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 November 1, 2020

Lucien M. Lyons, president of the First National Bank of Glidden and one of the honored survivors of the Civil war, is a native of New York state. He was born in Chenango county, December 12, 1843, the only child of Leander P. and Lucy A. (Hakes) Lyons, both of whom were natives of the Empire state. The father was reared in Madison county, New York, and was a blacksmith by trade. He served as captain in the Civil war and gave up his life for his country on the battlefield of Gettysburg. His wife survived him many years and died at Glidden in 1902, having arrived at the venerable age of eighty-three. She was a member of the Baptist church. The grandfather on the maternal side was Solomon Hakes who was born in Connecticut and was of English descent. He married Fanny Swan and they moved from Stonington, Connecticut, to Chenango county, New York, where they passed the remainder of their days. Of their children Charles, George, Fanny, Polly and Lucy grew to maturity.

Mr. Lyons of this sketch was reared in Chenango county until about twelve years of age and then went to Chautauqua county, New York, where he lived several years. He attended the district schools and for a short time was a student in an academy at Cazenovia, New York. At the age of seventeen he responded to the call of President Lincoln and enlisted in Company K, Ninth New York Cavalry, in which he served during the entire war, covering a period of more than four years. He was slightly wounded in the leg at the siege of Yorktown, Virginia, and his hearing was badly affected by the heavy cannonading in the battles and sieges in which he took part. He participated in all the important battles of the Army of the Potomac and was with General Sheridan on the celebrated raid in the Shenandoah Valley. At the time of his discharge he was serving as a non-commissioned officer. After the war like thousands of his army companions, he felt the need of a wider field than was presented at his old home. Accordingly, he came west and since 1868 has been a resident of Glidden, Iowa. He purchased a farm of one hundred and sixty acres in Richland township and another farm of one hundred and twenty acres in Calhoun county, but disposed of these places and purchased and sold land until he became the owner of about three thousand acres. He is now an extensive owner of lands in Texas, Oklahoma, Canada and elsewhere. He served as postmaster and express agent at Glidden for a number of years and also conducted a private bank. Later he became connected with the First National Bank, of which he has been president since 1907. In the field of finances as well as in that of general business he has shown an ability and discernment that have yielded highly satisfactory returns.

In September, 1876, Mr. Lyons was married to Miss Anna E. Jenney, who was born in Chautauqua county, New York, the only daughter of Duty I. and Eunice (Lewis) Jenney. After thirty years of happy married life the beloved wife died in 1906, having arrived at the age of sixty years. She was a member of the Methodist Episcopal church, as is her husband, and was a woman of many estimable traits of mind and character which greatly endeared her to her associates and acquaintances. Politically Mr. Lyons is an adherent of the republican party and while he has never urged his claims for public office, he served for four years most acceptably as mayor of Glidden. He is a member of the Grand Army of the Republic, being connected with W. E. Wright Post of Glidden. As a young man he received a rude introduction to the world in the battles and campaigns of the rebellion, but has never regretted the part he took in establishing the Union, thus securing peace at home and respect for the flag in whatever part of the globe it may be unfurled. Honored and respected throughout Carroll county and wherever his name is known, Mr. Lyons belongs among the representative citizens who constitute the true basis and hope of the republic.

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