Harrison County Iowa Genealogy

HISTORY OF HARRISON COUNTY, IOWA, 1915
BIOGRAPHIES
Page 966
JAMES P. HAWN

The past score of years has found James P. HAWN a farmer of Harrison county, Iowa, and his one hundred and sixty acres bears witness to his success along this line. Born in Canada, he came to Iowa with his parents when he was six years of age and lived in Shelby county until he located in Harrison county in 1895. He has not only been materially successful, but has filled a prominent place in the life of the community in which he resides. As township trustee, assessor and road supervisor, he has done his share in the civic life of his township. By his own high personal attainment and his worth to the community at large, it is evident why he is held in such esteem by those who know him.

James P. HAWN, the son of Henry W. and Catherine (BRADY) HAWN, was born in Chesterville, Ontario, April 7, 1871. His parents were both born in Ontario and while living in that country his father was what was known as a �shanty man,� that is, he worked in the pineries during the winter months. Henry W. HAWN was of Dutch-Irish descent and his wife's parents were natives of County Tipperary, Ireland, and early settlers in Ontario, Canada.

Henry W. HAWN and his family left Canada for the United States in 1877. They first settled in Dunlap, Iowa, in February of that year, but in the same spring moved to Shelbyville, Shelby county, Iowa, where they lived until the fall of 1877. They then moved to a farm northwest of Earling which his father had bought and it was in this immediate vicinity that James P. HAWN passed his boyhood days. Here he received his common school education and first knew what it was to combat the world. During the summer time he herded cattle on the broad prairies and did the work of a man, years before he reached his majority. He has hauled corn to Harland, thirteen miles from his home and received eight cents a bushel for it and then hauled back wire to fence the farm for which he had to pay twenty-five cents a rod. While still a youth the Milwaukee railroad was being built for the county and he carried water for the men who were laying the tracks through Shelby county.

Thus the boyhood and early manhood of James P. HAWN passed and the training he thus received has been of great benefit to him in his later career. He learned to rely on himself and it brought out those characteristics which always guarantee success. Upon reaching his majority in 1892, Mr. HAWN rented a farm for himself in the county and lived on it for three years. He came to Harrison county, Iowa, in 1895 and rented land, but two years later bought eighty acres of his present farm. This land lies in section 26 of Douglas township, and since his first purchase, he has added eighty acres more in the same section. The farm was improved when he bought it and he has been spared the expense of erecting buildings, thus enabling him to get heavier returns from his investment.

James P. HAWN was married on April 15, 1896, to Anna F. BURNS, and to this union have been born five children, Elizabeth, on May 5, 1897; Henry, August 10, 1900; Alice, August 3, 1904; Mildred, January 17, 1908; and Helen, March 4, 1913. Elizabeth is a graduate of St. Joseph's high school at Dunlap. All of the children are at home with their parents.

Mrs. James P. HAWN was born near Terre Haute, Indiana, and is a daughter of William and Elizabeth (MAHONEY) Burns. Her parents were natives of Ireland, her mother being born in County Cork and her father in County Galway. The Mahoneys first located in Canada upon coming to America, settling there when the mother of Mrs. HAWN was a small girl. The father of Mrs. HAWN came direct from Ireland to Indiana, when he was seventeen years of age.

James P. HAWN is a member of the Knights of Columbus. He is a Democrat, but is not a partisan in any sense of the word. He has served as trustee, assessor and road supervisor of his township and in all three positions rendered faithful and satisfactory service to his constituency. The family are active members of the Catholic church and interested in its welfare.

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