Harrison County Iowa Genealogy

HISTORY OF HARRISON COUNTY, IOWA, 1891
BIOGRAPHIES
Page 513
JOHN A. WESTON

John A. WESTON has been a resident of Harrison County since November, 1857, and is now a resident in the extreme Northwest corner of Jefferson Township, his farm being in section 6, township 79, range 43.

Upon coming to the county he purchased eighty acres of land, at first lived in a "dug out," then built a log cabin, on the site of his present house to which was added a frame kitchen. During the season of the year 1858, he had three acres of breaking done, for which he paid $18 he made a ditch fence on two sides and a rail fence on the remaining sides. Here he has lived and labored continuously ever since, except one and a half years, which he spent at his trade (carpentering) at Cincinnati during the war.

Mr. WESTON was born in Tolland County, Conn., on December 22, 1825, and is the youngest of a family of nine children, and fortunately is enabled to trace his ancestry back to 1635, soon after the landing of the Mayflower, when Edmund WESTON came to Plymouth, Mass., and settled in Duxbury. In the year 1644, John WESTON, then a lad of thirteen years, came from England landing at Salem, Mass., and later removed to Reading of the same state, where he married Sarah FITCH. He died in 1723, at the advanced age of ninety-two. He had four sons; John, Samuel, Stephen, and Thomas. This is as far as the family record can be traced, until we strike Jonathan WESTON, the father of Timothy WESTON, who was the father of our subject.

Timothy was born in Willington, Conn., May 22, 1775, and died in Rockville, Conn., December 5, 1838. His wife, Thankful CADWELL, was born in Hartford, Conn., June 20, 1781, and died May 2, 1857, at Vernon, Conn.

They had a family of nine children: George C., William, Rudolphus, Elisha, Wealthy, Elisa, Orson, Phoebe, and John A., the subject of this sketch, who was born in Willington, Conn., December 22,1825, and when twelve years of age went with his older brother to Rockville.

When sixteen years of age he went to Illinois with his brother William and started to learn the carpenter's trade, remaining there three years, then returned to Connecticut, working at his trade two years and a half, and then went to Cincinnati, Ohio, remaining there and at Lawrenceburg, working in a sash and blind factory until failing health caused him to come West. He arrived at Florence, Neb., remaining there and at Omaha one summer, which brought him to the autumn of 1857, at which time he came to Harrison County.

He was married November 11, 1848, to Amelia LEWIS, a native of Indiana and the daughter of Jonathan and Nancy (BONHAM) LEWIS, who were natives of Tennessee. She was born November 22, 1824, and died February 7, 1887. Mr. and Mrs. WESTON are the parents of four children�Emily E., born September 11, 1849, died February 8, 1888; Edwin A. is married and lives on a farm with his father; Willie E., born June 21, 1855, died June 10, 1857; Jennie C., born December 28, 1857, died January 8, 1864.

Our subject is politically a Republican, believing that that party best serves the interests of the people of this country. Religiously Mr. and Mrs. WESTON were believers in the orthodox faith. His wife was a Presbyterian and he held to the Baptist faith.

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