Edward H. Maskrey, b. 26 Mar 1825

REDGARD, BELL, FRUIT, HAYWOOD, ROBERTSON, MCCARRON, PHILLIPS

Posted By: Donna Moldt Walker (email)
Date: 2/21/2004 at 10:55:53

Edward H. Maskrey has for many years been a leading manufacturer of flour and feed in Jackson County. His mill in Maquoketa is a fine brick structure, three stores in height, 40x61 feet in dimensions, with a basement. It is well-equipped with the most approved modern machinery, and has a capacity of eighty barrels of flour a day and fifty bushels of feed an hour. His sons, Frank H. and Stephen P., are associated with him in the ownership of the mill, and they do a large and flourishing business, both custom and merchant, and their staples are conceded to be of superior quality.

Mr. Maskrey was born in Derbyshire, Eng., March 26, 1825. His father, whose given name was Bartholomew, was a native of the same shire. The grandfather of our subject was a resident of Derbyshire, where he carried on the trade of a stonemason, spending his last years there, and all that is mortal of him now lies buried in the Episcopalian Church in the village of Wirksworth. The father of our subject was reared in that village, and in his youth learned the trades of stonecutting and brickmasonry, and followed them in his native village until about the year 1830, when he determined to emigrate to America to see if he could better his prospects of building up a comfortable home for his family. He put his resolution into execution, and in a short time he and his wife and children were settled in the town of Erie, Pa. He subsequently returned to his native village until 1839, when he again braved the perils of the deep with his beloved ones, setting sail from Liverpool and landing in New York after a voyage of four weeks, being accompanied by his wife and four children. He again took up his abode in Erie, Pa., and followed his trade there steadily until 1845. In that year he went to Mercer County, Pa., and turning his attention to agriculture, bought a farm, and a part of the time was engaged in its cultivation and a part of the time worked at his trade. He continued to reside there until 1853, when he sold his farm and went to West Virginia, where he had taken a contract to build bridges on the Parkersburg and Grafton Railway, then in the process of construction. He remained there two years and then came with his family to Jackson County, Iowa, coming by the way of the Ohio and Mississippi rivers to Dubuque, and from thence to his destination. He bought land near Andrew with an unimproved water power, and the same year commenced the erection of a flour mill, which he operated, in company with our subject, eleven years. After that he lived in retirement, making his home with his children, continuing his residence in this county until his death, in 1870. He was a man of good parts, industrious and exemplary habits, possessing forethought and thrift to a marked degree, and his success in life was satisfactory in every respect. The maiden name of his wife was Sarah Redgard, and she was a native of the same English shire as himself. Her death occurred in Muscatine, Iowa, where she was attacked by cholera while the family was en route to the new home in this county, and it was a sad blow to the husband and children, who were thus deprived of a faithful wife and mother. There were eight children in the family, as follows: Elizabeth, the wife of C. R. Bell; Edward H.; Mary A. married H. P. Bell, and has since died; Henry R.; Martha, wife of Richard Fruit; Sarah, wife of W. P. Haywood; John P.; and Helen, deceased.

The subject of this sketch was five years old when he crossed the ocean to this country the first time, and his second ticket to the United States was purchased the day before he was fourteen years old, he returning to this country again in the same ship, commanded by the same captain, in which the voyage had been made on his return to England a few years before. As soon as he was large enough our subject commenced work with his father, and was under his employment both in Pennsylvania and in West Virginia; and accompanying his father to Iowa, he formed a partnership with him in building and managing the before-mentioned flour mill. In 1865 they dissolved partnership, and our subject moving to Maquoketa, leased the McCloy flour mill, the first one that was ever built in Jackson County, and operated it nearly sixteen years. He then bought the old Methodist Church, a frame building, 26x57 feet in dimensions and one story in height, and fitted it up with suitable machinery for grinding feed and manufacturing flour, it having a capacity of 140 bushels of wheat in twenty-four hours. He continued to prosper in his business, and in 1885 was obliged to enlarge his mill in order to supply the demands of his customers. In order not to stop the manufacturing process while building, he ingeniously hit upon the plan of building around the old mill in such a manner that the machinery could still keep in operation while the building was going on. The new mill is complete in all its appointments, and is one of the best in the county.

Mr. Maskrey was married Oct. 18, 1849, to Miss Mandana Robertson, and their wedded life has been blessed to them by the birth of five children, namely: Frank H., Emma, Stephen P., Rosa May, Delia M. Frank married Florence McCarron, and they had one child, Rieff, now dead; Emma married Gary McCarron. Mrs. Maskrey was born in Phillipsburg, Beaver Co., Pa. Her father, Thomas Robertson, was born on the ocean while his parents were emigrating from Ireland to this country. He was a son of Thomas Robertson. His parents settled in Beaver County, Pa., and there he grew to manhood. He learned the trade of a ship-carpenter, and worked with his father for a time, and later bought a farm, and besides cultivating the soil engaged in the coopers' trade. He spent his last years in Lawrence County, Pa. Mrs. Maskrey's mother's maiden name was Mary Phillips, and she is still living at the advanced age of eighty years, making her home with our subject and his wife. She was born in Vermont, and was a daughter of Stephen and Rhoda Phillips.

Mr. Maskrey is in every sense of the word a fine man, and in his business career he has shown himself to be possessed of all the requisite traits to make life a success. Although of foreign birth, so much of his life has been passed in the United States, that he has come to look upon this country as his own, and to feel the same pride and interest in its institutions and progress as a native, and is, indeed, one of its most loyal citizens. He believes the policy of the Republican party the best adapted to the guidance of National affairs, and is its hearty supporter. He and his good wife are among the leading and influential members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, of which he is Trustee, Steward and Class-Leader.

("Portrait and Biographical Album of Jackson County, Iowa", originally published in 1889, by the Chapman Brothers, of Chicago, Illinois)