Lacey, George N.

LACEY, BOYD, BATTLES, CUMMINGS, MASON

Posted By: Volunteer Transcriber
Date: 8/13/2009 at 07:20:55

George N. Lacey, one of the oldest settlers of Poweshiek Township, Jasper County, was born near the city of Springfield, Ill., July 30,1850. His parents, Isaac and Jane (Boyd) Lacey, were natives of Tennessee, and grew to maturity and married in that state before removing to Illinois. They occupied a farm near Springfield for a few years, and in 1854 immigrated to the new state of Iowa. Here they were among the earliest arrivals and found a country fair as the "Garden of the Gods" to look upon but entirely unsettled and unoccupied, save by the wild animals of the plains, whose habitat they invaded to make for themselves a home. Buffaloes, deer and elks, of the larger game, quails, prairie chickens and wild geese, of the feathered tribes, were abundant and afforded a ready means of replenishing the larder until the farm was well under cultivation. Wolves were very destructive, and sheep, hogs and fowl suffered severely from their depredations. Years of hard labor brought the reward, and today Mr. and Mrs. Lacey have retired, and reside in Mitchellville, Polk County, at the ages respectively of seventy-three and sixty-seven years.

Of the thirteen children born to them, but seven remain: Susan, widow of H. M. Battles; George N., the subject of this sketch; James, a resident of Polk County; Filmore, of Jasper County; William, of Polk County; Ulysses (deceased), and Jonathan, the latter also a resident of Polk County.

George N. Lacey was educated, in the country schools, but attended only in the winter season, being obliged to walk a distance of four miles, frequently through deep snow or heavy rains. He continued in this way to secure such education as the labors on the farm permitted, residing in the meantime with his parents until his twenty-first year, when he purchased an interest in the farm which he now occupies. At this time he is the sole owner of the property, and has increased its dimensions to a fine estate of two hundred acres, nearly all of which is under a high state of cultivation, is improved with a beautiful residence, spacious barns and outhouses and every convenience that can aid a farmer, He carries on a general farming business, but devotes much attention to the improvement of his stock, which ranks second to few in the state. In 1872, at the age of twenty-two years, he married Miss Eliza Cummings, a native of Ohio and a daughter of Mason and Lucinda Cummings, who came into this county from Ohio in 1861. Mr. Cummings died in 1865, at the age of thirty-seven, and his wife in 1868, also at the age of thirty-seven. They were among the early settlers of Muskingum County, Ohio, and were the parents of five children, only two of whom survive, Eliza and Ida, the latter now Mrs. William Mason, who resides in Colorado.

Mr. and Mrs. Lacey are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Elmer and Orva are the only ones of their five children who remain. Mr. Lacey is a Democrat in politics and a leader in the party, and can always be counted upon to support the party nominees. Portrait and Biographical Record, Jasper, Marshall and Grundy Counties, IA Page 463.