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from Past and Present of Mahaska County, Iowa by Manoah Hedge The S. J. Clarke Publishing Co. 1906
PastAndPresentOfMahaskaCo.,IA by Manoah Hedge(John H. Warner) - JOHN H. WARNER, b. 30Jul1829 John H. Warner, living on section 20, Cedar township, is one of the early settlers of Mahaska county, who, since the 5th of October, 1854, has been an interested observer of the events which go to make up its history. He was born in Washington county, Maryland, July 30, 1829. His father, John Warner, was also a native of the same county and a son of John Warner, Sr. The great-grandfather of our subject was a pioneer resident of Maryland and was of German ancestry. John Warner, Jr., was reared in the state of his nativity and was married there to Miss Mary Cook, also a native of Maryland. By trade he was a stone-cutter and followed that pursuit for a number of years. He reared his family in Maryland and Penn- sylvania, and afterward removed to Ohio, Where he resided for eight years. Still later he joined his son in Iowa, in 1855, spending his last years in this state. In the family were five children, and two daughters are still living. John H. Warner, the only son, was reared to manhood in Madison county, Ohio. He is a self-educated man, having few advantages in his youth for the acquirement of an education or for improvement along other lines. While living in Madison county he was married on the 12th of August, 1849, to Miss Mary Alder, a native of that county, where her girlhood and youth were passed. Her father was Jonathan Alder, who was captured by the Indians when a lad of eight years living in West Virginia, which was then a frontier district. He was taken to Madison county, Ohio, and remained with the red men as a prisoner for twenty-four years. At length be made his escape and became a resident of Ohio. Following his marriage Mr. Warner purchased land and located in Madison county, Ohio, where he carried on general agricultural pursuits until 1854, when he removed westward to Iowa, settling in Mahaska county. Here he operated a rented farm for two years and during that time he purchased eighty acres where he now resides, locating on this place in April, 1857. There were few improvements upon it. The land was largely raw prairie and Mr. Warner broke the sod, fenced the place and tilled the fields. He used ox-teams in his farm work during the first few years. Later he bought more land from time to time until he had become the owner of two hundred and eighty acres in the home farm. He has since, however, disposed of a portion of this although he yet owns two hundred acres in the home place and twenty acres elsewhere, He built an attractive frame residence, also a large barn and sheds, and set out an orchard of five hundred trees, which has borne good fruit for a number of years. He now has a young orchard, which is coming into bearing. He has made a business of raising stock for a number of years, his specialty being sheep, but he also fattens about one hundred head of hogs each year for the market and two carloads of cattle. When Mr. and Mrs. Warner were married they were in very limited financial circumstances, but through their earnest and indefatigable labor they have become possessed of a comfortable competency and are now numbered among the substantial residents of this county. Unto Mr. and Mrs. Warner have been born eight children, all of whom are yet living, namely: Amanda, at home; Henry, a farmer of the state of Washington living near Spokane; Sarah, the wife of C. W. Moore, a resident farmer of Harrison township; Jasper, a farmer of Cedar township; Alma, the wife of Arthur E. Brown, of Wapello county, Iowa; Laura, at home; Lincoln, a mechanic at Cedar; and Nellie, the wife of La Vernge Welch, a resident farmer of Cedar township. When age gave to Mr. Warner the right of franchise he cast his first presidential ballot in 1852 for General Scott and in 1856 voted for the first presidential nominee of the new republican party, John C. Fremont. He has since supported each of the standard bearers of that party, being a most earnest and stalwart republican. He served for one term as supervisor of his township and filled the office of trustee for several years. He is a friend of the schools and served for eleven years on the school board, doing effective service in behalf of improvement in the cause of public education here. He and his wife and family are members of the Friends church, although in former years they were identified with the Methodist Episcopal church. Mr. Warner has been a resident of the county for fifty-two years and his labors have been an element in its substantial improvement along the lines of agricultural development. He was drafted for service in the Civil war but hired a substitute. He has always been a strictly temperate man, never using liquor nor tobacco and has ever stood for high principles and for upright life. His whole career has been characterized by a devotion to the public good and his influence has ever been on the side of progress, reform and improvement. He has helped people to live better lives and has himself been an industrious, frugal and honest man, who, through his own labors; has accumulated a large and valuable property. He is today in possession of a good home and is one of the substantial agriculturists of Cedar township, where be is well known and highly esteemed for his many virtues and good works.
Past and Present of Mahaska County, Iowa
Mahaska County, Iowa Genealogy