Biographies For Muscatine County Iowa 1889

Source: Portrait and Biographical Album, Muscatine County, Iowa, 1889, page 414
GEORGE H. STILES, a leading citizen of Sweetland Township, Muscatine County, residing on section 30, was born in Belknap County, N. H., on the 13th of June, 1833. He was the fifth in order of birth in a family of seven children born to Daniel and Martha ( Sanborn ) Stiles, all of whom grew to manhood and womanhood : Mary J. became the third wife of W. H. Stewart,of Muscatine, and is now deceased ; Stephen C. wedded Louisa Clough, and resides in this county ; William J., died in New Hampshire ; Sarah F. became the wife of John Jacoby, of Wilton ; our subject ; Daniel G. died in 1859, unmarried ; and Moses P. wedded Rebecca Dougherty, and died in Keota, Iowa. The father of this family was a tailor by trade, and died at Muscatine, in September, 1869 ; his wife survived him several years, and died in 1883, at the advanced age of eighty-five years, in possession of all her faculties. They were both members of the Methodist Episcopal Church for many years.

The primary education of our subject was received in the district school, but he later took a course in the Normal Department of the Pittsfield Academy in New Hampshire, and was graduated in the teacher's class of 1852, after which he went to Paterson, N. J., and was for a time First Principal of the West Ward school in that city. He then returned to his native home, joined the family, and came West with them to Muscatine County, Iowa, reaching the city of Muscatine on the 5th of October, 1855. Soon after his arrival he was employed as a teacher of the "Kentucky Settlement" school, which was built in 1848, its first teacher being Richard Armstrong. Mr. Stiles followed his chosen profession in this county until 1873,since which time he has been engaged in farming. He was one of the most successful teachers ever employed in the county, as his long term of service testifies.

On the 1st of May, 1862, Mr. Stiles led to the marriage altar Martha J., the accomplished daughter of Samuel and Mary A. ( Chinn ) Gilbert, whose sketch appears on another page of this book. Of her father's family there were eleven children, she being the eldest.

Mr. Stiles is the owner of a pleasant home in Sweetland Township, situated in the community which in early days was known by the term " Kentucky Settlement." For a third of a century he has resided in Muscatine County. On his arrival hardly a furrow had been turned on the prairie, little log cabins occupied the site where now stand elegant residences, and the deer were almost as numerous as many of our birds, and it was not an unusual thing to see small droves of them passing the school-house. The teacher and large boys spent their noon-times hunting coons. In the work of civilization and progress which has made such great strides in the county, he has always borne his part. The cause of education has no truer friend then Mr. Stiles, and his influence and financial support have done much toward the promotion of social and moral interests. He and his wife are members of the Plymouth Brethren Church, and are numbered among Muscatine County's best citizens.

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