J. H. VINSON
J. H. Vinson, the present deputy auditor of Cass county, is a native of Dearborn county, Indiana, born April 22, 1843, and is a son of Jesse and Jane (Powell) Vinson, both from the same State, who were the parents of seven children, three sons and four daughters. Six of these children lived to a mature age and five are now living. The subject of this sketch was reared upon a farm, having moved with his parents to Peoria county, Illinois, when seven years old, and in that State received his education in the common schools. In 1861 he enlisted in the Fifty-third Regiment, Volunteer Infantry, Company H, and participated in the following engagements: Shiloh, Hatchie River, siege and capture of Vicksburg, and Jackson, Mississippi. In the winter of 1863, having re-enlisted, he received a furlough and subsequently joined the command at Resaca, Georgia. Then was with Sherman in his memorable march to the sea, and was engaged in nearly every battle fought during the last months of the war, participating in the Grand Review at Washington. He was discharged in Kentucky and returned to Peoria county where he remained until 1867, when he came to Cass county and settled on section 34, Brighton township, engaged in farming and here remained until 1880. In 1881 he came to Atlantic and was appointed to his present position. He was married in February, 1871, to Ella A. Hay, daughter of Duffield and Sarah Hay, of Chicago, Illinois. They have one child--Jennie. In 1875 he was appointed to fill a vacancy in the board of supervisors. Mr. Vinson had the opportunity of receiving but a limited education, and is a self-made man of ability and integrity and has the respect of the people of the county.
Contributed by Lisa Varnes-Rex from "History of Cass County, Iowa. Together With Sketches of its Towns, Villages and Townships, Educational, Civil, Military and Political History: Portraits of Prominent Persons, and Biographies of Old Settlers and Representative Citizens." Springfield, Ill.: Continental Historical Company, 1884, pp. 355.
