William H. Anderson

As printed in 1887

ILLIAM H. ANDERSON, farmer and stock-raiser, resides on section 14, Oregon Township, where he is the owner of.a fine farm of eighty acres, which is well improved in every respect. He was born in West Wirginia in 1852, and is the son of Samuel T. anil Margaret E. (Crow) Anderson, the former a native of Ohio, and of Scotch-Irish descent, and the latter a native of the same State and of German descent. They came to this county in 1878, where they still reside. William II. Anderson, the subject of this sketch, was born Jan. 30, 1852,.and was reared upon a farm, ajid has followed that vocation thus far through life. He came to this county in 1874. and settled where he now resides. He w.as married in Louisa County. Iowa, in 1H79. to Rosella S., daughter of OHver S. and Charity (Il.anden).Sweet, who yet reside in Louisa County. She was born in that county May 7, 1857. They have three children: D. Wiley, born March 26, 1881; Marion E. Nov. 18, 1882, and Nellie M., Oct. 20, 1886. Before her marriage Mrs. Anderson taught eight terms of school in Louisa County. Mr. and Mrs. Anderson nvo members of the MetlnKlist Jipiscopal Church. Politically he is a Republican.

A patriotic street ran through the blood of Mrs. Anderson's family, both her grandfathers serving in the war with Jlexico; the same can be said of the family of Mr. Anderson, his father serving in the late war and both grandfathers in the war with JEexico. The poor of one generation in this country are generally the wealthy ones in the next. While not yet possessed of great wealth Mr. and Mrs. Anderson are comfortably provided for, and that which they possess was acquired by their own exertions, together with good management in the conduct of their business affairs. In their home contentment reigns, and all try to make it the happiest place on earth.

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William J. Lewis was reared upon a farm and received but a meager education in the pioneer log school-houses of his day, having to go two miles through the heavy timber for that purpose. He was married in Pickaway County, Ohio, July 5, 18.31, to Miss.Sarah Poulson, a daughter of John and Sarah Poulson. She was a native of Virginia, born in 1808. By this union there are five living children: Sarah, the wife of Calvin Little, of this city; John P., of Brighton, Iowa; Catherine, the wife of B. Loveless, of Muscatine, Iowa; William J., of Riveriiide, Iowa; Martha, the wife of Henry Waters, of Washington County.

In Octol)er, 183G, Mr. Lewis with his family left Ohio for the West, stopping in Vermillion County, Ind., two years, where he engaged in farming. He then moved to Vermilion County, In., where he remained four years. In 1842 he went to Knox County, Ill., where he followed farming until 1853, and then came to Washington County. Arriving here he purchased 120 acres of Government land in Jackson Township, and immediately set about the improvement of a farm. He rented a house in which the family lived during the following winter. In the meantime he built upon his land what was then one of the best frame houses in the county, and 1)y the ist of June had 100 acres of the land surrounded by a board fence, and had planted sixty acres of sod corn. In 1859 he sold his farm and bought another, to which he moved and on which he lived until 1876, when he moved into Washington, and has since been living a retired life.

One year after coming to the city Mrs. Lewis died, and JLarch 17, 1878, Mr. Lewis took for his second wife Mrs. Mary J. McKain, widow of Samuel McKaiii. Her maiden name was Roat, and she was the daughter of John and Rachel (Lyons) Roat, natives of Pennsylvania. Jane was their only child. Her father died in 1817, and her mother subsequently married.lob Reeder, and with him moved to Logan County, Ohio, in 1836, and to Washington County, Iowa, in 1853. Both have since died. Samuel McKain came to this county in 1850. Mr. and Mrs. McKain were the parents of seven children, six living: James JSI. resides in Kansas; Job R. is in Washington County; Augusta, the wife of William Dillon, resides in Clay Township; Charles M. is in Kansas; Alfred M. resides in Colorado; Martha L. is the wife of Henry H. Jones, of Clay Township. Mr. McKain w.as a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church. He died in 1867,

.t and Mrs. McKain married Mr. Lewis, as already stated. Mrs. Lewis is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church. In politics our subject is a Denioci'at. He has now passed his threescore years and ten of life, and as he looks back for a period of three-quarters of a century and compares the state of the country, the arts and sciences then and now, it seems almost impossible to realize the improvements that have been made; and lie can but wonder if the same ratio of improvements are made in the future as in the past, what will the end be. Who can tell ?

AMlEL C. (GARDNER is engaged in general farm inki.and stock-raising on section 7, Cedar Township. He was born in Franklin County, Ohio, Feb. 9, 1832, and is a son of William M. and Aner (Merritt) Gardner, the former a native of Wirgiiiia and the latter of Maryland. He was reared on a farm, and received his education at Oberlin College, Ohio. On leaving college he followed teaching in Ohio for twelve years. In 1855 he came to Washington County, Iowa, and for three years taught the pulilic school at Lexington, Cedar Township. When the call was made for men to suppress the Rebellion, be enlisted in the 25th Iowa Infantry and served till the close of the war. lie was in the siege of Mcksburg and the battle of Jackson. In the second battle of Jackson he received a severe wound in the foot by a cannon ball, which disabled him from further active service in the field. He w.as then sent to Madison, Wis., and was discharged at the close of the war.

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On coming to this county, Mr. Gardner was in very limited circumstances, but by close attention to his business, coupled with energy, he has acquired a fine property, and is now numbered among the well-to-do farmers of Washington County. Possessed of a fine education, and being a constant and systematic reader, he has acquired a knowledge of all matters of public interest to a degree second to but few in the county. His father died in Ohio in 1 880, at the age of seventy years, and his mother in 187(' also at the age of seventy years. They wore member-s of the Methodist Episcopal Cliiirf li.

As printed in Portrait and biographical album of Washington County, Iowa, containing full page portraits and biographical sketches of prominent and representative citizens of the county, together with portraits and (1887). See the original pages. Wording is the original; obvious scanning errors have been corrected, and a few may remain.