Haines, Edwin S.

HAINES, VAN VOORHIS, SHAFER

Posted By: Volunteer Transcriber
Date: 8/23/2009 at 16:40:51

Haines, Edwin S.

The record of Edwin S. Haines, of Sully, Jasper County, is one that indicates that he has tried to do his duty in all life's relations in a faithful, honorable manner, which has resulted in a comfortable income since he started in life for himself and. also in winning the confidence and good will of his wide circle of acquaintances.

Edwin S. Haines was born in this County on May 11, 1869, the son of Timothy and Eliza (Van Voorhis) Haines. The paternal grandparents, Edwin and Rebecca Haines, who were natives of Ohio, moved to Indiana in an early day, and in 1872 came to Iowa and located in Jasper County, and here spent their last years. The father of the subject was reared in Indiana and when he was only sixteen years of age enlisted in Company K, Forty-seventh Indiana Volunteer Infantry, in which he served very creditably for twenty-one months when he was discharged for disability. He was in a number of hard-fought engagements and saw considerable hard service. After he returned home from the army he came to Jasper County in 1864 to recuperate from the effects of his service in the army; two of his uncles had located here and were doing well. He liked the new country and saw that it had a great future, so he decided to make his permanent home here, and soon purchased forty acres in Lynn Grove Township. To this he added from time to time until he owned one hundred and sixty acres, which he later sold, and, retiring from active life, moved to sully. His death occurred on March 27, 1909; his widow is still living, being now sixty-seven years of age. Timothy Haines was a Republican, but no politician, preferring to lead a quiet, retired life. He was a member of the Methodist Church, to which Mrs. Haines also, belongs. Their family consisted of nine children, one of whom died in infancy; the other eight are still living. Mr. Haines started life here as a pioneer and it was some time before he was comfortably situated. The effects of his service in the army rendered him an invalid later in life and he did not work after 1881.

Edwin S. Haines, of this review, grew up on the home farm and assisted with the work on the place when a mere boy. He received his education in the public schools of his native community, but being the oldest son, he had more work to do than the other children. As a young man he engaged in farming, later ran a livery barn and a restaurant. On August 1, 1906, he began carrying the mail on route No. I out of the town of Sully and he has discharged his duties in this connection very acceptably and faithfully. He owns thirty-four acres of valuable land, eight acres of which is within the corporate limits of Sully. It is very productive and valuable land and he raises a variety of products on it from year to year. He built a modern, substantial residence on his land here and is very well fixed.

Politically, he is a Republican and he and his wife are members of the Congregational Church.

Mr. Haines was married on March 15, 1892, to Laura Shafer, a native of Jasper County and the daughter of Asahel and Nancy Shafer, old settlers here from West Virginia and Illinois. He came to Iowa in 1858 and the mother came with her parents. They first moved from Illinois to Ohio, then to Marion County, Iowa, locating near the town of Pella, and there the parents of Mrs. Haines were married. They now live near New Sharon, Iowa. They have spent their lives on a farm. Their family consisted of four children, all of whom are living. To Mr. and Mrs. Haines have been born four children, namely: Myrtle, Harry, Walter and Tracy. Past and Present of Jasper County Iowa B. F. Bowden & Company, Indianapolis, IN, 1912 Page 790.