William M. Bixby 1858-1943

BIXBY, ROLSTON, BIERSBORN, JOHNSON, ELLIOTT, MOREY

Posted By: C Tucker (email)
Date: 9/9/2010 at 11:34:47

Times Republican
Marshalltown, IA [Tuesday 8-24-1943] p. 11
W. M. Bixby Is Dead; Lived 65 Years In County
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Liscomb Pioneer Dies Early Tuesday in Deaconess Hospital
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Liscomb --- (Special) --- W. M. Bixby, 85, a resident of Liscomb for the past 65 years, died at 7:15 Tuesday morning a the Deaconess hospital in Marshalltown where he had been a patient for the past two months. Death was due to the infirmities of age. The body was taken to the Biersborn funeral home at Union pending funeral arrangements which cannot be completed until word is received from relatives away. BORN IN ILLINOIS Mr. Bixby was born Aug. 18, 1858 in Lee county, Illinois, near West Brooklyn. He came from the section where many of the early pioneer families of the Liscomb community had lived. His parents were Mr. and Mrs. Lyman Lorenzo Bixby. He first came to Liscomb in 1874 to visit the Tripps and the Barbers. He rode to Conrad on the first trip of the narrow gauge road into that town. Later he returned in 1876 to work during the harvest and the Bixby family moved to the community in the spring of 1878 and purchased a farm a mile east and a half mile south of Liscomb where Tom Butler now lives. Later they bought other farms in the community. LIVED WITH SON He was married in September, 1885, to Cora Rolston. She died Feb. 3, 1932. Since the death of his wife, he has made his home with his son at Liscomb. Mr. Bixby was one of a family of nine children, two of who, James and Daniel, both of Worthington, Minn., survive. Surviving also are two half-brothers, L. L. Bixby of Liscomb and Dr. R. L. Bixby of Union and one half-sister, Mrs. G. W. Biersborn of Liscomb. Other survivors include the son, I. V. Bixby of Liscomb, four granddaughters, Mrs. Melick Johnson of East Moline, Ill., Mrs. Dick Elliott of Marshalltown; Miss Sarah Bixby, a yeoman at the navy training school at Stillwater, Okla., and Murial Bixby of Liscomb. A first cousin, George Morey, also lives at Liscomb. Mr. Bixby was very active in Liscomb I.O.O.F. Lodge and a member for more than 40 years.