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1907 Past and Present Biographies

Lucius Dimon

Lucius Dimon, a retired agriculturist now residing in Jefferson, is one of the self-made men of this section, having acquired the competence that now enables him to live without further recourse to labor through the exercise of his industry, perseverance and business enterprise. He was born in Bradford county, Pennsylvania, May 8, 1840, a son of Hiram Dimon, who was born in the same state of English ancestry. The grandfather was a captain in the English army, while the father of our subject followed agricultural pursuits and died in Pennsylvania at the age of seventy-six years. His wife bore the maiden name of Nancy Bullock, her demise also occurring in Pennsylvania when she had reached the age- of eighty-two years. She became the mother of twelve children, all of whom are living with the exception of one son, Horatio, who died in the Union army during the Civil war.

Lucius Dimon received only the advantages of a common school education in one of the old-time log schoolhouses of Pennsylvania. He remained at home until he had attained his majority and then worked for three years on a farm in his native state at a salary of eleven dollars per month. He then removed to Carroll county, Illinois, and worked on a farm by the month for another period of three years, after which he engaged as a brakeman on the Western Union Railroad, acting in that capacity for one year. He then returned to Pennsylvania where he was married and in 1869 came with his bride to Greene county, Iowa, purchasing one hundred and sixty acres of raw prairie land in Hardin township. Though he was not one of the earliest settlers, the country was still quite new when he located here and he experiencd hardships very similar to those of the earlier pioneers. The price of the tract of land he purchased was fifteen hundred dollars, and he had to go in debt for the amount, paying ten per cent interest. Something of the largely unsettled condition of the country may be realized from the fact that he paid twenty cents per pound for sugar, thirty-six dollars per thousand for lumber, two dollars and twenty cents per pound for tea and two dollars per sack for flour. He built the first residence in Hardin township and resided therein until 1894, when he retired to Jefferson and built a house on land which he had purchased here. When Mr. Dimon arrived in Greene county he had only five hundred dollars and a team of horses, but by indefatigable labor and unabating energy he has continually prospered until he is now the owner of five hundred and eighty acres of land in Hardin township. In 1893 he purchased feed sheds in Jefferson, which he later gave to his daughter and her husband, and also started his son on a prosperous business career by aiding him in the purchase of a farm.

In Susquehanna county, Pennsylvania, in March, 1868, Lucius Dimon was united in marriage to Caroline Barnum, who was born in that county, March 30, 1846, and is a daughter of John and Jane (Wilson) Barnum, both natives of Pennsylvania. The father was an agriculturist and passed away at the age of eighty-six, while his wife died at the age of forty-five, when Mrs. Dimon was only eleven years of age. Mr. and Mrs. Barnum were the parents of eight children, one of whom died in infancy. The oldest son, Newell Barnum, was a flag bearer under General Sheridan in the Civil war and had three horses shot from under him. He was taken prisoner at Culpeper Courthouse and incarcerated in Andersonville prison for a time. Another son, Henry Barnum, died of wounds received at the battle of Gettysburg, while a son-in-law died from the effects of wounds received at the battle of the Wilderness.

Mr. and Mrs. Dimon are the parents of two children: Luella is the wife of F. B. Anderson, proprietor of the feed sheds and ex-sheriff of Greene county and has four children. John H. married Carrie Johnson and resides on a farm which he owns in Hardin township.

Mr. Dimon votes the republican ticket where national issues are involved, but at local elections casts an independent ballot. He is a self-made man who, without any extraordinary family or pecuniary advantages at the commencement of life, has battled earnestly and energetically, and by indomitable courage and integrity has achieved both character and fortune. By sheer force of will and untiring effort he has worked his way upward and is numbered among the leading citizens of Jefferson. Both he and his wife are recognized throughout the entire community as people of genuine personal worth and have won the respect and esteem of all with whom they have come in contact.

Transcribed from "Past and Present of Greene County, Iowa Together With Biographical Sketches of Many of Its Prominent and Leading Citizens and Illustrious Dead,"
by E. B. Stillman assisted by an Advisory Board consisting of Paul E. Stillman, Gillum S. Toliver,
Benjamin F. Osborn, Mahlon Head, P. A. Smith and Lee B. Kinsey, Chicago: The S. J. Clarke Publishing Company, 1907.

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