Harrison County Iowa Genealogy

HISTORY OF HARRISON COUNTY, IOWA, 1915
BIOGRAPHIES
Page 757
RUSH C. LAHMAN

The LAHMAN family came to Harrison county in 1866 and in that year John LAHMAN, the father of Rush C., the present editor and owner of the Missouri Valley Daily Times, opened a harness shop in Missouri Valley. Rush C. LAHMAN practiced dentistry in his younger years, but since 1909 has been engaged in newspaper work in Missouri Valley. He is now the proprietor and editor of the Missouri Valley Daily and Weekly Times, the oldest paper in the county and one of the oldest in the state of Iowa.

Rush C. LAHMAN, the son of John P. and Clara C. (HARRIS) LAHMAN, was born in Missouri Valley, August 5, 1882. His father was born in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, November 14, 1840, in a house which was shot through with a cannon ball at the battle of Gettysburg in 1863.

John P. LAHMAN was a member of Company C, Thirty-fourth Regiment Illinois Cavalry, and served three years at the front. He engaged in harness making in Missouri Valley from 1866 until 1870, and then formed a partnership with Dr. G. H. McGavern in the live-stock business, this firm continuing in business for three or four years, at the end of which time Mr. LAHMAN purchased a farm which he operated in connection with his live stock business and paid most of his attention during the remainder of his life to farming, his death occurring July 16, 1888. He was married January 21, 1869, to Clara C. Harris, a daughter of Judge D. M. Harris, the owner of the Missouri Valley Times, and to this union two sons were born, Edwin Bruce, who was born in 1874 and died two years later, and Rush C.

Rush C. LAHMAN was educated in the schools of Missouri Valley and then spent two years in the classical department of Iowa State University. Later he was graduated in dentistry at the university, completing his dental course in 1906. He at once began the practice of his profession in Missouri Valley and continued it for three years, giving it up in order to devote his entire attention to newspaper work. He purchased the interest of R. H. Harris in the Missouri Valley Times and was a partner with Guy W. Mahoney for two years, at the end of which time he bought out Mr. Mahoney's interest and since then has been the sole proprietor of the newspaper. The Times was established in 1868 by Mr. LAHMAN's grandfather, D. M. Harris. J. W. Harris, the foreman of the mechanical department of the plant, has been foreman of the paper since 1868, having made up the first form for the paper in that year. Mr. Harris has been with the paper continuously down to the present time. The Times is the only daily newspaper in the county and is independent in its politics, paying more attention to the happenings of the city and surrounding country than to politics. The Weekly Times was established July 3, 1868, and the daily on April 1, 1891.

Mr. LAHMAN was married June 10, 1908, to Ella B. WITHROW, of Missouri Valley, the daughter of W. H. Winthrow. Mrs. LAHMAN's father was a former auditor of the county and has also served as mayor of the city. He is prominent in Democratic circles. Mr. LAHMAN and his wife have one daughter, Lucille, who was born October, 15, 1910. Mr. LAHMAN is a member of the Knights of Pythias. In politics he is an independent voter and in his editorial columns espouses the cause of men whom he believes are best qualified for office. In addition to his newspaper interests he owns a farm in this county, to which he gives his personal attention. He is a member of the Commercial Club at Missouri Valley and by his personal influence, as well as through the medium of his paper, he gives his hearty support to all public-spirited measures.

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