1890 Buchanan and Delaware Counties History pgs. 259-261

JOHN CHRYSTAL, one of the  solid and representative citizens of Delaware county, Iowa, is a native of Berwickshire, Scotland, born January 25,
1835.  His father, Robert Chrystal, was a native of the same country and an intelligent and industrious farmer. He was a man of strong religious convictions and a member of the Presbyterian church. He died in 1869. The mother of our subject bore the maiden name of Jane Crow, and she, too, was a native of Scotland. She survived her husband seventeen years, dying in 1886. She was the mother of six children, three boys and three girls, all of whom are now living. She was a zealous Christian woman and strove to lead her children in the paths of honesty and virtue. She was for many years a member of the Presbyterian church, and died in full possession of the faith she had so long and sincerely professed.

The boyhood days of the subject of this brief biographical sketch were passed on a farm, situated in the center of the broad and beautiful lowlands of Scotland. He attended the common school some during the winter months, but never exhibited a fondness for books. However, he succeeded in obtaining a fair knowledge of the common branches, which has served all practical purposes in later life.

While yet in his teens, young Chrystal began to interest himself in America. He sought and obtained all the information he could concerning the magnificent opportunities which the new world offered to the industrious youth of other countries. At the age of eighteen he determined to leave country, home and friends and seek his fortunes in the United States. On the twenty-first day of April, 1855, he sailed from Liverpool, and after a long and stormy voyage, landed safely in New York harbor. He proceeded at once to Rochester and thence to Hamilton, Canada, where he was employed on a farm from July until November, 1856. He finally returned to the "States," and the same fall came West in a search of a home. It was quite late in the season when he arrived in Delaware county, Iowa, where he determined to locate. He had a small sum of money, which he had earned since his arrival in the new world, and after prospecting about for a short time he purchased eighty acres of land in section 35, Delhi township. In 1864 he disposed of his land in Delhi township, and purchased a fine tract of three hundred and twenty acres in section 8, Hazel Green township, where he made his home for several years. Mr. Chrystal married, March 21, 1867, the lady of his choice being Miss Mary Orr, a native of Ohio, born in Muskingum county, August 8,1839. She is a daughter of Andrew Orr, a native of Ireland, who came to the United States when a young man and settled in Ohio. Mrs. Chrystal's mother was a native of Ohio. The father died in 1878 and the mother 1875.

Both were zealous Christians and members of the Presbyterian church.Mr. and Mrs. Chrystal are the parents of six children, viz,-Sarah J., born April 24, 1868; Robert, born December 15, 1869; Catherine, born July 19, 1871; Mary L., born September 11, 1873 (deceased); Annie, born October 9, 1878, and John, born June 16, 1880.

In politics, Mr. Chrystal is a stanch republican, and, while he has never been an aspirant for office, has always taken an active part in furthering the interests of his party. In March, 1887, he retired from active farm work and moved to Hopkinton, where he has a pleasant home. Since his retirement he has served as justice of the peace and is now serving his second term as mayor of Hopkinton.

He and his excellent wife are both members of the Presbyterian church, and are zealous workers in the cause of religion. Mr. Chrystal  is a member of the board of trustees of Lenox College, located at Hopkinton, an institution in which he takes great pride. He owns a fine estate of four hundred and two acres of improved land, three hundred and twenty of which are in Hazel Green township, forty acres in Union township and forty-two acres in South Fork. He has been engaged quite extensively in stock raising for several years. During the past year he has been engaged in buying and shipping cattle to the West, an enterprise in which he has been thus far successful.

Considering the fact that Mr. Chrystal had but $2.50 when he landed at New York city, among strangers in a strange land, where he had to rely solely upon his pluck and perseverance, he has, indeed, been successful and no doubt has surpassed the most sanguine expectations of  the friends he left in Scotland.  He has been a successful farmer, and is among the progressive, intelligent men of Delaware county and stands deservedly high in the estimation of the community.

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