Biographies
For
Muscatine County Iowa
1889



Source: Portrait and Biographical Album, Muscatine County, Iowa, 1889, page 238

JOHN A. WILL, a prominent farmer residing on section 25, Lake Township, deserves especial mention in the history of Muscatine County. One of its self-made men, he has done all in his power to advance its interests, and has since May, 1844, been identified with its growth and prosperity. He is a native of Pennsylvania, born in Cumberland Conuty, Nov. 17, 1836, and is a son of Joseph and Mary ( Wizere ) Will, the former a native from of Pennsylvania, and the latter of Switzerland. At the early age of three months he was deprived of a mother's care, and after her death he was reared by a family by the name of Sheely. He was the youngest of five children, namely: Mary, who is now deceased; Henry, a resident of Decatur, Ill..; Catherine, widow of John Hover, who makes her home with her children in Decatur; and Elizabeth, wife of Isaac Weaver, a liveryman of Norwich, Kan.. The father of these children died in 1842, in Richland County, Ohio. His whole life was spent farming.

The education of our subject was begun in the schools of his native county, but in May, 1844, he came with the family of Sheely to Bloomington, now the city of Muscatine, Iowa, where his studies were completed. Making his home with Mr. Sheely until 1858, he then began working for $16 per month. He had agreed to work for two months, but thinking that he could never accumulate anything at that rate, he quit that employment and made a contract for cutting wood and posts during the winter, receiving as a compensation for his labor at the rate of fifty cents per cord for the wood, and seventy-five cents per hundred for the posts, a cow and some corn. The next spring he traded his cow for a yoke of oxen, and began breaking prairie, receiving from $225 to $250 each summer, being thus engaged for five years. In 1859 he rented a 20 acre tract of land, which he planted in wheat, giving half of the crop in payment. The next year he purchased a thrashing-machine, which he ran for about three years and then sold out.

On the 15th of March, 1862, Mr. Will and Miss Mary A. McCoy were united in marriage. She was born in Mt. Morris, N.Y., July 4, 1839. and is a daughter of Daniel and Elsie ( Risdin ) McCoy, the father a native of Ireland, and the mother of New York. Her mother died when Mrs. Will was quite young, but her father is now engaged in farning in Lake Township. After their marriage the young couple rented a room from the good wife of Mrs. Will's uncle, Henry McCoy, and there they began their domestic life. Making that their home until the following fall, a small building was rented of Mr. Haroff for the winter of 1862, and in the following spring Mr. Will rented a farm of 320 acres, only fifty of which were under cultivation, his lease covering a period of four years. The first year the crops were almost a failure, but he had to pay cash rent to the amount of $150; the second year he cultivated eighty acres, paying $250 rent. In 1860 he first began dealing in cattle, and two years later made his first sale. His first purchase of land was made in the fall of 1867, and consisted of 160 acres in Lake Township, most of which was in a raw state, only twenty-five acres having been broken. He immediately began the improvement of the land, and also added to the original purchase until he owned 140 acres in one body, and 220 acres a half-mile north of that tract. He there made his home until the spring of 1882, when he removed to his present farm of 267 acres on section 25, for which he paid $12,250. He also purchased eighty acres on section 23, and has now 1,117 acres, all in Lake Township. During all these years Mr. Will has been extensively engaged in buying and shipping stock. The largest part of his land is used for pasturage, and now he sells an average of 1,500 head of cattle annually, and also pays the highest market price for stock.

Beginning life in limited circumstances, having nothing but the clothes upon his back, Mr. Will has steadily worked his way upward until he is now one of the largest land-owners and stock-dealers in Muscatine County. His strong determination to succeed, combined with his energy, his enterprise and his natural business ability, has made his life a success, while his honesty and fair dealing have won him the confidence of all, and his word is as good as his bond. Although his attention has been largely taken up by his business interests, Mr. Will has yet found time to fill various township offices, the duties which he has performed with fidelity and promptness. He cast his first Presidential vote for Abraham Lincoln, and has since been an ardent supporter of the principles of the Republican party. He is not a member of any church, though his wife belongs to the Presbyterian Church, yet he has always given liberally to the support of Christian denominations, and toward the building up of the cause of Christ on earth.

By the union of Mr. and Mrs. Will nine children have been born: Chester, who wedded Miss Della Barnard, and is now engaged in farming in Lake Township; Susan F., is at home; Charles became the husband of Miss Amanda Fletcher, and is also a farmer of Lake Township; Edward, Joseph, Elsie, Webster and Herbert, all of whom are at home; and one child died in infancy.


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