Coon, Sidney

COON, JONES, COLLINS, RICHARDSON

Posted By: mjv (email)
Date: 9/9/2020 at 14:43:08

Sidney Coon is a farmer and stock-raiser residing on section 11, Highland Township. He is a native of Washington County, born Sept. 25, 1858, and is the son of Preserved B. and Rebecca A. (Jones) Coon, the former a native of New York, and the latter of Ohio. Preserved B. Coon was born in 1817, and was married in Allen County, Ind., Feb. 10, 1846, to Rebecca A. Jones, a daughter of Jonas and Mary S. (Collins) Jones. They reared a family of ten children. Mr. and Mrs. Coon, believing it would be for their best interests, determined to leave Indiana and settle in a new country, therefore, in 1856 they packed all their household goods in a lumber wagon, and with two yoke of oxen, drove from Allen County, Ind., to Washington County, Iowa, and located upon section 11, Highland Township, where they purchased eighty acres of what was then wild prairie land. At that time there were few people living upon the prairie, the family of Mr. Coon being among the first to settle in Highland Township. On this farm Preserved Coon remained until his death which occurred June 24, 1886. He left a widow and two children, Sidney, the subject of this sketch, and Clarissa J., of Kansas.

Preserved B. Coon was one of the most enterprising citizens of Highland Township during his residence there. Being a public-spirited man, and willing to do all that he could to advance the interests of his township, he served in every township office, and was a Justice of the Peace for eighteen years. He was also a member of the Board of Supervisors of the county for two years, and was well and favorably known throughout its length and breadth. In his death the county lost one of its best citizens, the wife a kind and affectionate husband, and the children and indulgent parent. Mrs. Coon still resides upon the home farm, where she has now lived for thirty-one years. She is a woman who has attended faithfully to her duties as a wife and mother, and enjoys the esteem of all who know her.

Sidney Coon, the subject of this sketch, was reared upon his father’s farm and educated in the common schools of Washington County. Since the death of his father he has had charge of the home farm, which he cultivates, and in addition, is the owner of 160 acres of land. He was married in 1879, to Miss Almira J. Richardson, a native of Gallipolis, Ohio, born in 1856, and daughter of Louis K. and Sarah Richardson. Three children have blessed their union – Joseph L., Preserved L. and Ira A. While a young man Mr. Coon is regarded as one of the most enterprising now living in Highland Township. He has held several of the minor township offices, and is at present Township Assessor. Politically he is a Democrat. The farm on which he resides is proof that he is a practical farmer. Everything is kept in good order, and the improvements are of the best.

Source: Portrait and Biographical Album of Washington County, Iowa (1887). Excerpt from Biographical Sketch of Sidney Coon, page 396.