Moorman, Chiles F.

MOORMAN

Posted By: Karon Velau (email)
Date: 6/13/2021 at 16:11:27

CHILES F. MOORMAN
born Mar 8, 1846, Ohio

History of Warren County, Iowa; Containing a History of the County, Its Cities, Towns & Etc., by Union Historical Company, 1879, p.695
MOORMAN, CHILES F., farmer, Union Township, Sec. 35; P. O. Sandyville; born in Highland county, Ohio, March 8, 1846; his parents, Jno. T. and Nancy (Van Pelt) Moorman, came to this county in 1849, and located near Hartford, where the subject of this sketch was raised, and from his childhood has been identified with its growth and development; he is a man of more than ordinary ability - honest and upright in his dealings, courteous and frank in manners; has held various township offices, which he has filled satisfactorily; he married Sept. 10, 1868, to Miss Olivia C. Gillespie, a native of Park county, Ind.; they have two children: M. Busha and Birdie.

Chiles F. Moorman, one of the well known and progressive men of Jefferson township, Warren county, Iowa, is a native of Highland county, Ohio, where he was born March 8, 1846, one of the six children of John T. and Mary (Van Pelt) Moorman. Of the members of this family now living, Charles E. is in Arizona, William H. in Kansas, and Chiles F. in Iowa. John T. Moorman, the father, was born in Campbell county, Virginia, February 22, 1810, and in 1820 accompanied his parents and the rest of the family to Highland county, Ohio. That county continued to be his home until 1849, when he came out to Iowa and settled in Richland township, Warren county, among its earliest pioneers. There he lived until 1854; from 1854 until 1861 near Sandyville, in Union township; from 1861 until 1882 in Belmont township; and in the last named year returned to Union township, where he died December 25, 1883, at the age of seventy-three years. He was by birth and early association an old-fashioned Quaker, and adhered strictly to the faith of that sect all through his life. An earnest Whig in the early days, he became one of the most earnest of the leaders in the movement for the abolition of slavery, and in this work was associated with the noted John Brown. The so called “underground railroad” had one of its stations located on his place, in Richland township, where many a fugitive slave found protection and assistance. Indeed, Mr. Moorman's whole life was spent in the endeavor to uplift humanity, to relieve the suffering, and to make men better. His wife, nee Mary Van Pelt, was a native of Belmont county, Ohio, and a daughter of Isaac and Sarah (Ellis) Van Pelt. Isaac, the father, was born in Pennsylvania. In early life he moved out to Ohio, and on the frontier spent the rest of his days, and died there at the advanced age of ninety. His wife was a native of Virginia, a descendant of one of the first families of the Old Dominion, and at the time of her death was past seventy. Mrs. Moorman died in 1866, at the age of fifty-five years. Mr. Moorman's grandfather, Reuben Moorman, was a Virginian by birth. Some of his remote ancestors were among the first settlers of Virginia. They were of Scotch origin. His wife, whose maiden name was Lydie Johnson, was likewise of Virginia birth, her people having long resided in the South. She lived to extreme old age, while he died in middle life.
Chiles F. Moorman, the subject of this sketch, was not yet four years old when his parents removed to Iowa, and here he was reared and has since lived. He remained on the home farm until he was twenty- three years of age, when he started out in life on his own responsibility. Farming claimed his attention until 1889 when he removed to Indianola for the purpose of educating his daughters, and he remained there until 1891. That year he purchased his present farm on section 35 of Jefferson township, and here he has since been engaged in general farming and stock raising, making a specialty of the latter. He takes a pride in keeping the best of thoroughbred stock and on his farm has some fine specimens of the same.
September 10, 1868 Mr. Moorman was united in marriage to Miss Olivia C. Gillaspie, a native of Parke county, Indiana, and a daughter of David and Mary F. Gillaspie, she being one of their family of six children. Her father was a native of Rockbridge county, Virginia, and is now deceased, while her mother a native of Kentucky, is still living. Mr. and Mrs. Moorman have two daughters: Busha and Josephine, the former being now the wife of Charles Collins, of Des Moines Iowa. Mr. Moorman is an active, progressive man in the prime of life, and one of the representative farmers of Jefferson township. He is, by appointment of the Secretary of Agriculture at Washington, Statistician for the region in which he lives, and makes monthly reports to the Department of Agriculture. He is Justice of the Peace for his township, a strong Republican in politics, and is actively interested in all that goes to promote the growth of Warren county. Source: A Memorial and Biographical Record of Iowa, Lewis Publishing Co., Chicago, Illinois, 1896, vol.1, p.268