Meginness, J. B.

MEGINNES

Posted By: Joyce Hickman (email)
Date: 7/29/2008 at 13:48:49

J. B. Meginness, farmer, P. O. Council Bluffs, was born in Lancaster County, Penn., in 1837, son of Benjamin and Sarah Meginness, natives of Pennsylvania; he died in 1868, she in 1850. Mr. Meginness attended the common schools, and afterward went to the Academy at Jersey Shore, Penn. He has three brothers farming in Pottawattamie County, Iowa; one in California in the same occupation, and one in Pennsylvania as chief editor of the Williamsport "Gazette and Bulletin". Mr. Meginness came to Council Bluffs in the fall of 1846; crossed over into Nebraska and stayed in what is now Florence, till the spring of 1848, then came back to the Iowa side, remaining till 1853, and then returning to Pennsylvania, where he remained four years. In 1863, he enlisted in the Twenty-ninth Iowa Infantry, and was under Steele's command in Arkansas; he was captured April 30, 1864, at Jenkin's Ferry, Saline River, while he lay wounded on the field, after Steele's retreat; he was subsequently taken to Tyler, Texas, and mustered out with paroled prisoners in February, 1865. In 1858, in Pottawattamie County, Iowa, Mr. Meginness was married to Mrs. (Nixon) Debolt, daughter of William Nixon. They have one son and three daughters. Mr. Meginness came to this place in the spring of 1868, and purchased an unimproved farm; he now has 450 acres, about one-half of which is under cultivation; he raises stock extensively; he is a plasterer by trade, but has been engaged in farming since 1859. Mr. Meginness owes his success in life to his own energy and perseverance; he is a Republican in politics. (From the 1882 History of Pottawattamie County, Iowa)