COUCH, Harrison (1812-1886)

COUCH

Posted By: Karon Velau (email)
Date: 2/8/2018 at 00:03:00

Harrison Couch
(1812 – Oct 8, 1886)

Indianola Herald, Indianola, IA, Thurs., Oct 14, 1886, p.2, col.5
Another One Gone
We are called once more to record the death of another early settler of Warren County. But a few days since we put on record the name of W. L. Boldwin, one of Warren Counties early pioneers, and before the ink is fairly dry, the writer is called to record the name of Harrison Couch. The writer has been unable to obtain but very few statistics of the deceased as regard to the parentage of his ancestors. Harrison Couch was born in 1812, in Alleghany County, Pa., not far from Pittsburg. At the time of his birth all that portion north and west of Pittsburg was a wild and an unsettled country, with but few advantages for education. School houses were scarce and far between and but few schoolmasters had arrived in that portion of the country. The heavy timber that covered that ground at these times had to be cut down, piled up into heaps and burned, the ground cleaned so that wheat and other crops could be raised. As soon as young Couch was old enough to begin to help about the work upon the farm, he was put at it and followed it until death removed him. He lived in Pennsylvania until a man of age, married, and left for the then far west. He came to Warren County in Sept, 1848, and settled in the northwest part of the county in the forks of Badger and North Rivers, where he has resided every since. In June 1868, Mrs. Couch took sick and died leaving five boys who are yet living. He was a good citizen, a good neighbor, the writher of this article has done a considerable business with him and has always found him a man honest, and upright in his dealings, true to his word. He died very suddenly. He and his oldest son, Joseph, were in Des Moines, they went into a hotel for dinner, sat down in the barroom to wait dinner, he took up a paper, put on his glasses to read, in a few moments he dropped forward, when dinner was announced his son went to him supposing him to be asleep, shook him, - behold, he was dead. He was buried on Sunday, Oct 10th, in the Catholic Cemetery west of his home. A large concourse of people assembled to pay the last tribute of respect to an early settler. Early settlers let us remember that soon this will be the fate of us all.