Ernest, Solomon (1832-1923)

ERNEST

Posted By: Karon Velau (email)
Date: 9/15/2019 at 12:58:11

Solomon Ernest
June 15, 1832 - Nov 28, 1923

[From the 1891 Biographical History of Pottawattamie County, Iowa, p.240]
SOLOMON ERNEST, one of the enterprising and successful citizens of Washington Township, came to Pottawattamie Co in 1873 and to his present farm in 1881, where he has since resided and made his home. He was born in Somerset Co, Pennsylvania, June 15, 1832, the son of William ERNEST, who was also a native of Pennsylvania and was a son of William ERNEST SR., who were of Pennsylvania Dutch ancestry. The mother of our subject was Mary (WAGAMON) ERNEST, also of Pennsylvania Dutch ancestry.

Solomon ERNEST was 7 years of age when, in 1839, his parents removed to Fayette Co, Illinois, where they resided until their death, the father dying in 1872 at the age of over 60 years; the mother in 1855. The father was a farmer all his life; politically he was a Democrat. Both parents were members of the Christian Church. They reared three sons and four daughters. Solomon ERNEST, the second son and third child, was reared on a farm and received his education in the Fayette Co public schools. He resided in that county 7 years, and then removed to Olmstead Co, Minnesota, settling near Rochester. He resided in that state 11 years, and in 1873 came to Pottawattamie Co, first settling in Washington Township and afterward removed to Silver Creek Township, where he resided four years. In 1880 he bought wild land where he now resides, and the next year improved it. Mr. ERNEST now owns 200 acres in Washington Township and 73 acres in Belknap Township, which is just across the highway. He has a comfortable frame residence, 16 X 24 feet and one and a half stories high, situated on a natural building site, and surrounded by a grove and orchard of two acres.

Mr. ERNEST was married April 6, 1856, in Fayette Co, Illinois, to Miss Isabelle E. LEE, a woman of intelligence and education, who was born in that county April 17, 1839, and was a daughter of Harvey LEE, a native of New York state and a son of Abijah LEE. They were of a patriotic family, several members of the family having fought in the Revolutionary War. The mother of Mrs. Ernest was Elizabeth (NESBITT) LEE, a native of Dixon co, Tennessee, and a daughter of Joseph and Isabelle (HARPER) NESBITT. The parents were married in Fayette Co, near Vandalia, Illinois, where the mother was reared and educated. The father died when Mrs. Ernest was 9 years of age, and the mother died in 1878 at the age of 66 years. She was a member of the Christian Church. The father was a carpenter by trade, although he was engaged in farming for many years; in politics he was a Whig. They had a family of 8 children, three sons and five daughters.

Mr. and Mrs. ERNEST have four children, viz.: Henrietta, wife of George DARRYMPLE of Washington Township, and they are the parents of four children; Marilla, wife of Simon FINLEY of Fillmore Co, Minnesota, and they are the parents of five children; Abijah B., at home; Florence, wife of George W. KILLION, of Washington Township, and they have two children. They have lost two by death -- Abner, a young man of 28 years; and Ella, wife of John M. KILLION, at the age of 19 years. Mr. and Mrs. ERNEST are members of the Christian Church; they were reared that way and have not departed from the teachings of their youth. Two of their daughters have been workers in the Sabbath school. In politics, Mr. ERNEST is a Democrat. He was rocked in a Democratic cradle, and has always stood by that party. He is well known in the community where he resides, is honorable in all his dealings, and is numbered among the solid men of the township.