George W. Myers

HAWK, MYERS, TAPPER, WHITTAKER

Posted By: Judy Wight Branson (email)
Date: 10/20/2004 at 22:55:39

George W. Myers, a farmer of Douglas township, is a native of Butler county, Ohio, born June 2, 1862. His parents, Charles and Huldah (Whittaker) Myers, were also born in the Buckeye state, the father on the 20th of July, 1828, and the mother on the 10th of July, 1833. As a young man Charles Myers was employed as a bookkeeper in a store in Ohio but later turned his attention to general farming, cultivating land in Butler county. In 1865 he removed to Illinois, taking up his residence in Woodford county, where he also farmed. In 1883 a removal was made to the vicinity of Lexington, Nebraska, which remained his home until his death, which occurred on the 3d of July, 1908. Upon first settling in that state conditions were quite primitive and his first home there was a sod house. He was a republican in his political allegiance but held no office other than that of assessor, as his private affairs demanded his entire attention. Two of his brothers were members of Ohio regiments in the Civil war. Of the eight children born to him and his wife, George W., who is the fifth in order of birth, is the only one residing in this county. One lives in Oklahoma, one in British Columbia, one elsewhere in Canada, one in Kansas, one in Montana and one in South Dakota. All are engaged in farming with the exception of one. The mother survives at the age of eighty-one years and makes her home with her children.

As a boy George W. Myers attended the district schools of Illinois and there mastered the fundamental branches of learning. He remained under the parental roof until he was twenty-one years of age and then became a farm hand in Illinois. In 1894 he removed to Jackson township, this county, and began farming on his own account. In 1911 he purchased one hundred and three acres of good land in Douglas township, where he has since made his home. He has spared neither time nor energy in the improvement of his place which is one of the well improved farm properties of his locality, and his labors as a general farmer and stock-raiser have yielded him a good income.

In 1898 the marriage of Mr. Myers and Miss Clara Hawk was celebrated in this county. Mrs. Myers was born in a log cabin in Webster township, a daughter of John and Ellen (Tapper) Hawk, the former born in Pennsylvania on the 14th of October, 1839, and the latter in the vicinity of Stockholm, Sweden, on the 27th of April, 1850. In early life Mr. Hawk devoted his energies to farming. Leaving Pennsylvania as a boy, he removed to La Salle county, Illinois, where he was married, but in 1864 he went to Kansas, where his wife died, leaving two children. He then returned to Illinois and began over again, having lost everything in Kansas. In 1870 he removed to Webster township, this county, and located near Winterset. At that time there was no railroad in Winterset and there were many evidences that the county had only been settled by white people about two decades before. He carried on general farming and stock-raising and was quite successful in those connections. He was not active in political affairs, but was quite prominent in the Evangelical Association of Madison county and was a charter member of that denomination at Maple Grove, Webster township. While living in Illinois he was a member of the Church of God. He passed away in Jackson township, where he owned land. He was married a second time and was the father of seven children, Mrs. Myers being the second in order of birth of those born to the second union.

To Mr. and Mrs. Myers has been born a daughter, Elsie Naomi, whose birth occurred in Webster township on the 20th of November, 1902. She is now attending district school. Mrs. Myers is missionary superintendent of the Sunday School Association of Madison county and was for some time superintendent of the Maple Grove church. That organization is a part of the Des Moines conference and she has attended several conventions and taken an active part in the Missionary Society of the Evangelical church. Both she and Mr. Myers are widely known in the county and wherever known are held in high esteem, as their traits of character are such as invariably command respect.

Taken from the book, “The History of Madison County, Iowa, 1915”