LOGSDON, Laurence

LOGSDON, STURTZ, JENKS, HOYMAN, LINES

Posted By: Nettie Mae
Date: 1/19/2003 at 00:19:56

Source: "The 1901 Biographical Record of Clinton Co., Iowa, Illustrated" published: Chicago : S. J. Clarke Pub. Co., 1901.

LAURENCE LOGSDON.

Laurence Logsdon, of Clinton, has long been in the service of the Chicago & Northwestern Railway, and now ranks twentieth on the list. He was bon on the 4th of July, 1853, in Bedford county, Pennsylvania, and is a son of Laurence and Martha (Sturtz) Logsdon. The father is a native of Maryland, born in 1820, and from that state removed to Pennsylvania, where he followed farming until 1865, and then went to Indiana, settling near Brazil, where he still makes his home. In early life he received a very limited education, and the success that he has achieved is due entirely to his own well-directed efforts. He is now fairly well-to-do, owning a good farm of one hundred and sixty acres, which he improved with the assistance of his sons. He is now living a retired life upon his farm. The Republican party has always found in him a stanch supporter of its principles, but he has never aspired to office. He is an earnest and consistent member of the Methodist Episcopal church, and the mother of our subject was also an active worker in the same church. She died in 1859, leaving five children, namely: Daniel, a farmer, living near Wichita, Kansas; James, who is engaged in farming near the old homestead, in Indiana; Laurence, of this review; Mary Ellen, now Mrs. Jenks , of Indiana; and Lincoln, a farmer of that state. After the mother’s death, the farther married Sarah Hoyman, who is still living.

The subject of this sketch began his education in the common schools of Pennsylvania, and after the removal of the family to Indiana he continued his studies in the district schools of that state for a time. During his youth he assisted in cutting the timber from his father’s land and in placing the farm under cultivation. At the age of eighteen he left the parental roof and went to Lee county, Illinois, where he worked as a farm hand for Walter Merriman, who lived near Dixon. He remained there about three years, during which time he attended school two winters.

Mr. Logsdon then returned to Pennsylvania, and for a number of years was employed as brakeman on the Pittsburg & Connellsville Railroad, and continued on the same line after it was absorbed by the Baltimore & Ohio system, with headquarters at Pittsburg. He next worked on a farm near Alliance, Ohio, for a Mr. Cook, two years, and at the end of that time returned to Dixon, Illinois, where he was again in the employ of Dr. Merriman one year. In 1880 he came to Clinton, Iowa, and worked in the sawmills on the edger for three years. Since then he has been in the employ of the Chicago & Northwester Railway, as brakeman, running between Clinton and Belle Plaine, for three years, and was promoted to conductor in 1886. He was on the rounds until 1896, when he was given a regular run, and is now conductor on No. 9, the fast mail going west, and No. 20, the fast meat train from Omaha. He is one of the best known men on the Iowa division, and is very popular not only with his business associates but also with the traveling public. He has never met with but one accident, and that was while he was braking.

At Clinton, October 2, 1883, Mrs. Logsdon married Miss Marcellie Lines, who was born in Savannah, Carroll county, Illinois, in 1862, and was educated in the schools of Independence, Iowa. Her parents, Gilbert and Minerva Lines, are still living. Unto Mr. and Mrs. Logsdon were born six children, of whom one died in infancy, and Etta M. at the age of eight years. Those living are: Robert, Russell, Florence and Homer, all of whom are attending school in Clinton. The parents are both member of the Methodist Episcopal church, and of the Knights and Ladies of the Golden Precept, and insurance organization. In politics Mr. Logsdon is a Republican. He is of a somewhat retiring disposition, but is held in high regard by all who know him.