Henry W. Maynard
Henry W. Maynard was one of the most extensive and successful agriculturists of Crawford county, where he owned five hundred and sixty acres of land.
He was born in Kane county, Illinois, May 29, 1850, a son of Abraham and Ann (Terwilliger) Maynard, both of whom were natives of New York state and who in 1845 removed to Illinois, where they located on a farm. To this couple eight children were born, of whom the following are still living: George, who resides in Lake View, Iowa; Edwin and Charles, both of whom live in Illinois; and Etta, who is the wife of S. M. Dow and lives in Illinois. The deceased members of the family are: Henry, of this review; James, who died in Lake View in 1910; Mary, whose death occurred at the age of twelve years; and Philip, who died in infancy.
Henry W. Maynard secured his early education in the public schools of Kane county and on attaining his majority worked as a farm hand until 1876, when he purchased forty acres of land and began farming on his own account He sold this property in 1880 and purchased eighty acres on sections 8 and 9, Jackson township, and to this land he continued to add as his financial circumstances would permit until his holdings aggregated five hundred and sixty acres of the finest cultivated land in Crawford county and upon which he made alI modem improvements in the way of fences and outbuildings. Here he followed general farming in all its branches but made a specialty of feeding and shipping live stock, in which he met with more than usual success.
In 1876 Mr. Maynard was married to Miss Julia Lane, a daughter of W. M. and Julia (Adams) Lane, the former of whom was a native of Syracuse, New York. In their family were two children, the other one being Leroy C, who resides in Troy, New York.
Mr. and Mrs. Maynard became the parents of seven children, namely: Ruby, who is the wife of John Richardson, of Omaha, Nebraska; Lily, who married Anthony Slechta, of Fowler, Kansas; George and William, who live in Crawford county; James, who resides in Kansas; Harrison and Henry, at home.
In politics Mr. Maynard was interested in the welfare of the republican party, which always had his support, and he was active in all public movements that tended toward the betterment of his community, and he served as township supervisor. Fraternally he affiliated with the Masons and his wife is a member of the Order of the Eastern Star.
A few weeks before his death, which occurred April 19, 1911, he went to Sioux City and took the fourteenth degree in Masonry. His remains were interred in Vail cemetery. In his religious views he followed the tenets of the Methodist Episcopal church. His worth as a man and Citizen is demonstrated by the high regard in which he was uniformly held, while his ability as a business man is attested to in the acquirement of the valuable property which he owned and in the conduct of which made him one of the substantial citizens of Crawford county.
Source: History of Crawford County, Iowa. Vol. II. Chicago: The S. J. Clarke Publishing Co., 1911.