ROBERT S. McGEEHON, ATLANTIC.

Combining in his ancestry that splendid conjunction, Scotch and Irish blood, Robert S. McGeehon, one of the pioneer business men of Atlantic in this county, found on his arrival in this region in the early days a fruitful field for the employment of the shrewdness and sturdy manliness of the one and the versatility and general usefulness of the other. He was born in Lawrence County, Pa., on May 18, 1839, the son of an industrious and well-to-do farmer. His parents, Duncan and Lydia (Stewart) McGeehon, were also Pennsylvanians by birth, but the former was of Scotch origin and the latter of Irish.

The father was a carpenter and cabinet maker as well as a farmer, and for many years worked at his trade in his native State, where he and his wife passed the whole of their lives. He was a Whig in early life and became a Republican when the party of that name was formed. In local affairs at his home, he acquired prominence and influence, and from time to time was called upon to fill important local offices. Both parents belonged to the United Presbyterian Church, the father being one of the elders for many years in his congregation.

Robert S. McGeehon was reared and educated in his native State and acquired a knowledge of all his father's occupations. He farmed and also worked at the carpenter's bench with his father and gained a mastery of the trade under his instructions, remaining with him until 1862, when he enlisted in Company I, One Hundred and Thirty-fourth Pennsylvania Infantry. His regiment became a part of the Army of the Potomac, and in addition to numerous minor engagements, took part in the great battles of Antietam, in Maryland, and Chancellorsville and Fredericksburg, in Virginia. At Chancellorsville Mr. McGeehon was wounded by having a ramrod run through his hand, and the next month, June 1863, he was discharged at the expiration of his term of enlistment. Returning to his Pennsylvania home, he worked at his trade there until 1868. In the fall of that year, he came West and located at Atlantic, where at that time but one house was finished. He began working at his trade and found a ready demand for his skill, erecting many of the first houses in the city. In 1882 he opened a grocery store in Atlantic which he conducted until 1904, when he retired from business.

In 1870 Mr. McGeehon was united in marriage with Kate S. Young, a native of Pennsylvania. She died in 1897, and in 1904 he married a second wife, Lucinda J. Chambers, who was born in Macon County, Ill. Her father was a native of Kentucky and her mother of Alabama, and they were pioneers in Macon County, Ill. Mr. McGeehon belongs to the Grand Army of the Republic, and he and his wife are members of the Presbyterian Church, with which he has been connected since he was fourteen years old. He is now one of the trustees of his congregation. Having come into this region when it was yet wild, uncultivated and almost unpeopled, and done yeoman service in helping to develop its industries, expand its business activities, and provide it with schools, churches and other potencies in civilization; having seen it respond with alacrity and vigor to the call of the forces that came to awaken it to new life and become fruitful, prosperous and wealthy under their industry, this venerable pioneer has the gratifying privilege of looking over the work of his hands and seeing that it has all brought forth fruit, some thirty, some sixty and some a hundred fold.

Transcribed and contributed by Chris Light from "Compendium and History of Cass County, Iowa." Chicago: Henry and Taylor & Co., 1906, pp. 423-424.