HARRY CLAY McCORMICK

Harry Clay McCormick, busily engaged in raising and feeding stock in Linn township on a farm of one hundred and twenty acres situated on section 6, was born October 30, 1871, upon the place which is still his home. His father, James A. McCormick, was born in Lycoming county, Pennsylvania, about 1825, and was there reared and married, the lady of his choice being Catherine Paulging, also a native of Lycoming county. The father was a wagon maker by trade, following that pursuit in early life. But the opportunities of the west attracted him and in 1856 he came to Cedar county, Iowa, settling in Linn township, where he purchased one hundred and sixty acres of land. This he broke and fenced for not a furrow had been turned or an improvement made when he took up his abode thereon. The prairie was covered with its native grasses, starred with millions of flowers in the springtime and covered with one dazzling, unbroken sheet of snow in the winter season. His labors soon wrought a transformation, however, and the one hundred and sixty acre farm, which he purchased, was converted into productive fields in the midst of which he erected a large residence, together with substantial barns and outbuildings. His work as a man and citizen led to his selection for public office and he was chosen county supervisor for two terms, in which position he proved a capable official, discharging his duties with promptness and accuracy. After rearing his family upon the farm he removed to Tipton, where he spent his last years, his death there occuring in March, 1895. His widow survived him and resides in Tipton.

Their family numbered four sons and four daughters, who are yet living: Frank, a resident of Bay City, Michigan; Cyrus A., a farmer of Linn township; H. C., of this review; Roy, also of Bay City, Michigan, where both he and his brother are engaged in the practice of law; Mary, the wife of Joe Hunter of Nebraska; Nancy, the wife of John Hunter, a brother of her sister’s husband also a resident of Nebraska; Mrs. Josephine Moffitt, a widow living in Bay City, Michigan; and Nettie, the wife of James Williams, who makes his home in Tipton and has farming interests in Cedar county.

Harry Clay McCormick was reared upon the farm home and was educated in the common schools and the Mechanicsville high school. Throughout the period of his youth he aided in the work of the fields and afterward took charge of the farm. Following his father’s death he and his brother purchased the interest of the other heirs in the property and on its division H. C. McCormick took the old homestead and adjacent land. He has made improvements and repairs upon the place, building cribs and a hog house and keeping everything upon the farm in excellent condition. The place is divided into fields of convenient size by woven wire fencing and he has a good orchard as one of the attractive features of the farm. In connection with the raising of cereals he also devotes considerable time to raising and feeding stock, fattening three car loads of cattle, hogs and sheep annually. He buys, feeds and ships from one to two car loads of fat sheep each year and he has made a business for years of breeding shorthorn cattle, having now a herd of fifteen high bred cows with a fine pure blooded male at the head of the herd. He is widely known as a breeder of and dealer in shorthorn cattle and he also raises Poland China hogs and fine horses. In fact he believes in keeping good stock and has done much to improve the grade raised in this part of the county.

On the 22d of December, 1892, Mr. McCormick was married in Cedar county to Miss Maud Slater, who was here born and reared, a daughter of Samuel Slater, one of the early settlers of Cedar county, now living in Johnson county, who came to Iowa from Ohio. The McCormick household is a hospitable one and both Mr. McCormick and his wife are highly esteemed in the social circles in which they move. Mr. McCormick votes with the democracy on questions of national importance; at local elections where the question for consideration is the capability of the candidate to take care of the business interests of the county he casts an independent ballot. He has been a lifelong resident of this part of the state, witnessing its growth for thirty-nine years and as time has passed on he has became recognized as one of the capable, energetic, progressive and successful business men and stock-dealers of this part of the state as well as a public-spirited citizen whose cooperation can always be counted upon to further measures for the public good.