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1907 Past and Present Biographies

Harvey Wise

Harvev Wise, who since 1876 has been a resident of Greene county, is now one of its extensive landowners, his holdings embracing six hundred acres in Paton township. Here he is also largely engaged in feeding cattle, shipping three or four carloads each year. His business interests make him one of the substantial citizens of the community and his well directed labor constitutes the basis of his gratifying success. His home is on section 17, Paton township, and an investigation into his life history shows that he is a native of Ohio, having been born in Crawford county, that state, on the 16th of October, 1848. He is the third in order of birth in a family of six children, whose parents were Samuel and Rebecca (Highly) Wise, both of whom were natives of Pennsylvania. The father brought his family to Iowa in 1850 after residing for some years in the Buckeye state, and, establishing his home in Cedar county, there gave his attention to general farming up to the time of his death, which occurred on the 18th of March, 1857, when he was at the comparatively early age of thirty-five years. Upon his widow then devolved the task of caring for and rearing her children. She long survived her husband, her death occurring in 1896, when she was seventy-two years of age.

Harvey Wise remained a resident of Cedar county from 1857 until 1876, or for a period of about nineteen years. No event of special importance occurred to vary the routine of farm life for him in his boyhood, but the practical training which he received in the work of the fields gave him intimate knowledge of the best methods of tilling the soil. In 1876 he came with his brother Henry to this county and they purchased two hundred and forty acres of prairie land, which they improved and developed. Five years later they divided their interests and each has carried on farming alone, Harvey Wise becoming one of the extensive landholders of the county, his possessions aggregating six hundred acres of rich and fertile land in Paton township. He gives general supervision to the care and cultivation of his fields and at the same time feeds three or four carloads of cattle each year, this constituting an important branch of his business. In all that he has undertaken he has met with success, for he brings to his work intense energy intelligently applied.

On the 19th of June, 1883, in Fort Dodge, Iowa, Mr. Wise was married to Miss Nettie McLaughlin, a native of Jackson county, this state, and a daughter of Samuel P. and Mary J. (Strong) McLaughlin, both of whom were natives of Pennsylvania and are now deceased. During their residence in Iowa they made their home in Paton township. The home of Mr. and Mrs. Wise has been blessed with five children: J. S., at home; Ray H., who is attending the State University at Iowa City; Luella and Catherine J ., also under the parental roof; and Ruth V., who died when a month old.

Mrs. Wise-belong to the Baptist church and Mr. Wise in his political afliliation is a democrat. They became early settlers of Paton township, where they have lived from the time of its early development to the present, watching its transformation and taking an active and prominent part in its splendid development.

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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