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from Past and Present of Mahaska County, Iowa by Manoah Hedge The S. J. Clarke Publishing Co. 1906
Frank Thurman Nash, a member of the Oskaloosa bar and a public-spirited citizen, who is serving an the public library board and is giving tangible support to many other interests which are a matter of civic pride and progress, was born, in Adams township, Mahaska county, December 1, 1869. His father, John Nash, is a native of Sussex county, England, and is now living in Oskaloosa at the venerable age of seventy-nine years. He came to the United States in 1842 with his parents, John and Sarah Nash, who settled first in New York and then removed to Wisconsin, while later they resided in Ohio, making their home in Newark, that state, until 1854, when they arrived in Mahaska county, Iowa, in 1880, taking up their abode in what is now Madison township, where John Nash, Jr, purchased a tract of land. He lived there for but a short time, however, and removed to Adams township, where he purchased a farm, residing thereon until he retired from business life and took up his abode in Oskaloosa in 1886. Throughout his entire business career his attention was given to general agricultural pursuits and he prospered in that undertaking, investing more and more largely in real estate as the years went by until at one time he owned a thousand acres of valuable farming land in Iowa. In politics he has long been an earnest democrat and held some township offices. He was one of the organizers of the Mahaska County State Bank and is still one of its stockholders and directors. He married Martha J. McKinney, who was born in Newark, Ohio, and was a daughter of Joseph and Elizabeth (Hopper) McKinney. Her father was a farmer and became a pioneer settler of his section of Ohio. Mrs. Nash was an earnest Christian woman, holding membership in the Lutheran church and her death occurred in Oskaloosa in 1890, when she was fifty-two years of age. By her marriage she had become the mother of three children: Ella M., now deceased; Frank T., of this review; and Cora E., the wife of Xenophon H. Hollar, of McGuffey, Ohio, where he is engaged in real-estate dealing. The father has been married three times, his first union having been with Mary J. Colville, by whom he had three children: John J., who has passed away; Sarah J., the wife of Wesley S. Ruby. a resident farmer of Adams township; and George C., a retired farmer living in Oskaloosa. The present wife of John Nash bore the maiden name of Nancy Koontz. Frank T. Nash was reared as a farm boy until seventeen years of age and attended the district schools of Adams township. When he was a youth of seventeen his parents removed to Oskaloosa in order to give their children better educational advantages and he entered Penn College, where he completed a preparatory course and then pursued a classical course. He is an alumnus of that institution of the class of 1893. Following his graduation he made a visit to the World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago and also visited various Canadian and eastern points. Following his return home he entered the office of Judge L. C. Blanchard, with whom he read law for a year, after which he went to Ann Arbor, where he entered a class in the law department of the Michigan University, being graduated therefrom with the degree of Bachelor of Law in 1895. He was at once admitted to the Iowa bar and began the practice of his profession, opening an office in the Evans block where he has since remained. Although one of the younger members of the Mahaska county bar, his years have not seemed to impede his progress, and he stands among the successful few. With a nature that could never be content with mediocrity he has applied himself untiringly to the duties of the profession and has gained success both as counselor and advocate. He owns a farm in Adams township and this adds to his income. On the 16th of June, 1897, Mr. Nash was married to Miss Lura E. Wright, who was born in Oskaloosa, August 26, 1872, her parents being Alexander and Mary C. Wright. Her father, a carpenter by occupation, came to Oskaloosa in the `70s. Mr. and Mrs. Nash have two children: John A., born November 9, 1898; and Martha C., born September 8, 1902. Mrs. Nash is a member of the First Presbyterian church, and Mr. Nash belongs to the Masonic lodge and Modern Woodmen camp of Oskaloosa. He votes with the democratic party and keeps well informed on the questions and issues of the day, so that he is able to support his political position by intelligent argument. He belongs to the Mahaska County and the State Bar Associations, and in community affairs his interest is that of a public-spirited citizen. He is now serving on the public library board of Oskaloosa and his cooperation may be counted upon as a sure factor to further progressive movements. As a citizen he is honorable, prompt, and true to every engagement, and as a man he has the honor and esteem of all classes.
Past and Present of Mahaska County, Iowa
Mahaska County, Iowa Genealogy