-four feet square, provided shedding and cribs; also set out an orchard and shade trees. He dug a good well and provided it with a wind-mill. His whole place is under the protection of a fence, and three hundred and fifty acres under the plow. He has disposed of some of his land, and at the present was three hundred and twenty acres. He came to the county a poor man, and paid $3 per acre for his land, but has come to be a prosperous farmer.

He was born in Hancock County, Ill., in November, 846, and is a son of William S. and Eliza JONES. The father was a native of Wales and the mother, of Ohio. They had six children, of whom our subject was the fifth: Sanders W., Byron L., Albert M., John R., deceased; Winfield S., deceased and James M., deceased. Our subject lived in Illinois until about nineteen years of age, and there received a common-school education. The first two years he lived in Iowa, he crossed the State four times with a covered wagon, camping out by the way-side. Many times he would not see a house in a day's travel.

He was united in marriage, in February, 1873, to Drusilla POLEN, the daughter of William POLEN, who was a native of Ohio. Her parents had five children, named as follows: Mary, Nelson, Kate, Drusilla and Elizabeth.

Our subject and his wife are the parents of three children--Wallace R., born March 4, 1874; Byron B., April 30, 1876 and Jetty M., March 31, 1890.

Source: 1891 Harrison County Iowa History, pp. 6635, 636
Family Researcher: NA To Page Index--- To Bio Index
SHERWOOD - Charles W. SHERWOOD, a farmer living on section 6, of Allen Township, came to Harrison County, in the autumn of 1876--the Centennial year. He came in without means and commenced working by the month on a farm, continuing this for a year and a half, then rented land until 1889, when he bought the land he now occupies, which consists of one hundred and sixty acres of partly improved land.

Our subject was born in Clinton County, Iowa, October 6, 1858. He is the son of John and Rosilla S. SHERWOOD, natives of Ohio and Connecticut, respectively. They reared a family of four children as follows: Louis M., (deceased); Winfield S., (deceased); Lewis J., and Charles W. Our subject remained with his parents until he had reached his majority, when he moved to Crawford County, Iowa, this being about 1872. He bought land in Crawford County. He and his brother worked together and remained there four years, when he and the family came to Harrison County. His father and mother make their home with him. The father is seventy-two years of age, and the mother is sixty-four, and in poor health. She was in the hospital at Keokuk, Iowa, two years during the civil war, for which she now draws a pension.

Our subject is still single, and tries to make the remaining years of his good parents' lives as pleasant as possible.

Source: 1891 Harrison County Iowa History, pp. 637
Family Researcher: NA To Page Index--- To Bio Index

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