1890 Buchanan and Delaware Counties History pgs. 626-627
JOHN W. MAY was born in Crawford Co., Pa., May 2,
1824.
He comes of Pennsylvania parentage, his father John May, and his mother, who
bore the maiden name of Jane Deen, both having been born
and reared in the Keystone state. They always resided there and there in
also died, the father in 1866, in the seventy-second year of his age, and the
mother in 1876, -- January 13-in the eighty-first year of her age. The
father came of Irish parentage, the mother of English. They belonged to the plain,
substantial stock of their locality,
being engaged throughout their lives in the peaceful pursuits of agriculture.
They were the parents of eight children,
of whom the subject of this notice is the third in point of
age. The eldest, a daughter, Betsie
is now the widow of David Johnson, and resides in Crawford county,
Pa.; Polly, the wife of James Greer, lives
in Crawford county, Pa.; William is
deceased; Washington is deceased ;
Nancy is the wife of Washington McIntire,
and lives in Crawford county, Pa.; Thomas
lives at Pine Island, Minn., and the youngest, Sarah, is deceased.
John W.,
our subject, was reared in his native place, growing up on a farm and being
trained to the habits of industry and usefulness common to farm life. He
received a limited common-school education, his training in this respect being
restricted to a few winter terms in schools of the neighborhood. He began in
the world for himself at the age of twenty, leaving home in 1844 and coming
West as far as Boone county, Ill. He lived there till 1850, engaged
in various pursuits. With the discovery of the great gold fields in California, he caught the infectious spirit of
the times, and, in 1850, formed one of a party of
fortune hunters, and made his way across the plains, spending the next four
years in California. Like all
the early emigrants to the Pacific coast, Mr. May had a world of experience crowded
into those four years of his life. He was four months crossing the plains by
team, and he endured an amount of hardship and privation, and encountered
an amount of adventure, which would make a
readable romance of itself. Then
came that strange unstable life, with its ebb and
flow of feverish excitement, its many shocking tragedies, and equally as many
exhibitions of personal heroism and unselfish devotion to humanity, which
marked the history of those times. Mr. May was in the midst of it
all, and saw it at its height. He remained in California till 1854, engaged in
mining, and made during the
time about three thousand
and six hundred dollars which he brought home
with him in gold. He returned by way of Panama and was one month making the
trip. Landing at New York he paid a visit to his old home
in Pennsylvania, remaining during the summer, and then in the fall of
that year he started West again, taking up his residence, as before, in Boone
county, Ill. He had previously purchased a farm there, and this he disposed of the next year.
He married in the meantime, and, in January, 1856, he came to Iowa. He came with the
intention of staying, and his first step was to buy
land. He bought two hundred and twenty-three acres in
section 6, township 89, range 5 west, lying in Delaware township, on which he erected a
house, and on which, and a portion of the section adjoining, he has since
resided. He now has a farm of
three hundred and sixty-nine acres
lying in a body in these two sections, all well improved and in a splendid
state of cultivation. Mr. May has given his
entire time to farming pursuits
since settling in the county, and he has met with a
fair degree of success. He has taken considerable interest in the
social and educational matters of his neighborhood, being ardent in his
support of the public schools, and standing at all times for the enforcement of
the law and the observance of good order. He came West
not as an adventurer but as a bona fide settler, his purpose being to make for
himself and family a home where they might enjoy such comforts and pleasures as
should fall to their lot. In the accomplishment of this purpose he has been
singularly happy. He was married, as above noted, while residing in Boone county, Ill.
The event
occurred November 29, 1855. The lady whom he selected to share
his life's fortunes was a young lady, then of that
county, Miss Marinda Colvin, who was born in Erie county, N. Y., July
27, 1835.
Her parents, Elijah and Maria (Austin) Colvin, were also natives of Erie county,
N.Y., the father having been born in 1806 and died in 1873, and the mother born
in 1808 and died in 1837. These were the parents of four children, of whom Mrs.
May was next to the youngest. The eldest, a brother, James C., resides in
Grundy county, this state; Anson is deceased, and Philinda, wife of Ross Porter, resides in Coffin's Grove
township, this county.Mr. and Mrs. May have had born
to them five children-Alice, born November 3, 1856, and died October 11, 1860;
twin boys, born March 1, 1863, and died in infancy; John Aj,,
born January 10, 1864, married Miss Orpha Toney, June
19, 1889, graduated in pharmacy in Philadelphia in 1887, and is now residing
with his parents preparing for the practice of medicine; and last, Minnie, born
November 22, 1868, and now the wife of Earl Bronson, of Manchester.
Mr. May is an active supporter of all movements looking to
the improvement of the condition of agriculture. He takes but little
interest in politics beyond voting. He is a zealous democrat, having
supported the democratic ticket since he was twenty-one years of age.
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