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from Past and Present of Mahaska County, Iowa by Manoah Hedge The S. J. Clarke Publishing Co. 1906
Alonzo Corns, one of the active and indus- trious farmers of Monroe township, who owns and cultivates a good farm of one hundred acres on section 31, is a native son of Iowa and the spirit of enterprise and progress which has donimated the west and led to its rapid up- building and development is manifest in him. He was born in Muscatine county, March 31, 1845, and has resided in Mahaska county since 1857. His father, William Corns, was a na- tive of Ohio and became a resident of Musca- tine county in 1838, being among the early set- tlers of the state. He was married in Ohio to Miss Phoebe Adeline Bagley, who was also born in the Buckeye state and was one of the first white women to cross the Mississippi river. They bought land in Muscatine county, secur- ing three hundred and twenty acres from the government and there the father carried on farming until his death, which occurred in 1847. His wife long survived him, passing away March 13, 1893, at an advanced age. Af- ter the death of her first husband she married Marcus Kirkpatrick, a native of Ohio, who was then residing in Cedar county, Iowa. Alonzo Corns was the youngest of a family of five children, four of whom reached ma- ture years. Upon the home farm Mr. Corns spent his boyhood and youth, acquiring his edu- cation in the common schools, He was eight- een years of age when his spirit of patriotism was aroused by the continued attempt of the south to overthrow the Union, and he joined the army as a member of Company H, Forty-sev- enth Regiment of Iowa Volunteers at Sigour- ney. With his company he went to Davenport and later to Helena, Arkansas, being stationed there most of the time during his service. He took part in no battle and returned to Daven- port, November 30, 1864, on which date he was honorably discharged. Following his mili- tary experience he rented land and thus engaged in farming for several years, after which he worked out, being engaged in teaming in Os- kaloosa for three years. On the 6th of March, 1873, Mr. Corns was united in marriage to Miss Mary Jane Ellis, a native of Ohio, and a daughter of Reuben Ellis, who came to Mahaska county in 1869. In 1884 Mr. Corns purchased his present farm comprising one hundred acres on section 31, Monroe township. He has since carried on the work of improvement, has built a good barn and other outbuildings, and has entirely en- closed his place with woven wire fencing. He has built good outbuildings and has cleared ten acres from the brush. He raises good grades of stock and has a valuable place, the fields yielding him rich harvests annually. Mr. and Mrs. Corns became the parents of four children, but lost three, William, Etta and Harry. The surviving daughter is Clara, now the wife of Walter Whitaker, a farmer of Adams township and they have one child, Har- old. . Mr. and Mrs. Corns attend the Methodist Episcopal church at Rose Hill, of which the latter is a member. Mr. Corns belongs to Rose Hill lodge of Masons, in which he has filled all of the chairs and was master for two years. Both he and his wife are members of the East- ern Star. Politically he is a stalwart republican, having always supported the party since cast- ing his first presidential vote for U. S. Grant. He has served as township trustee for four years, and has been a member of the school board for a number of years. He is respected for his business reliability, and for the creditable record which he made as a soldier and in public office. Whatever suc- cess he has achieved is attributable to his own efforts, for he had no special advantages in early life, and started out for himself empty-handed.
Past and Present of Mahaska County, Iowa
Mahaska County, Iowa Genealogy