Jasper County >> 1894 Index
Grundy County
Marshall County

Portrait and Biographical Records of Jasper, Marshall and Grundy Counties, Iowa
Chicago: Biographical Pub. Co., 1894.

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Unless noted, biographies submitted by Dick Barton.

GEORGE N. LACEY, one of the oldest settlers of Poweshiek Township, Jasper County, was born near the city of Springfield, Ill., July 30, 1850. His parents, Isaac and Jane (Boyd) Lacey, were natives of Tennessee, and grew to maturity and married in that state before removing to Illinois. They occupied a farm near Springfield for a few years, and in 1854 emigrated to the new state of Iowa. Here they were among the earliest arrivals and found a country fair as the "Garden of the Gods" to look upon but entirely unsettled and unoccupied, save by the wild animals of the plains, whose habitat they invaded to make for themselves a home. Buffaloes, deer and elks, of the larger game, quails, prairie chickens and wild geese, of the feathered tribes, were abundant and afforded a ready means of replenishing the larder until the farm was well under cultivation. Wolves were very destructive, and sheep, hogs and fowl suffered severely from their depredations. Years of hard labor brought the reward, and to-day Mr. and Mrs. Lacey have retired, and reside in Mitchellville, Polk County, at the ages respectively of seventy-three and sixty-seven years.

Of the thirteen children born to them, but seven remain: Susan, widow of H. M. Battles; George N., the subject of this sketch; James, a resident of Polk County; Filmore, of Jasper County; William, of Polk County; Ulysses (deceased), and Jonathan, the latter also a resident of Polk County.

George N. Lacey was educated in the country schools, but attended only in the winter season, being obliged to walk a distance of four miles, frequently through deep snow or heavy rains. He continued in this way to secure such education as the labors on the farm permitted, residing in the meantime with his parents until his twenty-first year, when he purchased an interest in the farm which he now occupies. At this time he is the sole owner of the property, and has increased its dimensions to a fine estate of two hundred acres, nearly all of which is under a high state of cultivation, is improved with a beautiful residence, spacious barns and outhouses and every convenience that can aid a farmer. He carries on a general farming business, but devotes much attention to the improvement of his stock, which ranks second to few in the state. In 1872, at the age of twenty-two years, he married Miss Eliza Cummings, a native of Ohio and a daughter of Mason and Lucinda Cummings, who came into this county from Ohio in 1861. Mr. Cummings died in 1865, at the age of thirty-seven, and his wife in 1868, also at the age of thirty-seven. They were among the early settlers of Muskingum County, Ohio, and were the parents of five children, only two of whom survive, Eliza and Ida, the latter now Mrs. William Mason, who resides in Colorado.

Mr. and Mrs. Lacey are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Elmer and Orva are the only ones of their five children who remain. Mr. Lacey is a Democrat in politics and a leader in the party, and can always be counted upon to support the party nominees.

SYLVESTER LACEY

Among the active business men of Marshalltown has long been numbered the gentleman of whom we write, and who has made his home here since the infancy of the city, or for a period of nearly two-score years. He is one of America 's self made men, who, having started at the bottom round of the ladder leading to fame and fortune, have steadily and undauntedly climbed to the top. Mr. Lacey is the President of the Commercial State Bank of Marshalltown a position he has held since 1887, when this solid financial institution was organized.

Referring to the ancestry of our subject, we find that he is the son of Joseph and Martha (Scribner) Lacey. The father was born in Massachusetts and was reared to manhood in Connecticut. His occupation in life was principally that of a farmer, though he was also master of the shoemaker's trade. His father, James Lacey, born in Massachusetts, was of English descent, and participated in the War of 1812. Joseph Lacey was born in April, 1800, while his wife was born in Connecticut October 10, 1797. Her father, Ebenezer Scribner, was an early settler of Wilton, Conn., the state in which she was born. She departed this life in Birmingham, Conn., in her fifty-seventh year. Her husband's death occurred February 27, 1887.

Four children were born to Joseph and Martha Lacey, two sons and two daughters, viz.: Sylvester,, Sarah A.,, Mary W. and David A. Our subject, who is the eldest-born, is a native of Fairfield County, Conn., and the date of his birth is December 24, 1822. His boyhood and school days were spent on his father's farm near the beautiful town of Stratford. His school days were few, as the nearest school was three miles away, and in summer he had to work on the farm, and in winter could go only in mild weather. When he was sixteen years old, he obtained employment as a clerk in a general store, where he remained for a number of years. When only a little past his majority, he embarked in the dry-goods and grocery business on his own account in Birmingham, Conn., and was fairly successful.

April 20, 1844, Mr. Lacey married Mary E., daughter of Thomas Wells, of Stratford, and soon after his marriage he settled at Binghampton, Conn., where he remained until 1855. In that year, with his family, he came to Marshalltown, and for a short time was employed as a clerk in a general store conducted by John Utz. Subsequently he entered the grocery business upon his own account, carrying a full line of groceries, notions and queensware, and was fortunate in commanding a large share of the trade of that city and locality until the year 1887, when he sold out his business and turned his attention to a new enterprise, namely that of the organization of the Commercial State Bank, of which he has since been President. He was a member of the City Council of Marshalltown when the water works and electric light plant were put in, and favored the electric plant being put in by the city. He has always taken a very active part in the city's welfare; and built the first three-story business block in Marshalltown. He now has in his possession the first piano brought to this city.

Mr. and Mrs. Lacey have one daughter, Ida, who resides at home. They are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and are interested workers in that organization. The pleasant, large and comfortable home of Mr. Lacey is located at No. 312 West Main Street, and is the abode of hospitality and good cheer. Fraternally, he is connected with Marshall Lodge No. 108, A. F. & A. M. In politics he is a Republican and served acceptably for several terms as a member of the City Council. His personal qualities of true worth and sterling integrity have won him the respect and esteem of all.

Cornelius Long, the grandfather of our subject, was a native of the Green Mountain State, where he followed the occupation of a farmer. He reared a family of seven children, and departed this life while residing in Virginia. The father of our subject was born in the latter state in 1803, and there he learned the trade of a blacksmith, which occupation he prosecuted in connection with farming. In the spring of 1855, thinking to better his condition financially, he came to this then western country by the overland route, and making his home in Hardin County, here purchased property consisting of two hundred ad sixty acres, for which he paid $5.25 per acre. Only twelve acres of this tract were broken and here he erected a tent, and during the summer of that year built a log cabin, in which he resided until his circumstances permitted him to erect a more comfortable abode. The Pottawattomie and Sioux Indians were often seen in that locality and indeed everything was in a wild state. He was very industrious and was thus soon enabled to place his land under good cultivation, where he resided until his death.  In politics he was in early life a Whig, and was a member of the German Baptist Church, in which denomination he held the office of Bishop. He contributed his aid in the management of civic affairs, and died in 1863, greatly mourned by all who knew him.

The maiden name of our subject's mother was Susan, a daughter of Daniel Leatherman. David Long, of this sketch, who is one in the paternal family of seven children was born October 15, 1838, in Virginia, where during his earlier years he was permitted to attend the district school.  He assisted his father in carrying on a farm, and in so doing was enabled when starting out in life for himself to cultivate the soil in the best possible manner.

The lady to whom our subject was married March 5, 1863, was Miss Martha J., a daughter of James and Sarah (Frazer) Valentine. She was one in a family of the following children: John, James, David, Andy, Lee, Sarah A., Minerva J., Martha, Mary C., Margaret and Amanda. the mother of Mrs. Long was a native of Ohio, whence she removed to Indiana and later to Hardin County, this state. She, however, is at present residing in Monroe County. The father, who always voted with the Republican party, died in 1865.

Our subject purchased land in the year of his marriage to which he added from time to time, until, as before stated, he now owns a valuable estate of two hundred and eighty acres. His agricultural adventures have brought him money, and although he now personally superintends the operations of his estate, he is practically living retired. The four children born to himself and wife bear the respective names of Edward, Alice Mary, Gertrude May and Frank. Edward and Gertrude are deceased, while Frank is attending school at Toledo. Alice Mary is the wife of Elmer Clark and makes her home in Sioux Rapids. In his political relations our subject is a sturdy Republican and has held many offices of public trust, having served as Trustee, Supervisor and School Director. He and his wife are faithful members of the Methodist Church at Felix and he is very popular with all who know him.

WILLIAM A. LOOMIS, a prominent and successful agriculturist of Newton Township, Jasper County, was born in Portage County, Ohio, about thirty miles from Cleveland and four miles from Ravenna, the date of his birth being September 15 1830. He was the eldest in a family of two sons and three daughters born to the union of William H. and Cynthia (Loomis) Loomis, who although bearing the same name were not related, unless it was many generations back.

Tradition tells us that the Loomis family was of English extraction, and that, not long after the landing of the Pilgrim Fathers, three brothers, Job, Joel and Alexander, left their native land for the New World, and arriving in this country made settlement at Saybrook, Conn. From that place the family dispersed throughout Massachusetts and into other new England states. Job removed to Ohio, Joel to New York, and Alexander remained on the home farm. It is probable that the father and mother of our subject were descendants of different branches of this family.

William Loomis, the father of our subject, was born at Northampton, Mass., May 10, 1809, and was the youngest of seven children comprising the family of Amos Loomis. Our subject's great-grandfather, Nathaniel Loomis, was born in Connecticut, and served in the French and Indian War, where he was captured by the Indians at Ft. Henry. With an Indian on each side of him he was being led away, perchance to death, or at least to a long captivity, when he, being a man of powerful physique, seized a favorable opportunity when his captors were off their guard. When that moment came, with almost superhuman strength, he hurled the Indians from him and made a dash for life and liberty. Before they had regained their self-possession he made his way to some large rocks and hid himself is a projecting cliff. Soon he heard the Indians on the rocks above him. They made diligent search, but failed to find his hiding place. He could hear them converse in their native language and could understand what they were saying, and this is the substance of their conversation: "The strength he exhibited, the speed with which he ran and the way he has vanished from our sight, prove that he is not a white man at all, but the devil." With that remark they left the place, evidently fearing that he would appear to them again. Thus he was enabled to make his escape.

In 1818, when our subject's father was nine years of age, his parents emigrated to Ohio and settled in Portage County, where Grandfather Loomis died some three years later. In 11838, when our subject was eight years old, his parents removed to Henry County, Ohio, where his father remained until his death, in December, 1867. Cynthia, our subject's mother, was the daughter of Capt. Daniel Loomis, the youngest of four brothers, all of whom were born in Connecticut and all but himself served in the Revolutionary War. Early in life Captain Loomis went to New York State and settled on the Delaware River, where he was engaged in the lumber business. He rafted large quantities of lumber down the river and frequently had charge of the raft in person, from which circumstance he became known as Captain Loomis.

It was on the banks of the Delaware that the mother of our subject was born May 1, 1810. About 1820 her father removed to Wayne County, Ohio, where he and his wife died. Afterward she lived with an aunt, Mrs. Christina Andrews, the wife of Deacon Andrews, in what is now Kent, Port County, Ohio. Deacon Andrews was a man of more than ordinary education and was a prominent member of the Presbyterian Church, in which he frequently officiated as a preacher. His son, John (the cousin of our subject's mother), was a prominent minister in the Presbyterian Church. Lorin, another son of Deacon Andrews, was also a Presbyterian minister, and in 1820 he went to the Sandwich Islands as a missionary, spending his entire life in mission work there.

With Mrs. Andrews, our subject's mother made her home in girlhood and until her marriage, at the age of nineteen years, her husband, William H. Loomis, being one year her senior. She died in Newton, Iowa, in January, 1872, and her remains were taken back to Ohio and buried by the side of her husband. A brother of our subject was a Methodist preacher and served as Chaplain of his regiment in the late war, dying some years afterward from the effects of his army life. Upon his father's farm, our subject grew to manhood, receiving a fair education and acquiring a thorough knowledge of every department of agriculture.

At the age of eighteen years we find Mr. Loomis a teacher in a country school. Three years later, he entered Heidelberg College, at Tiffin, Ohio, where he took a four years' course, graduating from the scientific department. Afterward he taught school for about three years in Ohio, and in April, 1859, came to Iowa, where he followed the profession of a teacher in Polk County for one year. In April, 1860, the gold fever took possession of him, and he with others fitted up two yoke of oxen and started for the Rocky Mountains to make his fortune in gold mining. Like many others, his expectations were not fully realized. After siding in opening up several mines that did not prove profitable, he embarked in the lumber business, in which he continued for a time. Later he again opened up a mine, the latter returning fair profits.

After having spent seven years in the mountains and accumulating a snug fortune, Mr. Loomis retuned to Iowa, in 1857, and in September of the same year he married Miss Annie penman, who was of Scotch ancestry and was born in Pennsylvania. After his marriage he returned to the mountains, and one year later again came east. In January, 1869, he located in Newton, Iowa, and soon afterward settled on the farm that he had purchased while en route from the mountains eastward in 1867. Here he has since been extensively engaged in farming and stock-raising, in which he has met with success, being now one of the most prominent agriculturists of the county.

The union of Mr. and Mrs. Loomis resulted in the birth of three children. Mary M. is the wife S. C. Moffitt, and lives three miles west of her father's farm; Lizzie was killed at the age of fourteen years, by a train, which struck her when she was crossing the railroad track; Kattie is a teacher in the public schools of Newton Township. Both daughters were educated in Hazel Dell Academy, Newton, and are accomplished young ladies. Mr. Loomis belongs to a family possessing old-line Whig proclivities, and is himself a strong Republican. He and his wife are members of the Presbyterian Church.