 |
 |
What's
New | Bios | Birth/Marr/Death | Cemeteries | Census | Courts | Directories/Lists | Family | History | Maps | Military | Photos | Resources | Schools
1907 Past and Present Biographies
John B. WilliamsonNo event of special importance occurred to vary the monotony in the life of John B. Williamson in his boyhood and youth, but in early manhood he started out on his own account and as the years passed he achieved most creditable and enviable success. He came to Greene county in 1871 from Jones county, Iowa, and bought one hundred and twenty acres of raw prairie land on section 32. Not a furrow had been turned or an improvement made on the place, but with characteristic energy he began its development and as the years went by transformed the tract into rich and productive fields. He continued to engage actively in farming until 1902, when he sold out and removed to Scranton. He built a house in the town and made it his home until his death, enjoying in well earned rest the fruits of his former toil, for he had acquired a comfortable competence through his diligence. On the 12th of September, 1883, Mr. Williamson had been married in Jefferson to Mrs. Mary S. Anderson, who was born in Tennessee in 1847. She was first married in 1865 to Mr. Miller, with whom she came to Iowa, living with him up to the time of his death, which occurred May 6, 1869. They have one child: James P. Miller, now of Greene county. Mr. Miller was in the Thirty-ninth Iowa Infantry as a member of Company C and served throughout the war. His widow subsequently married Alfred B. Anderson, who came to Iowa in an early day from Ohio. He lived in Jefferson, where he was engaged in merchandising up to the time of his death, which occurred in 1880. He was an active republican in politics, believing firmly in the principles of the party, and he did all in his power to advance its interests. Socially he was connected with the Masons and unto him and his wife were born three children: Mrs. Ira Dillavou, Mrs. Olive I. Hockett and Alfred B. Anderson. Mr. Williamson had two children by his first wife: Herbert and Merinda WilIiamson. As stated, it was in 1883 that Mrs. Anderson became the wife of J. B. Williamson and they traveled life’s journey together for about twenty-one years, when they were separated by the death of Mr. Williamson on the 12th of November, 1904. He had been very successful in his farming operations and had become the owner of a good property, which had placed him in a very comfortable financial position. In all of his business dealings he was straight forward and reliable and as the years passed by he gained a very creditable and desirable measure of success. He was a resident of the county for a third of a century and therefore was a witness of almost its entire growth and progress. He formed a wide acquaintance and his friends throughout the community were many. |
Transcribed from "Past and Present of Greene County, Iowa Together With Biographical Sketches of Many of Its Prominent and Leading Citizens and Illustrious Dead," by E. B. Stillman assisted by an Advisory Board consisting of Paul E. Stillman, Gillum S. Toliver, Benjamin F. Osborn, Mahlon Head, P. A. Smith and Lee B. Kinsey, Chicago: The S. J. Clarke Publishing Company, 1907.  Site Terms, Conditions & Disclaimer |