Greene County >> 1907 Index

Past and Present of Greene County, Iowa
by E. B. Stillman ... Chicago: S. J. Clarke Publishing Company, 1907.

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Unless otherwise noted, biographies submitted by Dick Barton.

Mason Linn, a resident farmer of section 3, Kendrick township, was born on the 26th of November, 1826, in Union county, Ohio, and has therefore passed the eightieth milestone on life's journey. He is now the only surviving member of a family of nine children, whose parents were Joseph and Nancy (Watson) Linn, both natives of Pennsylvania. In his infancy his parents removed to Lafayette county, Indiana, where they resided for about ten years, after which they took up their abode in Porter county, that state, where they lived for four years. They next went to Henderson county, Illinois, but after a brief period removed to Kankakee, Illinois, where they lived for four years. The mother died in 1840, and the father subsequently took up his abode in Will county, Illinois, where his death occurred.

Mason Linn accompanied his parents on their various removals through his boyhood and youth, experiencing the hardships and privations of pioneer life, as the family home was established on the frontier. He was educated in the common schools and was only fourteen years of age when his mother died, after which he started out in life on his own account. He has since been dependent upon his own resources and whatever success he has achieved and enjoyed is the direct result of his own labor.

As a companion and helpmate for life's journey Mr. Linn chose Miss Rebecca Kile, a native of Knox county, Ohio, whom he wedded in 1848. Her parents were Henry and Nancy (Haskins) Kile. Mrs. Linn was born in 1827 and died on the 7th of May, 1886. There were three children of that marriage: Mansfield, who married Melvina Smith and lives in Glidden, Iowa; William W., who died in infancy; and Nancy Ellen, the wife of Walter S. Pound, of Greene county.

Following his marriage Mr. Linn resided in Kankakee county, Illinois, for about six years, or until 1854, when he determined to make his home in Iowa. He then drove across the country with ox teams, the slow and tedious journey being completed when he arrived in Greene countq. Here he located on a farm which he now occupies, and which has been his home for more than a half century. At that time there were but six or eight farmers in the entire township and the work of development and improvement seemed scarcely begun. In fact, the greater part of the land was still unclaimed and uncultivated, while the streams were unbridged and the forests uncut. There soon came to the county, however, a hardy, resolute band of pioneers, who wrought a marked transformation in the appearance of this part of the state, Mr. Linn doing his full share in the work. He experienced all of the difficulties and hardships incident to frontier life, living here at the time when it was necessary to go to Panora to mill and to Des Moines for his mail and groceries. Supplies could be obtained at no nearer point, although it took from three to nine days to make the trip. The land was undrained and the roads in a very poor condition and often the teams would get mired in the sloughs and he would have to go for help to get the wagon out. His first house was a log cabin, sixteen by eighteen feet, but though the quarters were somewhat cramped they made the best possible use of their opportunities and in course of years were enabled to secure a larger home, supplied with all the comforts and conveniences known to the older east.

Mr. Linn first bought two hundred and seventy acres when he first located here, but has since sold a part of this, his farm at present comprising one hundred and seventy-nine acres of rich and productive land. The soil when drained and tiled is very fertile and responds readily to the care and labor bestowed upon it. He has made good improvements in the shape of substantial buildings, has added the latest farm machinery to facilitate the work of the fields and has planted a fine orchard which is now in bearing. Mr. Linn has done none of the active work of the farm for the last fifteen years, but is remarkably well preserved for one of his age and insists that he could yet do a good day's work - a fact which his friends do not doubt. He has led a very busy and useful life, however, and well merits the rest which he is now enjoying.

In politics Mr. Linn is independent. He does not affiliate with any party, but votes for the men whom he thinks best qualified for the office. For several terms he has been a trustee of the township and has discharged his duties in prompt and able manner. In 1863 he joined the Masonic order at Lake City, Iowa, and later demitted and is still a member at Glidden, his daily life being in harmony with his professions as a representative of the craft. The history of the pioneer settlement of Greene county would be incomplete without the record of this gentleman, who from its early development has been a prominent factor in its substantial growth and improvement. He came to a district rich in its resources, yet unclaimed as the domain of the white man, and braving all the hardships and trials of pioneer life he has met with success in his business affairs, but at the same time has contributed to public progress and improvement.