Bever, John A.

BEVER, SLONIGER, MOORE, BERRY, CONKLIN, RINEHART, GAULEY

Posted By: Gary Norris (email)
Date: 11/30/2012 at 07:08:34

Among the residents of Bear Creek township, Poweshiek county, who are now living practically retired, their present comfortable financial position being the direct result of former activity and enterprise along agricultural lines, is numbered John A. Bever. He was born in Holmes county, Ohio, June 1, 1845, a son of James and Mary (Sloniger) Bever. The father's birth occurred in the same county on the 12th of February, 1810, while the mother was born in Pennsylvania, April 16, 1809. The latter went with her parents to Ohio and was there married in Holmes county, in 1832. In 1849 she accompanied her parents to Adams county, Illinois, and there she passed away May 4, 1864. Mr. Bever who was a farmer by occupation, subsequently went to Edina, Missouri, where his death occurred on the 30th of January, 1889. In their family were five children as follows: Effie, deceased; Susan, also deceased; John A., of this review; Adam of Guernsey, Iowa; and Joel, who has likewise passed away.

John A. Bever remained at home with his parents until the outbreak of the Civil war when, imbued with a spirit of patriotism, he enlisted in 1861 from Adams county, Illinois as a member of the Fiftieth Illinois Infantry. He was at that time only sixteen years of age and because of his youth his father secured his release. In 1862, he obtained his father's consent to reenlist, but on account of not having been properly enrolled he did not officially enlist until February 23, 1864, when he became a soldier in the Fiftieth Illinois Infantry. He was honorably discharged July 13, 1865, after having served for nearly three years. In the meantime he had taken part in all of the engagements of his regiment, including the battles of Shiloh, Corinth, Pittsburg Landing, Kennesaw Mountain, Atlanta, and Alton Pass, George, as well as many minor engagements. He went with Sherman on his march to the sea and took part in the fight at Bentonville, North Carolina, after the surrender of General Lee. Later he went to Washington and took part in the grand review, the greatest military pageant ever witnessed in the United States, and with a splendid record for valor and courage returned home.

After returning to private life Mr. Bever went to Kansas and hired out as a teamster in the employ of the government at Fort Riley. He was thus engaged for eight and a half months and it was during this time that the treaty was made with the Indians by Generals Kearney and Sanborn. In 1866 he returned to Adams county, Illinois, and there carried on farming during the years 1867 and 1868. In April of the following year he arrived in Poweshiek county, Iowa, and here he located on a farm three miles northeast of Brooklyn. He first purchased eighty acres of land at five dollars an acre, and this formed the nucleus of what has since become an extensive property holdings. He has continued to engage in general farming and has been so successful in his venture that he has been able, with the passing of the years, to invest more and more largely in farm property until he is now the owner of seven hundred and seventy acres of well improved land, which constitutes one of the most valuable estates in the county. The land, which is located in Warren and Bear Creek townships, is now rented, constituting the source of a most substantial annual income. Mr. Bever makes his home at present on the River road, a mile east of Brooklyn.
On December 31, 1868, in Adams county, Illinois, Mr. Bever was united in Marriage to Miss Susan Moore, who was born in Kentucky on the 31st of December, 1850. She was reared, however, in Illinois, and is a daughter of George and Rhoda (Berry) Moore, and a second cousin of Henry Clay. By her marriage with Mr. Bever she became the mother of nine children, namely: Cora, who is now the wife of Walter Conklin, of Knox, Indiana; Frank Elmer, who passed away at the age of one year; Normal Ellsworth, of Colorado; Mary Edith, who married Home Rinehart, of Wyoming; Charles D., a resident of Brooklyn; Sampson C., of Wyoming; Guy N., also of Wyoming; Lily Iola, the wife of Dr. Gauley, of Chelsea, Iowa; and Edna Elizabeth, who died when she was seven years of age.
Mr. Bever is a loyal and consistent member of the Methodist Episcopal church and he maintains pleasant relations with his old army comrades through his membership with the Grand Army of the Republic. His record is one of which he may well be proud, for his success has been worthily won, representing the fit utilization of talents and opportunities, while his personal qualities have ever been such as to win the high regard of his fellowmen.

History of Poweshiek County Iowa
- A Record of Settlement, Organizations, Progress and Achievement, Vol. II
written by Prof. L. F. Parker.
Published by The S. J. Clarke Publishing Co., in 1911
Pages 492-498