Wion, Jessie L.

WION, SINES, NOFTSGER, BECK, LLOYD, COATES, BEDELL, NOBLE, MCLAUGHLIN, CASH, ANDREW, AKERS, PAYTON, FORTUNE

Posted By: Mary H. Cochrane, Volunteer
Date: 7/12/2019 at 05:18:30

History of Decatur County Iowa and Its People
Illustrated, Volume II.
Prof. J. M. Howell and Heman C. Smith
Supervising Editors
The S.J. Clarke Publishing Company. Pp. 374-76. Chicago. 1915.

HENRY WION

Henry Wion, a farmer and stock-raiser, owning and operating one hundred and seventy-eight acres of land in Grand River township, where he resides, and also a two hundred acre tract in Bloomington township, has made his home in this county since 1854 and has therefore witnessed the greater part of its development from a pioneer region to the prosperous farming section that it is today. His birth occurred in Muskingum county, Ohio, on the 2d of July, 1844, and he is a son of John and Nancy (Sines) Wion, natives respectively of Virginia and of Maryland. They were married in Ohio, where they remained until the latter part of 1844, when they removed to Indiana. They resided for five years in Carroll county, that state, and for a similar length of time in Jasper county, Indiana, after which they came to Iowa, locating in Bloomington township, Decatur county, in 1854. The father sold his farm about 1867 and removed to Daviess county, Missouri, where he died in 1873, at the age of sixty-six years, as he was born in 1807. They were the parents of nine children, of whom Henry is the second in order of birth. Four children are still living, the others being: John; Mrs. Kate Noftsger; and Mrs. Eve Beck, of Portland, Oregon.

Henry Wion was but ten years of age when he accompanied his parents to this county and here he has since resided. During his boyhood and youth he gave much assistance to his father in the work of cultivating the fields and caring for the live-stock. In 1862, when eighteen years of age, he put aside all other considerations and enlisted in Company E, Thirty-fifth Missouri Infantry, serving with that command in the Civil war for two years and ten months. Of the nineteen men from Decatur county in his company but four returned and two of that number besides Mr. Wion are still living. The company was assigned to the Army of the West and at the battle of Helena on the 4th of July, 1863, Mr. Wion was struck by a piece of shell. He also sustained an injury to his ankle by slipping on a wharf-boat on which he was guard. He was incapacitated for service for some time but eventually recovered. After the close of the war he returned to Decatur county and has since devoted his energies to agricultural work. For many years he resided in Bloomington township, where he still owns two hundred acres of excellent land, and for six years he lived in Kellerton. Since January, 1913, however, the family home has been maintained on a farm of one hundred and seventy-eight acres in Grand River township. He has not only grown the usual crops but has also raised considerable stock each year and his labor has been rewarded by gratifying financial returns.

Mr. Wion was married on the 14th of July, 1867, to Miss Mary Elizabeth Lloyd, who was born in Muskingum county, Ohio, December 2, 1850, a daughter of Jesse and Elizabeth (Coates) Lloyd, the father probably a native of Virginia and the mother a native of West Virginia. Mr. Lloyd removed to Ohio in early life and resided there until 1854, when he removed with his family to Decatur county, Iowa, settling in Burrell township, about a mile south of Decatur City. There both he and his wife passed away. He was a Baptist in religious faith and she was a member of the Presbyterian church. They were the parents of eight children, namely: Mrs. Wion; George, of Grand River; Dr. Josiah, who is residing in South Dakota; John, also a resident of that state; Mrs. Nancy Bedell, of Decatur City; Mrs. Annie Noble, also of Decatur City; Mrs. Rose Noble, who is living near Grand River; and William, a merchant of Decatur City. Mr. and Mrs. Wion both grew to maturity in this county and their married life has covered almost a half century. They have six children, namely: George, who is residing in Colorado; Jesse, of this county; Rose, the wife of Charles McLaughlin, of Burrell township; Mrs. Clara Cash, of Grand River township; Mrs. Luella Andrew, also of that township; and John, who is operating his father's farm in Bloomington township.

Mr. Wion is a stalwart democrat and for several terms held the position of trustee of Bloomington township. He belongs to the Odd Fellows lodge at Decatur City and both he and his wife are members of the Protestant Methodist church, to the support of which they contribute liberally. Mr. Wion is one of the oldest residents of this county in point of the years that he has lived here and his accounts of early conditions and happenings are not only of much interest but also of value as the present generation finds it hard to understand the lives of the pioneers and to realize the many hardships that had to be endured. Mr. Wion has at all times taken a public-spirited interest in community affairs and has done all in his power to further the development of his county.

NOTE: Henry Wion died at the age of 75 years on November 21, 1919, Decatur City IA. Mary E. (Lloyd) Wion died in 1929, Decatur Co. IA. They were interred at Decatur City Cemetery, Decatur IA.

Of Henry and Mary's children:
George Jacob Wion, born 12 Oct 1868; died Dec 1955 WA; married Eve Akers, born 10 Feb 1872, Decatur Co IA, died 29 Aug 1941, Granada CO
Nancy E. Wion, died at the age of 2 years, 9 months and 11 days 05 Dec 1873; interred Decatur City Cemetery, no stone
Jesse Lloyd Wion, born 21 Mar 1877, and died in 1961; he and his wife Laura E. (Payton) Wion (1880-1961) were interred at Elk Cemetery, Decatur Co. IA
Rose Alice (Wion) McLaughlin, born 07 Feb 1876, died 09 Oct 1858, Lamoni IA, interred Elk Cemetery

Rose Alice married Charles Everett McLaughlin, born 08 Aug 1874, Decatur IA, died 17 Aug 1943, Lamoni IA, interred Elk Cemetery
Clara C. (Wion) Cash, born 1878, died 1959, interred Cash Cemetery, Decatur Co. IA

Clara married Mar 1898 Fred W. Cash, born 1872, died 19 Nov 1942, Decatur City IA, interred Cash Cemetery
Luella M. (Wion) Andrew, born 01 Jun 1881, died 1968, interred Grand River Cemetery, Grand River IA

Luella married Allen S. Andrew, born 1878, died 1945, interred Grand River Cemetery
John F. Wion, born 1887

Interred at Elk Cemetery is Henry's brother John W. Wion, born April 30, 1850, Jasper Co. IN; died May 31, 1923; and John's 2nd wife, Melvina (Fortune) Wion 1861-1939

Transcription and note by Sharon R. Becker, February of 2014