Biographies
For
Muscatine County Iowa
1889



Source: Portrait and Biographical Album, Muscatine County, Iowa, 1889, page 537

ASA GREGG, of West Liberty, is numbered among the pioneers of 1837, and is one of the oldest settlers of Muscatine County. He is a native of Belmont County, Ohio, born Nov.25, 1806, and on his father's side is of Irish descent, his ancestors coming to America with the Penn colony.

Samuel Gregg, the father of our subject, was a native of Pennsylvania. He grew to manhood in his native State, and in his youth learned the blacksmith's trade, and subsequently the trade of a miller, following the latter occupation the greater part of his life. He married Ann Sinclair, a native of Virginia, and they reared a family of ten children, only two of whom are living: Asa, the subject of this sketch, and Tacy W., now the widow of Ezeliel True, and who resides at Urbana, Ohio.

During the Revolutionary War Samuel Gregg was drafted into the service and taken to the camp of Gen. Washington. Being a member of the Society of Friends, conscientiously opposed to warfare, he was excused by the General and told to go home and raise food for those that did fight. This he willingly did. About 1793 he took his family and emigrated to Ohio, locating about eight miles from Circleville, were he opened a farm and occupied it for some years. He then moved to Belmont County, in the same State, being among its pioneers. He first engaged in farming, but afterward built a mill near the present city of Belmont, which he operated a few years. In 1812 he moved to Knox County, Ohio, and built a large mill near Fredericktown, which he operated and where he lived for about twenty years. He then went to Logan County, Ohio, where he spent the remainder of his days, his death occurring in 1840, at the age of eighty-four years. His wife also died at the same age.

Asa Gregg, the only surviving son of Samuel and Ann Gregg, in his youth learned the miller's trade, remaining at home and assisting his father until he was twenty years of age. He then went to Fredericktown, where, in company with an elder brother, he engaged in the manufacture of wagons and carriages, which business he followed until 1837, when, desiring to better his condition in life, he came to Iowa, and located in Wapsinonoc Township, where he bought a claim of 240 acres of land, on section 10, which he entered and partially improved. In 1839 he sold out and moved to section 2, of the same township, where he bought 160 acres, which he improved and made his home until 1866, when he moved to West Liberty, where he has since continued to reside.

In 1830 Mr. Gregg was united in marriage with Miss Catherine Drake, a native of Ohio, and daughter of William and Jane ( Carey ) Drake, who were among the early settlers of Ohio, emigrating from New Jersey, of which State they were natives. Ten children have blessed their union : Edwin R., now a resident of West Liberty ; Elbridge L., now living in Perry, Iowa, is a locomotive engineer ; Louisa, widow of Silas A. Jackson, a member of the 11th Iowa Infantry, who was killed in the battle of Atlanta, Ga., now makes her home with her parents ; Adelia, wife of B.C.Stratton, of Mt. Vernon, Ill.; William, a stockman at Evans, Colo.; Charlotte, wife of F. A. Wright, of West LIberty ; Aurelia, wife of F. A. McDonald, a civil engineer of Cedar Rapids, Iowa ; Charles, a ranchman in Idaho ; two died in infancy.

In early life Mr. Gregg, politically, was a Whig, though he cast his first presidential vote for John Quincey Adams, prior to the organization of the Whig party. With that party he acted until its dissolution, since which time he has been a Republican of the stalwart kind. The principles of that party are dear to his heart, and he cannot forget that upon nearly 4,000,000 of human beings it conferred the blessings of freedom ; that it carried the Union safely through the shock of Civil War, the greatest war of the kind in the history of the world ; that it safely passed through the reconstruction period ; that against great opposition it placed the currency of the country upon a specie basis without trouble to the financial world. With such a history, and led by some of the grandest men that this or any other nation ever produced, he does not fear to place the destiny of this country in its hands. Active in politics, whenever called upon he did not refuse to respond to the call of duty to his fellow-citizens, and for twenty years held the office of Justice of the Peace, and for fifteen years was Postmaster of the old town of West Liberty. In all matters pertaining to the good of the public, he has ever been in front. An easy and fluent writer, one well informed upon the early history of West Liberty and Wapsinonoc Township, in the year 1878 he prepared and printed a history of the town and township, which found its way into almost every household, and is treasured as a valuable contribution to the history of Muscatine County.

For more than half a century Asa Gregg has been an honored citizen of the county; he has witnessed every change that has been made in its developement, and in every work he has been actively engaged. Few men are better known and none more highly respected. His good wife, who has shared with him the joys and sorrows of a well spent life of nearly sixty years, yet remains with him, and hand in hand they pass along the latter end of lifes journey, with the happy thought that their parting here can be of short duration, while an eternity awaits them beyond the river. She is a consistent member of the Presbyterian Church.


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