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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