Harrison County Iowa Genealogy

HISTORY OF HARRISON COUNTY, IOWA, 1891
BIOGRAPHIES
Page 606
FREDERICK A. JENNINGS

Frederick A. JENNINGS, who has been a resident of Harrison County, Iowa, since 1881, is a native of LaSalle County, Ill., born July 31, 1839. He is a son of Levi and Emily (ALIS) JENNINGS, natives of Hartford, Conn., and Pittsburg, Pa., respectively. The father was born in 1801, and died April 23, 1852. He was the son of Levi and Hannah (CHAPMAN) JENNINGS, natives of Connecticut and New York, and were of English origin. The mother of our subject was born in Pittsburg, Pa., in 1808 and died in 1878.

The parents of our subject had twelve children, eight of who still survive--Matthew L., a resident of Harrison Township, this county; Mary E., wife of Richard GAGE, of LaSalle County, Ill.; Lucy A., who lives with her brother Henry; Henry, a resident of Harrison Township; Frederick A., for whom this sketch is written; Emily J., wife of George L. BEACH, of Brown County, S. Dak., (a Congregational minister); Katherine L., wife of R. S. SMAWLEY, a resident of LaSalle County, Ill.; Julia A., wife of John J. FORD, of LaSalle County, Ill. Four others are deceased.

Levi, the father of our subject, when a young man learned the shipcarpenter's trade, but later in life operated a mill for several years. Politically, he was an old line Whig. He and his wife were devoted members of the Presbyterian Church. Frederick A. was reared mid the scenes of farm-life and worked out by the month and from the money thus earned he attended school and thus received a fair education. He commenced working by the month when sixteen years of age, and when he had secured a sufficient amount he was admitted, with three other young men, to the Umloft Female Seminary, at Ottawa, Ill., where he spent two years, working his way through school. The following year he clerked in a store, and then returned to agricultural pursuits, which he followed until October 12, 1861, at which time he enlisted in Company A, Fifty-third Illinois Infantry. He was discharged November 12, 1864, at Rock Island, at which place he had been stationed one year. He came out as Post Quartermaster Sergeant. He participated in the following engagements: Hatchie River, battle of Shiloh, Siege of Vicksburg, Jackson, Miss., aside from small skirmishes. At Jackson, Miss., July 12, 1863, he was wounded in the hand and about the head, the former by canister shot, causing the loss of two fingers, while the latter was a skin wound grazing his temple. After he was able for duty he was stationed at Rock Island, where he remained until he was discharged, when he returned to his former home in LaSalle County, where he engaged in farming and stock-raising, until March, 1881, when he came to Dunlap, and located four miles south of that place, on section 35, where he owns one hundred and twenty acres of land, which he improved from the wild prairie state, and lived upon until January 31, 1890, and then moved into the town of Dunlap.

Politically, he is a radical Republican, and has held numerous local offices. The year following his advent to the county, he was elected a Justice of the Peace for Harrison Township, and has held the office continually ever since. Upon coming to Dunlap, he was appointed Mayor, to fill an unexpired term, and was re-elected in 1891. He belongs to the Shields Post No. 83, G. A. R., and was Commander of the same in 1889, and is at present quartermaster. He is a member of the Golden Rule Lodge, No. 178, I. O. O. F., and is Worthy Advisor in Acorn Camp, No. 325 M. W. A. Concerning his domestic life, he was married February 2, 1869, at Brookfield, LaSalle County, Ill., to Lucy A. BISHOP, who was born November 8, 1848, and is the daughter of Joseph and Martha (MEDELL) BISHOP, natives of England. Mr. and Mrs. JENNINGS are the parents of four children; Burton C., Born December 18, 1870, a resident of Springville, Utah Territory; Melvin, born May 18, 1873; Vinal A., born February 2, 1877, died March 23, 1887; Flora E., born November 17, 1884. Mrs. JENNINGS is an exemplary member of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Our subject has had an eventful life; has seen many hardships, both in days of peace and times of war, and his family who come after him may well point with pride to the sacrifices he made to put down an unjust Rebellion.

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