H. C. McCUSKEY

H. C. McCUSKEY was born in Morgan County, Ohio, April 25, 1843, and is the son of Joseph and Prudence (Dodge) McCuskey, who were natives of West Virginia and Ohio respectively. The subject of this sketch was deprived of a mother's care at the age of three years, and at the age of seven he lost his father, so he early realized the responsibilities of life, as he was left alone and dependent upon his own resources. Until the age of fourteen years he resided in his native county, and then went to Hocking County, Ohio, making that his home for three years; thence he removed to Perry County, Ohio, remaining there until the spring of 1878, with the exception of three years spent in the United States service, and three years spent in and about Des Moines, Iowa. He enlisted at the beginning of the late civil war, July, 1861, in Company G, Thirty-first Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and was discharged November 29, 1861, on account of physical inability. He again enlisted in May, 1862, in Company G, Eighty-eighth Ohio Volunteer Infantry. After three months' service he returned home sick and unfit for duty. In February, 1864, he re-enlisted in Company D, Sixty-second Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and served until September, 1864, when he was promoted to the Second Lieutenancy of the Seventh United States Colored Infantry, which position he held until the close of the Rebellion. He was engaged in many hard-fought battles, the most severe being that of Fort Gilmore, the regiment entering with thirty-three officers and coming out with five, and losing 700 men.

Mr. McCuskey was married March 8, 1864, to Miss Emily J. Bugh, daughter of Henry and Charlotte (Black) Bugh, who was born in Perry County, Ohio, February 15, 1841. They are the parents of six children-Lizzie C., a graduate of the Iowa Agricultural College, at Ames, Iowa, now teaching in Marshall County, Iowa; Henry B., a member of the junior class at Ames; Waldo B. R., attending school at Woodbine, Iowa; Willie, Charlotte P. and Mary at home. In June, 1878, Mr. McCuskey and family landed in Grove Township, Shelby County, Iowa, having driven from Ohio in a wagon; they settled on section 14, on a farm of forty acres of wild land. Mr. McCuskey built a cabin and commenced improving his land. He has added to his first purchase until he now owns 320 acres, which he has brought from its original wild state to one of high cultivation. He has also replaced the cabin with a comfortable frame residence; he devotes his summers to farming, and spends his winters in teaching; he takes an active interest in the educational work of the county, and assists in all worthy enterprises tending to the advancement of the community. Politically he is a staunch Republican, and a strong advocate of prohibition. He was presented by his party as a candidate for the office of auditor of the county, and has been justice of the peace, township clerk and secretary of the school board. Mr. and Mrs. McCuskey are members of the Methodist Episcopal church at Defiance.

Source: 1889 Biographical History of Shelby County, Iowa, pp. 503-504. Transcribed by Marthann Kohl-Fuhs.