My Genealogy Hound

HENRY S. PERRY.
It was a difficult problem that confronted the early settlers upon the frontier, whether it was the frontier of New England, of the Mississippi valley or the far west. Certain hard conditions were to be met with and it required a strong spirit to face the life that one must live ere civilization should supplant the hardships and difficulties incident to pioneer existence. Henry S. Perry is numbered among the early settlers of Union county and has been a witness of its growth and progress for thirty-five years, throughout which period he has resided upon the farm on section 3, Grant township, that is yet his home.

A native of Oneida county, New York, he was born December 5, 1846. His father, John F. Perry, was a native of New York city but was reared upon a farm in Oneida county and became a railroad contractor and civil engineer, following those lines of business in the east. He was married in the Empire state to Miss Christine McCumber, who was his second wife. He had previously been married but had no children by the first union. Removing westward to Illinois, he made his way to Aurora, and afterward to Galesburg and became a contractor on the construction of the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad, making his home in Aurora. There he died in 1894, at the venerable age of eighty-six years. His widow still survives at the age of eighty-one years and is now living with her son Henry. Their family numbered seven children, five of whom reached adult age.

Henry S. Perry, the second in order of birth, was reared in Aurora, Illinois, to which city the family removed during his early boyhood. He began his education in its public schools, passing through consecutive grades until he became a high-school student. Putting aside his text-books, he entered business life, giving his time and attention to farming in Illinois until 1874, when he came to Iowa. As stated, he has since lived upon the farm which is now his home. Before his removal to this state, however, he was married in Kane county, Illinois, near Aurora, on the 18th of February, 1874, to Miss Sally Stickland, a native of that county and a daughter of Robert Stickland, who after living for many years in Illinois removed westward to Chickasaw county, Iowa. He was a native of England.

Henry S. Perry began his farming operations in Union county upon a tract of land of eighty acres which he purchased. He developed here a good home, fenced the fields, broke the sod and in due course of time gathered rich harvests as a reward for the care and labor which he bestowed upon the fields. Prospering in this work, he was soon enabled to purchase an additional tract of eighty acres and afterward invested in one hundred and twenty acres on section 10 and twenty acres adjoining the home place. Having extensive landed interests, he derived therefrom substantial benefits in his large crops, for which he found a ready market. He has erected in recent years an attractive residence and added other modern improvements, including two good barns, sheds and cribs. He has set out all the trees upon the place and planted a fine orchard. For years he has given much attention to the raising of shorthorn cattle and also feeds from two to three carloads of cattle each year. He likewise raises Duroc Jersey hogs and feeds from two to three carloads each year, his sale of stock bringing him a splendid return. He makes a specialty of the mule foot hog from Arkansas, being the first to handle these. This hog has a solid hoof like a mule and was originally a native of the Ozark mountains. The first of this breed which he raised were shipped to him as sucking pigs. The mule foot hog is immune from cholera and rapidly takes on flesh, being soon equipped for the market. He has largely introduced this hog into this section of the state and his business is bringing him a good return. He also is widely known as an enterprising, energetic business man who carries forward to successful completion whatever he undertakes. He is careful in management and far-sighted in foretelling the outcome of any business transaction. He realizes, too, that hard unfaltering and unremitting labor is the basis of all honorable success and it has been through his own efforts that he has made his way steadily upward to the goal of prosperity.

Unto Mr. and Mrs. Perry have been born seven children but Earl, their fourth son, died in October, 1907, at the age of twenty-one years. He had been married in that year to Miss Imogene Hollobaugh and was on his wedding trip to Canada and North Dakota to visit his brothers. Harry S. Perry now resides at Bottineau, North Dakota, where he has a claim that he has converted into a ranch. He married Candace Fee and has one child, Hazel Ruth. Harvey Perry married Bertha Blanchard, of Creston, Iowa, and has bought a half section of land in Wilcox, Canada. They had three children: Edna and Paul, who are yet living; and an infant, who died in 1907. Joseph Perry is also the owner of a half section of land at Wilcox, Canada. He married Lizzie Blanchard and has one child, Charles. Wilbur, Jay and Noel are at home. Harvey was a student in the Creston Business College and Joseph attended the business college at Lincoln, Nebraska, where he was graduated, while the deceased son, Earl, attended the Des Moines Business College. The children were thus provided with good educational privileges, well qualifying them for life’s practical and responsible duties.

Mr. Perry was reared in the democratic faith but for many years has been an advocate of the prohibition party, although he votes independently at local elections. He has been secretary of the school board for twenty-nine years and is a stalwart friend of the cause of education, doing everything in his power to promote the interests of the schools. He has held a number of local offices and is likewise loyal to the best interests of the community. He and his family attend the Congregational church. His memory forms a connecting link between the primitive past and the progressive present. There is today scarcely an acre of uncultivated land in all Union county and its farms equal in richness, fertility and cultivation any that can be found in the state, but when Mr. Perry arrived he found raw prairie and unbroken sod. Although he began life empty-handed he has been well known as a cattle-feeder for many years and is also a stock holder and president of the Arispe Town Site Company; president of the Highland Percheron Horse Company, dealers in horses, His success has been so honorably won that the most envious cannot grudge him his prosperity. He has gained it not through speculation or by any underhand means but through diligence and determination, and his example is one well worthy of emulation.