West, George

WEST

Posted By: Joyce Hickman (email)
Date: 10/30/2008 at 13:45:02

George West

(From the 1883 History of Pottawattamie County, Iowa, by J. H. Keatley, p.229, Rockford Twp.)
George West, farmer, P. O. Loveland, was born in Ohio in 1825, son of Harmon West, a native of Virginia, and a descendent of Gov. West, who was Governor of that State while it wa a British colony. Our subject's parents, who are both deceased, had fourteen children, of whom six are now living. Our subject received his education in his native State, and was raised on a farm. He came West, and settled in Illinois in 1850, where he remained until 1856, when he came to this State, and located across the line, between this and Harrison Counties. He was married, in Illinois, in 1851, to Miss Susan Drumm. They have eight children, four sons and four daughters, of whom one son and a daughter are married. Our subject first settled in Cincinnati Township, Harrison County, adjoining Rockford Township on the north. He settled on the bottoms, to the west and north of the Boyer (River), but was unable to secure a title to the land, as it was undecided whether it was swamp or Government land. At that time, most of the settlers here were formerly Mormons, who had become dissatisfied with that religion and had not gone to Salt Lake with the balance. Our subject did not secure a title to the land until about 1860. He sold his first land and went to the river, where he had a tract of timber. Here he ran a saw-mill for about two years. In 1868, he sold the mill and timber to the railroad company for $15,000; after which he went to steamboating on the Missouri River. In the following year, his boat, which carried both freight and passengers, was burned at Omaha, Neb., with a loss to himself of about $9,000. This was the Lydia Grace. He had previously, in 1863, lost anothe boat, the Emma, which sank in the river, he losing about $2,000. In 1869, he came to his present farm, which now consists of 400 acres, which is mostly corn. The life of our subject shows what a man with perseverance and energy can accomplish. He has made and lost two or three fortunes. His various occupations have subjected him to all kinds of exposure; he has employed from twenty to thirty men at a time. After a residence in this part of teh State for about twenty-eight years, he concluded that one who has a home in Pottawattamie County cannot better himself in any part of this terrestrial sphere. In politics, he is a Republican.