Issue #27     October 2008

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Contents:

      1.   John T Wilson obituary

      2.   Flora B Wilson Wilson obituary

      3.   Biography of James Wilson 1849 - 1929

      4.   Biography of Abel James

      5.   Biography of William Manchester

      6.   Recent Deaths

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1.   John T Wilson obituary (son of Abigail Sellers, Martha Rodman, Roseanne Cusac, Andrew John Cusac)

              FALL PROVES FATAL TO AGED RESIDENT OF NEW LEXINGTON

      NEW LEXINGTON, Sept. 11 - John T. Wilson, aged 76, well known Perry county farmer, died at his home at 215 Market street, Sunday morning at 8 o'clock from a blood clot of the brain as the result of a fall several weeks ago. Mr. Wilson had retired several years ago, but still took an active part in civic affairs at New Lexington.

      Surviving are the widow, Flora B. Wilson and one daughter, Mrs. Willard Mason, at New Lexington; a son, Roy Wilson, of Cleveland. The funeral service will be held from the Methodist church. Tuesday afternoon at 2 o'clock, in charge of the Rev. C. H. Borror. The body will be placed in the city mausoleum.

                Mon 12 Sep 1927 Times Recorder, The (Zanesville, OH) p. 7

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2.   Flora B Wilson obituary (wife of John T Wilson, Abigail Sellers, Martha Rodman, Roseanne Cusac, Andrew John Cusac)

              Illness Fatal To Mrs. Wilson

      NEW LEXINGTON, O. - Mrs. Flora B. Wilson, 83, died about 8:30 o'clock Monday morning at her home, 215 Jackson street, following a year's illness.

Mrs. Wilson was a lifelong resident of Perry county, her grandfather, David Conly being one of the original settlers in New Lexington. She was a member of the New Lexington Methodist church and an active worker in church and civic affairs.

Surviving are a son, R.E. Wilson of Cleveland; a daughter, Mrs. Willard Mason, of New Lexington; a sister, Mrs. Linnie Beacham, of Somerset, and three grandchildren.

      Funeral services will be held Wednesday afternoon at 2 o'clock from the New Lexington Methodist church with Rev. H. H. Wilbur officiating. Burial will be in Maplewood cemetery.

The body was removed to the C. L. Chute funeral home and will be returned to the residence this morning to remain until time for removal to the church.

                Tues 13 Nov 1945 p. 14 Times Recorder, The (Zanesville, OH)

Note: Flora was the daughter of Thomas Wilson and Talma Conley. Both Flora and John T Wilson are buried in New Lexington Cemetery, Perry Co, OH.

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3.   James Wilson biography (son of Abigail Sellers, Martha Rodman, Roseanne Cusac, Andrew John Cusac)

      James Wilson, one of the best known breeders of thoroughbred registered polled Durham cattle, having the finest herd in Iowa, has in this connection gained a reputation that has made him known beyond the borders of the state. He was born in Perry county, Ohio, on the 20^th of September, 1849, his parents being Thomas and Abigail (Sellers) Wilson, of whose family of three children he is the eldest. His brother John is a resident farmer of Perry county, Ohio. The father was a native of the Buckeye state and was reared Perry county, where he spent the greater part of his life. In the ‘40s, however, he made his way westward to Iowa and entered two hundred and forty acres of land from the government in Mahaska county. He remained in this state, however, for but a short time on account of the prevalence of fever and ague and other illnesses to which pioneers are subject. Returning to Perry county, Ohio, he there made his home up to the time of his death, which occurred in 1857.

      James Wilson, reared under the parental roof, early became familiar with the duties and labors that fall to the lot of the agriculturist. He worked in the fields during the summer months, spending the winter seasons as a pupil in the public schools, and after completing his education he remained upon the home farm until 1871, when he came to the middle west. He had some uncles living in Washington county, Iowa, whither he made his way in search of a location. Later in the same year he continued his journey to Pottawattamie county and  invested in one hundred and sixty acres of land on section 7, Knox township, where he now resides, paying eight dollars per acres for his land. Subsequently he bought eighty acres on section 7 and one hundred acres on section 18 just across the road from the old farm.

      Throughout the intervening years he has carried on general agricultural pursuits with excellent success, and in more recent years has given considerable attention to the raising of fine stock, in which connection he has become widely known. In 1893, when on a visit to the World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago, he purchased a premium polled Durham bull and began breeding high grade cattle for the market. In this regard he has gained a national reputation, being known throughout the entire country as one of the leading breeders of polled Durhams, having a herd of over one hundred head. He has now some fifty-five head of fancy bulls and heifers, which he intends to dispose of at a sale in October, 1907. There are no finer cattle of this breed to be found in the entire country than those owned by Mr. Wilson and in fact he is widely regarded as an authority upon the subject of Durhams. He has met with excellent success in his business and as one of the leading stock breeders and raisers not only of Iowa but of the entire country, he well deserves mention in this volume.

      In 1872 Mr. Wilson was united in marriage to Miss Maria A. Hammond, of Marysville, Missouri, and they have become the parents of five children, of whom four are yet living: Cora D., Rosa B., Warren F. and Oley M. All are yet at home with the exception of Rosa, who is now the wife of Warren Best, of Shelby county, Iowa. All have been students in the high school at Avoca and have enjoyed liberal educational privileges.

      In politics Mr. Wilson is a republican, unfaltering in his allegiance to the party, and at the present writing is a member of the board of township trustees. He has also served for several years as a member of the school board and the cause of education finds in him a warm friend. He belongs to the Methodist Episcopal church, in which he is serving as a trustee, and he is much interested in all that pertains to the material, intellectual and moral progress of the community. In his business affairs he is reliable and energetic and his close applications and unfaltering diligence have brought him a very gratifying success.

            History of Pottawattamie County, Iowa, from the Earliest Historic Times to 1907,

                   by Homer H. Field and Hon. Joseph R. Reed vol. II, Chicago,

                   SJ Clarke Publishing Co, 1907, p. 796 – 797

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4.   Biography of Abel James (husband of Martha M Sellers, Isaac Sellers, Martha Rodman, Roseanne Cusac, Andrew John)

      Abel James, son of John C. James, one of the early settlers of this township, was born in Muskingum county, Ohio, October 31, 1849. He came with his parents to this county and 1855, and was here reared and educated. He remained on his father's farm until 1872.  In that year he began farming for himself on section 6, Sciota township. Three years later he removed to his present farm, which is located on section 19, where he has a well improved farm of 80 acres. Mr. James was married September 26, 1872, to Martha M. Sellers, a native of Perry county, Ohio. By this union there are four children--Oriella, Alda E., Essie G., deceased, Eva and Perry C. Mr. James is a member of the I. O. O. F., also, of the Methodist Episcopal church of Sciota.

            History of McDonough County, Illinois, 1885, Sciota Township

5.   Biography of William Russell Manchester (husband of Rosa A Delong, Isaac Newton Delong, Elizabeth Rodman, Roseann Cusac, Andrew John Cusac)

      William Russell Manchester attended district school in Holmes county, Ohio, and in Decatur county, Iowa. In his early manhood he taught school in Holmes county, Ohio, in Decatur county, Iowa, in Missouri and in Colorado, following that profession for fifteen terms in all. When twenty-three years of age he worked on the construction of the railroad between Corydon and Centerville, Iowa. In 1884 he located two miles west of Lineville, Iowa, and after farming there for two years removed to the vicinity of Ravenna, Missouri, where he followed agricultural pursuits for two years. At the end of that time he removed to Baca county, Colorado, where he rented land for about seven years. He was then for two years in the Ozark mountains in Missouri, but in 1896 returned to this county and operated a rented farm until 1901. In that year he purchased forty acres on section 15, New Buda township, and in 1908 he bought his present farm of a quarter section on section 16, New Buda township. He carries on general farming and stock-raising and in the conduct of his work displays foresight, initiative and good management.

      On the 6th of April, 1884, Mr. Manchester married Miss Rosa De Long, a daughter of I.N. and Editha (Brooks) De Long. Her father, who was born in Indiana of Irish and French ancestry, removed to Ohio when a boy and in his early manhood came to Decatur county, Iowa, where he was numbered among the pioneer settlers. He was a farmer by occupation and was highly esteemed in his community. During the Civil war he served in a Missouri cavalry regiment. His wife, who was born in Kentucky of Yankee stock, was reared in Harrison county, Missouori, and there their marriage occurred. To this union were born ten children: Mrs. Manchester; Alonzo, of Texarkana, Texas; Marcellus, also of Texarkana; Hulda, who married Joseph Braby, now living in Harrison county, Missouri; John, of Lamoni, Iowa; Josephine, who married C.E. Weabel, of New Buda township; Fred O., of Bevier, Missouri; Blanche, who married William Dexter, of Lamoni, Iowa; Newton, of Lamar, Colorado; and Eunice, the wife of Roy Atterberry, of Blythedale, Missouri.

      Mr. and Mrs. Manchester are the parents of eleven children: Stella L., who was born May 14, 1885, and is the wife of Ephraim McDaniel, a farmer of Blythedale, Missouri, by whom she has two children, Fern and Forrest; Garvin A., whose birth occurred November 17, 1886, and who is at home; Grace, born September 8, 1888, who died when tem months old; Bertha M., born December 27, 1889, now the wife of Carl McDaniel, a farmer of New Buda township, by whom she has a son and daughter, Clarence and Opal; Ernest E., born September 16, 1891, who is at home; Claude W., born January 21, 1893 who is at home; Florence Belle, born February 22, 1895, at home; Dorcas, born February 20, 1897, who will graduate from the Davis City high school with the class of 1916; and Morris Maynard, born November 24, 1899, Marjorie B., born April 11, 1902, and Mark W., born December 18, 1904, all attending the district school.

      Mr. Manchester is independent in politics, voting for the man whom he deems best suited for the office in question. For two years he served as assessor of New Buda township and for fifteen years he has been school director, doing much in that time to promote the advancement of the public schools. He was form many years a member of the Masonic blue lodge at Leon, but is not now affiliated with that body. Both he and his wife belong to the Church of Christ at Davis City and take a keen interest in the furtherance of its work and the spread of its influence.

                Decatur Co Iowa and its People;

    Prof J.M. Howell and Heman C. Smith, Supervising Editors,

Illustrated; Volume II, Chicago,

            The SJ Clarke Publishing Co, c 1915, p. 301-302

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6.   Recent Deaths

I was saddened to hear that Ralph L Cusac died last December in Escondido, CA. He was a avid researcher who did a lot of work on the Cusac line. His obituary appeared in the 04 Jun 2008 Chillicothe Times-Bulletin (Chillicothe, IL) and the 01 Jan 2008 Peoria Journal Star (Peoria, IL). Ralph was the son of Ulysses Grant Cusac, Charles Cusac, John B Cusac, Andrew John Cusac).

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Best wishes... Sheila