In the book's own words, not ours, with obvious scanning errors fixed. Families often supplied these stories to the publisher, so check key dates.
Born 1843
From History of Wapello County, Iowa (1914)
SAMUEL HOUSTON HARPER.
Samuel Houston Harper was born April 23, 1843, on a farm near Zanesville, Ohio, and died in Ottumwa, Iowa. December 17, 191 1. In 1853 he came with his parents to Wapello county, where the family located on a farm one and one half miles south of Ottumwa. There were no railroads west of the Mississippi river in 1853, and Mr. Harper rode on horseback with his father from Keokuk while the rest of the family came up the Des Moines river on a steamboat.
As printed in History of Wapello County, Iowa (1914). See the original pages. Wording is the original; obvious scanning errors have been corrected, and a few may remain.
The printed record stops around 1914. We trace your line from there down to you, with every source cited.