 |
|
 |
|
E[DWARD]. H. FISH, a farmer and bee-keeper of Polk township, Benton county, was born May 7, 1843, in Leroy, Calhoun county, Michigan. He is a son of David and Celia (Simmons) Fish, of Michigan. David Fish was born in Pennsylvania, in 1800, reared in his native state, and when a young man removed to Steuben county, New York, where he married and settled on a farm. He he moved to Michigan about 1830, and there entered one hundred and sixty acres of land, where he lived until 1868, and then retired and lived near Battle Creek, Michigan. His wife was a daughter of Major Simmons, born in New York, and of Scotch descent. They were parents of eighteen children, nine of whom grew to maturity, namely: Jane, widow of H. Cole, of Santa Rosa, California; Sarah, widow of Reverend William Copeland, a Methodist minister, now of Santa Rosa, California, and formerly of Jackson, Michigan; William, who died in Michigan; Rosinda, wife of Emerson Boni, of South Dakota; Waity, wife of A. J. Quick, of Leroy, Michigan; Leroy, deceased; E. H.; Washington, of Battle Creek, Michigan; and Cordelia, wife of Dr. Johnson, of Battle Creek.
E. H. Fish was reared on a farm in Michigan, and enlisted in July, 1861, in the Sixth Regiment of Michigan Infantry, in the Union army. He served four years and took part in the siege of Jackson and Phillips, and was in New Orleans when Benjamin Butler landed. He was at Baton Rouge and Port Hudson, and spent forty-two days under fire. He also participated in the siege of Fort Morgan, Fort Gaines, Spanish Fort, Fort Hugo and Fort Tracy, and was mustered out at Jackson, Michigan, in August, 1865. He removed to Iowa in the fall of 1865, and rented land, he later went to Kansas in 1878 lived four years on a homestead, after which he came to Buchanan county, Iowa, and lived until 1900 and then located in Polk township, Benton county, where he owns eighteen acres in section 11. He is an energetic and thrifty farmer, and pays close attention to his business interests. He is a member of the Grand Army of the Republic and of the Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, and belongs to the Methodist Episcopal church. He takes great interest in public affairs, and is a Republican.
When home on a furlough in 1864, Mr. Fish married Susan A. Smith, and they have two children, George H., of Kansas, and Katherine, wife of M. D. Curtis, of Colorado. Two others, George and Estella Hortense, died in infancy.
 |
