McVay, Leonard S.

MCVAY

Posted By: Karon Velau (email)
Date: 6/29/2021 at 13:51:39

History of Warren County, Iowa from Its Earliest Settlement to 1908, by Rev. W. C. Martin, Clarke Publishing Co., Chicago, Illinois, 1908, p.935

LEONARD S. McVAY
L. S. McVay, one of the progressive farmers of Virginia Township, War­ren County was born in Knox County, Ohio, March 7, 1843, a son of William Blatchley and Sarah (Love) McVay. His father was a native of Pennsylvania, but removed to Ohio in early manhood and here he met and married Sarah Love. Unto Mr. and Mrs. McVay were born ten children, eight of whom be­came school teachers, one brother, Professor B. B. McVay having been con­nected with the schools of Mansfield, Ohio, for a number of years. The father was a carpenter by trade, which occupation he followed both in Ohio and Illinois. On his removal to Iowa he settled at Garden Grove, Decatur County, shortly after the Mormons left that section for Salt Lake City. He died at Weldon, Decatur County, while the mother passed away at Le Roy, Iowa.
L. S. McVay's educational advantages were somewhat limited, and at the age of seventeen years he was thrown upon his own resources and, adapt­ing himself to the circumstances which his surroundings afforded, he en­gaged in farming, buying and cultivating a forty-acre tract of land in Decatur County. This he traded for his present farm on section 10, Virginia Township, Warren County, which he secured for three dollars and a half per acre. It was then an unimproved tract of land, but he courageously undertook its development and improvement until today he has one of the finest farms in the county, for which he has refused an offer of one hundred dollars per acre. The buildings upon the place may be said to be among the best in the township. Here Mr. McVay has resided since 1883, and has come to be recognized as one of the most reliable, progressive citizens of the community.
On the 29th of September, 1867, at Van Wert, Iowa, was celebrated the marriage of L. S. McVay and Miss Martha Hensley, the ceremony being per­formed by Rev. Seth Sampson. Mrs. McVay was born in Kentucky and accom­panied her parents into the states of Virginia, Indiana, and Iowa, in which latter state Mr. McVay met her. Unto Mr. and Mrs. McVay have been born five chil­dren, namely: John Franklin, who died at the age of seventeen; William B., who went to Texas a few years ago and from whom they have not since heard; L. P., a farmer of Virginia Township, who married Minnie Scott; Roy, who died at the age of seventeen; and Mary, who lives at home with her -parents.
Mr. McVay's political support is given to the Republican Party, on which ticket he was elected township trustee. He is now, and has been for eight years, the treasurer of the school board.