ALLISON, John

ALLISON, PARKER, CONNAUGHT, SIMPSON, SLATER, COVERDALE, WINDGROVE, PARKISON, PARKINSON, HOPKINS, BAKER, BEARD, WATSON, JOHNSON, THOMPSON, SLACK, BATTLES, SNODDY, CAIN, BENTON, BANKS, KNEEN

Posted By: NettieMae
Date: 2/9/2017 at 22:30:57

From the 1901 Biographical Record of Clinton Co., Iowa, Illustrated

John Allison, who is successfully engaged
in carrying on agricultural pursuits
in Bloomfield township, where he has a
fine farm equipped with splendid improvements,
is a native of Canada, his birth having
occurred in the British province March
9, 1839. His father, John Allison, Sr., was
born in Yorkshire, England, in 1809. and
after arriving at years of maturity married
Jane Parker, who was born in Durham,
England, in 1805. About 1830—soon after
their marriage—they crossed the Atlantic
to Canada, where they spent their remaining
days, the father's death occurring in
June, 1897, while his wife passed away in
April of the same year. They were the
parents of four sons and three daughters,
namely: Thomas, of Norwich, Ontario,
who married Margaret Connaught, who
died, leaving four sons and three daughters;
Hannah, who became the wife of William
Simpson, by whom she had four children,
afterwards married Thomas Slater, now a
resident of Detroit, Michigan, by whom she
has two children; Ann, wife of John Connaught,
of Alton county, Canada, and the
mother of three living daughters; John, of
this review ; Joshua, of Milton, Canada,
who married Jane Coverdale, and after her
death wedded Phebe Windgrove; Jane,
wife of Joseph Parkison, of Maquoketa, by
whom she has five children ; and Parker, of
Alton county, Canada, who married Maria
Windgrove and has four children.
In the subscription schools of Canada
John Allison, the subject of this sketch, began
his education, which he later continued
in the public schools, pursuing his studies
until eighteen years of age. He afterward
assisted his father in the cultivation of the
home farm, remaining at home until he had
attained his majority. As a companion and
helpmate for the journey of life he married
Miss Nancy Jane Parkinson, the wedding taking
place near Guelph, Ontario, December
22, 1859. She was born in Canada
February 28, 1843, a daughter of John
Parkinson, a native of Lincolnshire, England.
Her mother, who bore the maiden
name of Jane Hopkins, was born about
eleven miles from Niagara Falls.
After their marriage Mr. and Mrs.
Parkinson removed to Eramosa Wellington
county, Canada, where they remained
until 1860, when Mr. Parkinson sold his
farm and took up his abode at Lyons, Iowa.
In 1861 he purchased a farm of one hundred
and sixty acres and continued to cultivate
and improve the property until 1868, when
he took up his abode in Lyons, remaining
there two years. On the expiration of that
period he removed two and a half miles from
Elwood, residing for a time upon a farm of
eighty acres, when he removed with his family
to a farm of one hundred acres in Bloomfield
township. He afterward sold that
property to his son and purchased a residence
in Delmar, where he made his home
for thirteen years. His wife died in 1891,
and his death occurred on the 12th of November,
1895. Their children were as follows
: Joseph H. married Jane Allison, a
sister of our subject, and resides at Maquoketa.
They have five children. Obadiah
M., a resident of Sioux Falls, South Dakota,
wedded Mary Baker and afterward
married Mary Beard. By the first union
there were two children and by the last five.
Mrs. Allison is the next younger. Betsey
A. is the deceased wife of George Watson,
of Lyons, Iowa. Ellen died at the age of
fourteen years. George H. married Mrs.
Julia Johnson, by whom he has three children,
and resides at Maquoketa. John married
Phebe Thompson, and after her death
wedded Ellen Slack, their home being now
in Canton, South Dakota. By the first marriage
there were four children. Albert,
who is living near Maquoketa, married
Celestial Battles, and they have five children.
The marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Allison
has been blessed with twelve children : Ida
E., who was born May 2, 1861, in Clinton
county, is the wife of James Snoddy, of
Olin, Iowa, and they have two children;
Anna J., born July 24. 1863, is the wife of
Thomas Cain, of Delmar, and they have
three children ; Mary E., who was born November
26, 1865, married William Benton,
of Clinton county, and with their one child
they reside in Maquoketa; John J., born in
Canada, October 30, 1867, now assists in the
management of the home farm ; Hannah E.,
born in Canada February 3, 1870, is the
wife of Benjamin Banks, of Delmar, and
has three children; Nancy M., born April
1, 1872, is the wife of Thomas Kneen, of
Artesian, South Dakota, and has two children
; Margaret R., horn in Canada, May
22, 1874, and Albert Parker, born in Canada,
July 10, 1876, are at home; Phebe
May, born in Clinton county, October 19,
1878, died at the age of nine weeks; Obadiah
Joseph, born in Clinton county, November
11, 1880, was killed in the cyclone in
May, 1898, at the age of nineteen years;
George, born in Clinton county, November
—, 1884, is attending school at Delmar
; James G., born in this county, September
30, 1887, is also a student' in school.
After his marriage Mr. Allison took up
his residence on a farm five miles north of
Lyons, in Clinton county. He purchased
sixty-two acres and cultivated the fields for
three years, after which he removed to
Lyons, where he remained for thirteen years,
when he returned to Delmar. He purchased
a small tract of land but soon afterward sold
it and bought one hundred acres in Brookfield
township, making his home thereon for
seven years. On the expiration of that
period he sold his farm and purchased one
hundred and sixty acres on section sixteen,
Bloomfield township, to which he has added
until he now owns two hundred and seventy five
acres of valuable land. His fine farm
was in the path of the cyclone, which swept
over this portion of the country at half past
four o'clock in the afternoon of May 18,
1898. It was in this storm that his son
lost his life and his wife was nearly killed.
The violence of the storm swept all before
it. Trees were uprooted, and Mr. Allison
had property destroyed to the value of ten
thousand dollars. He lost two hundred
fifty hogs, fifty-nine cattle and seven horses,
and his buildings were demolished, and four
miles of fence blown away, there being
nothing left but the land ; but, with determined energy and resolute will, he undertook the task of retrieving his lost possessions, and has since erected a commodious
and attractive residence, large barns, and
other farm outbuildings, and has made
splendid improvements. He put in tile to
the value of three hundred dollars, and since
the cyclone has raised twenty thousand
bushels of corn. Such losses as came to
him would have utterly disheartened a man
of less resolute spirit, but his indefatigable
energy and strong determination enabled
him to push forward and to-day he is numbered
among the men of affluence in the
community.