My Genealogy Hound

O. D. Moorehead is now living in Creston but was formerly actively associated with agricultural interests and is still the owner of a farm in this county. The Mooreheads are of Scotch descent and the parents of our subject were William and Margaret (Arthur) Moorehead, the former a native of Ohio, while the latter was born in Clermont county, that state, where both parents passed away.

O. D. Moorehead, the second in order of birth in their family of eleven children, was born in Clermont county, Ohio, October 29, 1843. In his boyhood his time was divided between the work of the schoolroom, the pleasures of the playground and the duties that devolved upon him in connection with the development and improvement of the home farm. He continued in his native county until the fall of 1861, when at the age of eighteen years he enlisted for service in the Civil war, joining Company B, Forty-eighth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, on Christmas day. The regiment was commanded by Colonel Peter J. Sullivan and the company by Captain William L. Warner. Mr. Moorehead participated in a number of important engagements, including the battles of Shiloh and the siege of Corinth. For five months the regiment was encamped at Fort Pickering near Memphis, Tennessee. Later followed the battles of Magnolia Hill, Champion Hill and Black River Bridge, after which they proceeded to Vicksburg and took part in the siege of that city. Later they again went to Jackson, Mississippi, and were in the battle at that point, after which they returned to Vicksburg, where they remained until August, 1863. At that time the Forty-eighth Ohio proceeded on the western Louisiana campaign and returned to New Orleans, crossing the gulf to De Crow’s Point, Texas. After two months they again went to New Orleans in the spring of 1864, subsequently returning to Berwick Bay, Louisiana. They then marched to Alexandria and participated in the battle of Mansfield, where Mr. Moorehead was wounded in the left hand and the right leg. He was also captured but was released in June, 1864, and after signing a parole was taken to the marine hospital at New Orleans. In July of that year he was discharged on account of disability occasioned by gunshot wounds, and in September he returned to his old home in Ohio, having faithfully done his full duty as a soldier upon the battlefields of the south.

In the spring of 1865 Mr. Moorehead removed from Ohio to LaSalle county, Illinois, where he lived until the fall of 1867, when he came to Iowa, settling first in Wapello county. There he was married on the 26th of December, 1870, to Miss Lucy E. Howell, a native of Belmont county, Ohio, who at the age of twelve years went to Wapello county, Iowa, with her father, her mother having died during the early girlhood of Mrs. Moorehead.

The young couple continued to reside in Wapello county until the spring of 1875, when they removed to Adams county, Iowa, and in the spring of 1879 came to Union county, settling on a farm near Creston. A year later Mr. Moorehead purchased one hundred and sixty acres on section 22, Lincoln township, residing thereon until the spring of 1901, when he removed to Creston, where he has since lived. In his farming operations he was energetic, diligent and persevering and succeeded in bringing his fields under a high state of cultivation, so that he annually gathered there from rich harvests, bringing to him a comfortable competence that now enables him to practically live retired.

In 1887 Mr. Moorehead was called upon to mourn the loss of his wife, who was born in 1845 and was therefore only about forty-two years of age at the time of her demise. They were the parents of two daughters: Ada, now the wife of J. E. Mullenix, of Wapello county, Iowa; and Lila, the wife of E. B. Hayner, who is mentioned elsewhere in this volume.

For almost thirty years Mr. Moorehead has made his home in this county and is well known as one of its old settlers and worthy citizens. He was long associated with its farming interests and his life record proves what may be accomplished by determination and business ability. At all times national progress and local advancement have been causes dear to his heart and in matters of citizenship he has displayed the same fidelity to the best interests of his country that he showed when he donned the blue uniform and fought for the defense of the Union on the battlefields of the south.