-------------------------------
biography from Portrait & Biographical Album of Mahaska Co., Iowa, 1887
NATHAN W. HUSSEY, a leading farmer and stock raiser of Garfield Township, is a native of the Buckeye State, having been born in Mt. Pleasant Jefferson County, Nov. 18, 1831. He is a son of Penrose, born June 22, 1800, and Susan (Wood) Hussey, born Jan. 5, 1805. They were natives of Maryland, whence they emigrated when quite young, with their parents, to Ohio, where they became acquainted, and were married Dec. 1, 1830. Christopher Hussey, the grandfather of Nathan W., was born July 23, 1767, and emigrated to Ohio, in about 1804, during the troublous times in the early settlement of that State, and formed at one time a part of the garrison in the old fort at Cincinnati. He enlisted as a soldier in the War of 1812, and served under the celebrated Commodore Perry. He married Miss Lydia Grubb, who was born Sept. 24, 1775. To them were born ten children, viz: Mary A., Penrose, Asahel, Anna G., John G., Curtis G., Eliza M., Jane R., Esther G. and Joseph G., three of whom are living-Curtis, Jane and Esther. Grandfather Hussey lived a Christian, and died in the hope of a blessed immortality Dec. 23, 1851, at the ripe age of eighty-five years. His wife died Aug. 25. 1847, aged seventy-two years. Penrose Hussey, the father of our subject, was a tanner by trade and followed that occupation for many years, but afterward engaged in agriculture. He was the father of five children: Nathan W., of this county Isaiah H., of Mt. Pleasant, Ohio; Milton J., of Marshall County, Iowa; Lydia, wife of William G. Hubbard, of Columbus, Ohio, and Margaret W., wife of Isaac K. Ratliff, of Mt. Pleasant, Ohio, President and principal owner of a bank in that city. Penrose died Dec. 23, 1872, at the age of seventy-three years. Susan died June 6,1877, aged seventy-two years. They were members of the Society of Friends, reared as such, and tenaciously adhered to that faith all their lives. Nathan W., the eldest son of Penrose and Susan Hussey, was married May 30, 1855, at Mt. Pleasant, Ohio, to Miss Anne L., a daughter of Clark and Mary Terrell. She was born Dec. 18, 1832. Of this union there were two children: Charles, born July 30, 1857, and Lizzie, born April 7, 1861; and now the wife of Benjamin F. Shields, of Chicago, Ill. In 1857 Nathan Hussey emigrated to Jasper County, Iowa, where he purchased land and improved a farm, residing there one year. In 1858 he went to Minneapolis, Minn., and purchased land near that city, and there remained until 1862, when he came to Oskaloosa. He remained here only a short time, and then returned to Ohio, where he purchased and drove to this county, a flock of 1,600 Iread of shesp. In 1864 he went to Mt. Pleasant, Ohio, where he had charge of a mill, owned by his brother and Dr. Hussey. In 1866 he was employed by Dr. Curtis G. Hussey to take charge of a gold mine in Georgia. He spent two years there, and the mine proving a failure, he abandoned it and went to Kansas City, Mo. In 1870 he removed to Pittsburgh, Pa., where he became General Superintendent of a smelting establishment in that city. In 1875 he came back to Mahaska County, where he has since resided in Garfield Township. Mrs. Anne L. Hussey died at her home near Oskaloosa, July 20, 1886, at the age of fifty-three years, eight months and five days. She was a consistent member of the Friends' Society, and led the life of a blameless Christian woman. In her home she fulfilled the measure of a dutiful wife and mother, and her going leaves the shadow of a great sorrow over the entire household. The subject of this sketch is a most estimable man, prominent in the counsels of his church, a successful farmer, and a leading and influential citizen.
Portrait & Biographical Album of Mahaska Co., Iowa, 1887
Mahaska County, Iowa Genealogy