Harrison County Iowa Genealogy

HISTORY OF HARRISON COUNTY, IOWA, 1891
BIOGRAPHIES
Page 798
SAMUEL MOORE

Samuel MOORE, ex-Count Judge, now a farmer located on section 9, of Taylor Township, has been a resident of Harrison County since September, 1856, when he settled at Magnolia, where he followed farming and also worked at the carpenter business until the fall of 1864. While he was in Magnolia, and about 1857, he entered one hundred and sixty acres of land on section 9, of Taylor Township, the same being swamp land. In 1864 he traded his house and lot in Magnolia for eighty acres of partly improved land in Taylor Township. It had all been broken, but not cultivated. He lived on that place from the fall of 1864 to May, 1866, when he moved to his present farm. He first erected on this farm a frame shanty 14x16 feet. It was constructed of cottonwood lumber, and was boarded up and down. The following autumn he built a log house 16x20 feet, in which he lived until October, 1876, which season he built his present residence. It is a frame structure, the upright of which is 18x26 feet and two stories high, together with a kitchen 16x20 feet. At the present time he owns two hundred and eighty acres of land in Taylor Township, one hundred and thirty of which is under the plow and the balance in pasture and meadow land. He also owns thirty acres of timber in Raglan Township.

When our subject came to the county, Magnolia had just sprang into existence, and most of the trading was done at Council Bluffs. When he moved to Taylor Township, he was a mile and one-half from schools, and whenever religious services were held, they were at the school house.

Mr. Moore was born in Sullivan County, N.Y., August 17, 1827. He is the son of Simeon and Mary (LOW) MOORE, both natives of the Empire State. The father was born February 3, 1802, and the mother about 1805. He remained at home until the spring of 1848, and during the summer of that year worked on a farm in Massachusetts. The following spring he went to Delaware County, N.Y., and worked in the lumber regions, continuing for three years rafting logs in the summer down the river to Trenton and Philadelphia. We next find him in Sullivan County, N.Y., where he peeled tan-bark until July, and after the season for that was over, he engaged at harvesting. This brings our subject down to the autumn of 1853, when he came to Franklin County, Ohio, in company with his brother S. S. MOORE. He remained there until September, 1856, being employed in a turning factory. He then came West and located in Harrison County, Iowa.

Our subject was united in marriage in Boyer Township, Harrison County, Iowa, Aptil 17, 1859, to Miss Eliza J. HOLETON, the daughter of John and Caroline (MILLAGE) HOLETON. Our subject and his wife are the parents of eight children -- Mary C., Mrs. FULLER; Alden S.; Larua A., Mrs. BRONSON; Sarah E., died January 9, 1868; Otis H., died April 16, 1869; Robert M.; Florence SA.; and S. S., died Decmber 9, 1884.

Eliza J. (HOLETON) MOORE was born in Muskingum County, Ohio, October 20, 1841, and came to Harrison County with her parents in 1853. They settled in Boyer Township, and she remained at home until the date of her marriage. The mother died in Apanoose County, Iowa, in 1846, and the father in Harrison County in April, 1858.

Our subject's father still lives in Sullivan County, N.Y. The mother died in that county March 26, 1884. They reared a family of twelve children -- eight sons and four daughters, our subject being the oldest child. He received his early education in te common schools.

Politically, our subject has been identified with the Democratic party, nut now is in sympathy with the Farmers' Alliance movement.

He was elected Sheriff, on the Democratic ticket, in the fall of 1862, and held the office one term. He also held the office of County Judge for the years of 1864-65. He was candidate for County Supervisor on the Alliance ticket. He is a member of Magnolia Lodge, No. 126, of the Masonic order, and was a charter member of the same.

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