Carroll County IAGenWeb

HISTORY OF CARROLL COUNTY IOWA

A Record of Settlement, Organization, Progress and Achievement

VOLUME II ILLUSTRATED

CHICAGO THE S. J. CLARKE PUBLISHING COMPANY 1912

Transcribed by Sharon Elijah July 15, 2020

James Edward Davidson, an agriculturist residing on section 27, Union township, was born in Windham county, Vermont, on the 14th of April, 1853. His parents, Lewis and Fanny (Monroe) Davidson, were both natives of Vermont. The paternal grandfather was likewise born in the Green Mountain state, where both he and his wife passed away. They had two children, George and Lewis. The latter learned the carpenter’s trade and became an early settler of Du Page county, Illinois, where his demise occurred when he had attained the age of sixty-three years. His wife, who survived him for a number of years, passed away in Pierce county, Nebraska, at the age of seventy-three. Unto them were born five sons and five daughters, as follows: Aurelius; Martha; Riley; Lorette, who gave her hand in marriage to Henry King; Henrietta; Elizabeth; Welcome; James Edward, of this review; Eldora, the wife of Eli Smith, of Norfolk, Nebraska; and Henry, living in Plainview, Nebraska.

James E. Davidson was reared to manhood on a farm in Windham county, Vermont, and attended the district schools in the acquirement of an education. After attaining his majority he left the parental roof and started out in life on his own account, securing employment by the month as a farm hand. In 1875 he removed westward to Illinois and for three years thereafter was employed as a traveling salesman in Du Page county. Subsequently he came to Iowa and followed farming in Benton county for three years. On the expiration of that period he came to Carroll county and purchased and located on a tract of eighty acres of raw prairie land north of Glidden, turning his attention to the development and improvement of the property. After disposing of the place he bought a farm of one hundred and sixty acres six miles south of Glidden, which is still in his possession, as is also another quarter section of land which he later purchased. In the spring of 1910 he rented the farms and bought his present home place just north of the corporate limits of Coon Rapids, where he owns a ten-acre tract of land.

Mr. Davidson has been married twice. On the 10th of May, 1877, he wedded Miss Cora Thorne, a native of Benton county, Iowa, and a daughter of Leander and Elizabeth (Thorne) Thorne, who were born in Maine and became early settlers of Benton county, this state. By that union there were three children, namely: William, who died as the result of an accident when a lad of eight years; Irvin, an agriculturist of Richland township, who married Lela Wier and his three children—Gertrude, Harold and Ethel; and Lilly, living in Richland township, who is the wife of Thomas Elliott and has one child, Laura. Mrs. Cora Davidson passed away in June, 1891, and on the 6th of February, 1894, Mr. Davidson was again married, his second union being with Mrs. Liona Lovell, whose birth occurred in Union township, Carroll county, Iowa, on the 4th of March, 1864. She was the widow of Washington Lovell and a daughter of Squire Armstrong and Catharine A. (Morris) Davis, who are mentioned at greater length on another page of this work. By his second wife Mr. Davidson has one son, Charles.

In politics Mr. Davidson is a republican, loyally supporting the men and measures of that party. In religious belief both he and his wife are Friends. They are worthy representatives of that class of citizens who lead quiet, industrious, honest and useful lives and constitute the best portion of a community.

~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~