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         L. L. SIVERLY, one of the pioneer settlers of Louisa County, Iowa, now residing on section 8, Oakland Township, was born in Kentucky, in the month of April, 1839. The following July his parents, E. W. and Nancy (Jordan) Siverly, came to this county. The father was a native of Vermont, and the mother of Ohio. Settling in Morning Sun Township, Mr. Siverly bought and entered a claim, which he still continues to improve, and now owns 200 acres of fine, arable land. He is now eighty-one years of age, while Mrs. Siverly is in her seventy-first year. They are the parents of fifteen children.

Our subject has spent almost his entire life in Louisa County, his earliest recollections being of his home in Morning Sun Township. He was reared to farm life, receiving his education in the district schools, and in Louisa County commenced farming for himself. In 1869, in Oakland Township, . . .

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. . . he was united in marriage with Elizabeth McKinstry, who was born in Ohio, and is a daughter of Elmer McKinstry, who was also a native of that State. Her father was a farmer by occupation, and spent his entire life in Ohio, his death having occurred several years ago.

After his marriage Mr. Siverly located on section 8, Oakland Township, where he still continues to reside. Purchasing 140 acres of raw prairie and timber land, he immediately began its improvement, and now has one of the best cultivated farms in the county. Three good springs furnish water, and the stock is all of the best grades. He makes a specialty of raising Poland-China hogs, in which he has been quite successful. Politically, Mr. Siverly is a Republican, and takes an active interest in political affairs. He has never sought public office, but has served as Township Trustee, and has also assisted in organizing some of the school districts in his township.

In 1877, after a lingering illness of three months, Mrs. Siverly departed this life, dying at the age of thirty-seven years. Two children were born of their union, but died in infancy. Mr. Siverly was again married, July 3, 1877, in Louisa County, Sarah Isabella Johnston, who was born in this county in 1854, becoming his wife. She is a daughter of Samuel Hamilton and Mary A. (Duncan) Johnston, who were natives of Tennessee, and who came to Iowa in 1851, settling in Union Township, where they were among the early settlers. Mr. Johnston is a farmer by occupation, and improved a fine farm on Short Creek. He is an ardent supporter of the Republican party, having enlisted in its ranks on its organization. In 1840 he cast his first vote for William Henry Harrison, and on the 6th of November, 1888, voted for his honored grandson, Benjamin Harrison. He is now an old man seventy years of age, yet he takes great interest in public affairs. His wife will be seventy years of age on the 28th of December, 1888. By the union of Mr. and Mrs. Siverly three children have been born—Clyda, Freddie and Georgiana, all at home.

One of the pioneers of Louisa County, Mr. Siverly has witnessed almost its entire growth, and endured the trials and difficulties incident to frontier life. In his earlier years many days has he spent in breaking prairie, driving five yoke of oxen, and oxen were also used to haul their produce. The distance to mill was thirty miles, and for twenty miles not a house was in sight. Four days were required to make the trip, and on reaching the mill, as the crowd was so great, each one had to wait his turn. The plowing was done with a single shovel plow, and all other farm implements were of the rudest kind, but as time passed railroads were built, bringing the latest improved machinery, the greatest luxuries and the highest works of art, until the visitor of to-day could scarcely imagine that thirty-five or forty years ago the county was almost an unsettled wilderness. The first pair of shoes which Mr. Siverly wore were made by an itinerant shoemaker who stopped at his father’s house, and the mother spun and wove the material of the clothing for the entire family. The highest praise is due to those men who shared all the inconveniences and privations to make homes in the wilderness, and to them Louisa County owes her present prosperity. The house of Mr. Siverly is pleasantly situated about six miles from Conesville and twelve miles from Columbus Junction. Mrs. Siverly is a member of the Church of Christ, at Big Springs, Louisa County.

Two of the brothers of our subject were soldiers in the late war, George and I. S., who enlisted at Wapello. The latter served in Company F of the 19th Iowa Infantry, while George belonged to the 100-days regiment.