The Myers Families of Henry County, Iowa

GEORGE MYERS, one of the early settlers of In Henry County, Iowa, was born in Greenbrier County, W. Va., April 22, 1821, and is the son of John Lewis and Sarah (Rogers) Myers. There George was reared upon a farm and was educated in a pioneer school-house of that date. He was married, July 21, 1842, to Miss Jane Lynch, a native of Monroe County, W. Ya., born March 1, 1818. She was a daughter of William and Rachel (Dolan) Lynch. Her father enlisted in the War of 1812, but before he reached the scene of action peace w.as declared. Mr. and Mrs. Lynch were the parents of ten children, five of whom are living: John D., a resident of Roane County, W. Ya.; James B., residing in Leadville, Col.; Jane, of Henry County, Iowa; Sally, wife of Allen Dolan, deceased, resides in Greenbrier County, W. Ya.,and William, residing in Sissonville, Kanawha Co., W. Ya. Those deceased are Araminta, Martha Ann, Mary S., Rachel and Hannah.

Mr. and Mrs. George Myers came to Iowa in 1852, and settled in Scott Township, which was then one vast prairie. At that time wolves might be heard howling at night, and deer and other wild game abounded. Mr. Myers was an unerring shot with a rifle, and many a deer or chicken shot by him furnished food for the meal Mr. Mj'ers settled on the land now used as a fair ground. He came to this county in limited circumstances, but by hard work and economy he accumulated a comfortable property. He was a kind husband and father, and was greatly respected by a large circle of admiring friends, and was a member of the Masonic Lodge in which he was an active worker. He was Master of the lodge and represented the same at the Grand Lodge. Mr. Myers lived an honest, upright life, was a great reader of the Bible, and could repeat a large portion of it. He died Feb. 22, 1887, and was buried under the auspices of the Masonic fraternity. Mrs. Myers is still living at the advanced age of sixty-nine, and is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church. She is only waiting the call of her Master to meet her husband in the better world. Mr. and Mrs. Myers were the parents of seven children, six of whom are living: James L., of Washington County, Iowa, was a soldier in the late Rebellion, married Tina Bowers, of Henry County; Rilla J., wife of Alexander Ruth, of Henry County; Margaret S.. widow of Pimbrooks Plants, resides in Winfield; William M., also a resident of Winfield, married Mary Cramer, of New York; Mary H., who died in September, 1887, in K.kansas, was the wife of William Boyd, and George E., of this county. Marilda C. died Oct. 25, 1856, aged one year, one month and one day.

As printed in the source¹. Wording is the original; obvious scanning errors have been corrected, and a few may remain.

GEORGE E. MYERS, a resident of Winfield, In ( was born in Henry County, Oct. 25, 1854. In his native county he grew to manhood, and was married near Ronceverte, Greenbrier Co., W. Va., to Miss Blanche Ingles, a native of West Virginia, born in Greenbrier County. Four children have graced the union of this worthy couple — Claude W., Edith, Nora and Maud. Mr. Myers now has charge of the home farm situated near the city of Winfield. He is one of the enterprising farmers of Scott Township, and does honor to the noble parents who, by their example, taught him the right way of life. In politics he is a Democrat.

As printed in the source¹. Wording is the original; obvious scanning errors have been corrected, and a few may remain.

REV. THOMAS J. MYERS, D. D.

Rev. Thomas J. Myers, one of the leading Methodist Episcopal divines of southeastern Iowa, now serving for his second term as presiding elder of the Burlington district, was born near Lafayette, Indiana, June 7, 1840, his parents being Reuben and Sally (Moore) Myers. His paternal grandfather, Abraham Myers, was born August 14, 1777, and died May 23, 1849, while his wife, who bore the maiden name of Catherine Bare, was born February 13, 1778. and died October 28, 1854. Reuben Myers was a native of York county, Pennsylvania, born March 29, 181 5, the family having been established in the new world in colonial days by German ancestors. When a young man he removed to Indiana, and was married in Warren county that state, to Miss Sally Moore, whose birth occurred in Chillicothe, Ross county, Ohio, May 7, 1819. Her father, Edward Moore, was a soldier of the war of 181 2. Reuben Myers followed the occupation of farming in Warren county, near the city of Lafayette, until 1843, when he came to Iowa, settling at Agency, Washington township, Wapello county, near where the new purchase was made. He both pre-empted and entered land, receiving government warrants signed by James K. Polk, then president of the United States. Giving his attention to the cultivation and improvement of his farm, he spent his remaining days in that locality, although his death occurred at the home of his son, Dr. Myers, February 5, 1901. Two years before, on the 19th of January, 1899, his wife had died upon the old homestead. They were members of the JMethodist Episcopal church and belonged to the first class organized in Wapello county. Mr. Myers also assisted in building the first school near his home in Iowa, and it was afterward used for a meeting place. Especially interested in religious work, he acted as a local minister for the Methodist denomination, and his home was always open for the entertainment of the Methodist circuit rider and for preachers of other denominations as well. His business interests were carefully conducted and he became an extensive and prosperous farmer, owning five hundred acres of valuable and productive land.

Rev. Myers, educated in the district schools in early youth, afterward attended an academy, the building of which was erected by his father and a few other progressive men in the neighborhood in the town of Ashland. In 1858 he entered the Iowa \\wesleyan Lniversity, in which he remained until 1861, when he put aside his text-books in order that he might aid his country in the struggle for the preservation of the Union. He joined the First Iowa Cavalry, June 13, only two months after Fort Sumter was fired upon and went into camp at Burlington, after which the regiment was ordered to St.

As printed in the source². Wording is the original; obvious scanning errors have been corrected, and a few may remain.

JOHN L. MYERS, a blacksmith of Winfield, was born in (Jreenbrier County, W. Va., April 8, 1830. He was educated in the primitive log school-house with its luncheon floor, slab seats and greased paper windows. He had to go four miles to school and then could only attend during the winter. In October, 1850, Mr. Myers emigrated to Mt. Pleasant, Iowa, and the following autumn located in Scott Township, where he entered a claim, and in company with his brother, built a house. Into this his father moved in 1852. Mr. Myers and his brother opened the first blacksmith-shop in Scott Township, they having previously learned the trade in West Virginia.

In October, 1864, Mr. Myers was united in marriage with Harriet Tedron, a daughter of the Buckeye State, born in Athens County in 1844. By their union ten children were born, seven of whom are living: Jenetta, born June 29, 1865; John, born Sept. 17, 18G6; Emma, born Oct. 17, 1867, is the wife of Ed Supplee, of Winfield; Sarah C, born Dec. 4, 1868; George B.,born March 7, 1872; Lizzie B., born April 8, 1875; Frank, born April 5, 1877;Iflaand Ada, twins, born Feb. 27, 1883: Those deceased are: George, died June 5, 1875, and Lizzie Bell died Feb. 21, 1885, and May, who died aged eleven months. In politics Mr. Myers is a Democrat. He is active for his party and talvcs great interest in local elections. Mr. Myers is one of the earliest settlers of Henry County, it being a wild and unsettled prairie when he took up his residence here, and there was not a house between Winfield and Big Creek. Scott Township was one vast prairie, and there were but few settlers along the interior. In 1850, Scott and Wayne Townships were all one, called by the latter name, and.at the first election which he attended in Henry County at the time when Winfield Scott ran for President, there were but twenty-five votes polled in the two townships, and members of the.flyers family cast four of those. Mr. Myers receives the respect due him as an old pioneer settler, and Henry County owes much of its advancement to Mr. Myers. Socially, he is a member of the Masonic fraternity, a Master Mason, and belongs to Good Faith. "Lodge No.

As printed in the source¹. Wording is the original; obvious scanning errors have been corrected, and a few may remain.