O.T. Conway
Among the native sons
of Allamakee county who have won success and prominence in
agricultural pursuits, carrying forward the work of development
which their fathers began in pioneer times is O.T. Conway, owner
of five hundred acres of land on section 29, Paint Creek
township, a fine property which has been the family homestead for
many years. Upon this farm his birth occurred, his parents being
James and Rose (Gordon) Conway, natives of County Roscommon,
Ireland. The father was born July 17, 1820. The parents were
married in 1843, and in the same year emigrated to the United
States, settling in Baltimore, Maryland, where they resided until
1847. They then moved to Cincinnati, Ohio, and the father
obtained employment as a deck hand on a boat on the lower
Mississippi river. He was afterward promoted to the position of
second mate and acted in that capacity during the terrible
epidemic of cholera in 1849. He was at that time on the Red
river, and he
was often obliged to go ashore between stations in order to bury
the dead. These were mostly negroes and Mr. Conway often placed
ten in the same grave. He severed his connection with river
navigation in 1850 and brought his family to Dubuque, Iowa, he
himself coming to Allamakee county and locating one hundred and
sixty acres of wild land on section 29, Paint Creek township. In
December of the same year his family joined him and all who were
old enough aided in the clearing, development and improvement of
the homestead. For four years Mr. Conway spent only the winter
months on his farm, while during the summer he worked on the
upper Mississippi river but eventually took up a permanent
residence upon the property. He was one of the first settlers in
Paint Creek township and endured all the hardships and trials of
pioneer existence, evolving out of the wild and unimproved tract
an excellent and productive farm. The years brought him
prominence, success
and substantial fortune, and he gradually extended the field of
his activities to include participation in local political life.
He became well known in the ranks of the democratic party and
held various important township offices, as well as that of
county sheriff. He died upon his homestead in 1895 and was
survived by his wife until 1904. To them were born ten children,
five of whom are still living, as follows: Mary, the wife of John
McErlane, of Paint Creek township; D.B. who resides in Seward,
Nebraska; W.P. of York, Nebraska; Rose, the wife of P. Maloney,
of Jefferson township; and O.T. of this review. The deceased
members of this family are J.J. who died at Sibley, Iowa; J.F.
who passed away in Gurshen, Nebraska; Ellen, the deceased wife of
James Carroll, of Milbank, North Dakota; and two who died in
childhood.
O.T. Conway was reared upon the family homestead and acquired his
education in the district schools of Paint Creek township. At an
early age he began assisting with the work of the farm and before
he was twenty-one was a practical and able agriculturist. After
the death of his father he came into possession of the homestead
and there he has since carried on general farming and
stock-raising, success following his well directed and
progressive labors. he married Miss Emma Adams, a native of
Clayton county, Iowa, and they have one daughter, Rose Ellen. Mr.
Conway is numbered among the substantial and representative
farmers of this part of Iowa and among Allamakee county's most
progressive and successful native sons. His record is an added
credit to a name that has been held in high honor and esteem
since pioneer times.
-source: Past
& Present of Allamakee County; by Ellery M. Hancock; S.
J. Clarke Pub. Co.; 1913
-transcribed by Cathy Joynt-Labath
Return to Bio index