Ira R. Arney (1839-1904)

ARNEY

Posted By: Karon Velau (email)
Date: 4/6/2022 at 15:42:41

Ira R. Arney
(May 24, 1839 – August 24, 1904)

Classed among the leading business men of Lake City, Ira R. Arney is there engaged in dealing in real estate as a member of the firm of Arney, Easton & Arney. They also represent a number of important insurance companies and in both lines are meeting with creditable and well merited success. Mr. Arney was born in Owen County, Indiana, on the 24th of May, 1839, and is a son of Henry and Mary (Brush) Arney, the former a native of North Carolina and the latter of Kentucky. The Arney family came from the south and settled in Owen County, Indiana. They were of German lineage originally, but at a very early date the family was established in the southern portion of this country. In the year 1857 Henry Arney, with his wife and son, Ira, came to Iowa, taking up his abode in Marshall County, where he spent the remainder of his days, passing way in Albion in 1862, at the age of eighty-two years. During the greater part of his life he had followed farming and was at all times an honorable, trustworthy man. His wife survived him a number of years, passing away in 1870, at the age of seventy-eight. They were the parents of three children. One son, J. H. Arney, served as a member of Company B, Second Iowa Cavalry, during the Civil war and his health became so impaired that he died about eighteen months after leaving the army. Another brother, A. W. Arney was a member of the same company, valiantly defending the Union throughout the struggle, and afterward made his home in Marshalltown, Iowa, until 1872.
In a select school of Albion, Iowa, Ira R. Arney began his education, which was continued in Albion Seminary. Subsequently he followed farming in Marshall County, where he remained for twenty-eight years when in 1885 he came to Calhoun County and was connected with agricultural pursuits in the vicinity of Sherwood, in Lake Creek Township, for four years. In 1889 he removed to Lake City, where he has since been engaged in the real estate and insurance business. The policies which they write annually represent many thousand dollars and they also conduct important real estate transfers.
On the 15th of April, 1860, Mr. Arney was united in marriage to Miss Sarah A. Beeson, of Marshall County, a daughter of Samuel and Martha (Smith) Beeson, who came to Iowa from Columbiana County, Ohio, taking up their abode in Marshall County in the year 1854 among its early settlers. Mr. and Mrs. Arney have three living children: W. H., who resides on a farm in Marshall County; C. E., who is warden of the state penitentiary at Boise, Idaho; and H. L., who resides near Boise, Idaho, following agricultural pursuits. He served in Company A of the Fifty-first Regiment of Iowa Volunteers, being in the Philippines for more than a year. Mr. Arney has served as city assessor and as a member of the school board. He belongs to the Christian church, serving as a member of its building committee when the house of worship was being erected, and is now one of its elders. Coming to the west as he did, a young man without capital, Mr. Arney deserves great credit for his success in life. He has made the most of his opportunities, by carefully watching the markets and by straightforward, honorable dealing has secured the public confidence and the public patronage. He has accumulated a handsome property and his life illustrates what can be accomplished through industry, perseverance, good management and a determination to succeed. [Source – Biographical Record of Calhoun County, Iowa, by S. J. Clarke, 1902, p.313]