Cheshire, Samuel

CHESHIRE

Posted By: Karon Velau (email)
Date: 6/28/2021 at 23:28:17

History of Warren County, Iowa from Its Earliest Settlement to 1908, by Rev. W. C. Martin, Clarke Publishing Co., Chicago, Illinois, 1908, p.479

SAMUEL CHESHIRE
Samuel Cheshire, who for eighteen years has been identified with commer­cial interests in Indianola, is now conducting a well appointed clothing estab­lishment in the Harlan block. His life record began in Catlin, Vermilion County, Illinois, November 16, 1856. The family is of English origin but was founded in America in colonial days, for representatives of the family served with the American army in the Revolutionary War.
His father, Wesley Cheshire, was born in Ohio, and in early manhood he devoted his time and energies to farming and stock buying. He came to Iowa when his son Samuel was but six months old, settling in Indianola in 1857. Here he and his brother, John, conducted a general store and in con­nection with merchandising Wesley Cheshire also engaged in farming and pur­chased and shipped stock. He was quite successful in his varied business undertakings and placed his capital in the safest of all investments—real estate—becoming the owner of fourteen hundred acres of rich farming land of Iowa. He married Miss Susan Price, a native of Virginia, and they be­came the parents of five children, as follows: John, who died at the age of twenty-one years; Elizabeth, who has also departed this life; Hulda, the wife of A. D. Swan, a real-estate dealer of Little Rock, Arkansas; William, who is with his brother, and Samuel, who is a twin brother of William and whose name introduces this review. Both parents held membership in the Methodist Episcopal Church and Mr. Cheshire was also an exemplary representative of the Masonic lodge. During the last years of his life he was a prominent prohibitionist, giving stalwart support to the party which embodied his views upon the temperance question. He entertained clearly defined ideas of right and wrong and at all times stood loyally in defense of his principles, his neighbors entertaining for him the highest respect and confidence.
Samuel Cheshire attended the public schools of Indianola and afterward was a student in the Blue Bird Seminary and for two years in Simpson Col­lege. In early manhood he worked at farm labor for a time but since 1890 has been identified with mercantile pursuits in Indianola. Here forming a partnership with F. S. Burberry, he embarked in the clothing business on the south side of the square, under the firm style of Burberry & Cheshire. This was continued until 1898, when the partnership was dissolved and Mr. Cheshire has since been alone in business. In 1905 he removed his stock to the handsome new Harlan block, where he now has a modern store and carries a large line of up-to-date clothing and men's furnishing goods. His estab­lishment is well equipped and tastefully arranged and he now enjoys an ex­tensive patronage which is well merited. He also owns farm lands and has been quite successful in his business career.
In March 1881, Mr. Cheshire was married to Miss Dora N. Hunt, who was born in 1858, a daughter of P. H. Hunt, who was a tinner by trade and for a time resided in Indianola. Mr. and Mrs. Cheshire had four children: Elmer, deceased; Leona, who married Thomas A. Neill, of Indianola, by whom she has one child, Lambert; Neola and Murril, who are in school.
Mr. Cheshire exercises his right of franchise in support of the men and measures of the Democracy and is identified with the Ancient Order of United Workmen. He and his wife are also connected with the United Presbyterian church and are much esteemed in this community, where they have an extensive circle of friends. There has been nothing spectacular in his career. On the contrary it has been that of a business man who has quietly, faithfully and persistently performed his duties day after day in an effort to win success, realizing that labor is the basis of all honorable prosperity.