from "As Time Goes By", 1877-1977 Odebolt, Iowa Centennial book,
printed by The Odebolt Chronicle, May 1977
Alexander McGeachy, born at Glen Barr, Killian Parish, Argylshire, Scotland (Glennbar, Killean Parish Argyll, Scotland), in 1847, son of Malcolm and Jean (McCorkindale) McGeachy.
Alexander came to America in 1870 and first settled in Illionois and later (the) same year came to Clinton County, Iowa.
In 1878, Mr. McGeachy married Isabelle McQuistan, born 1852 at Saddell, Scotland, daughter of Edward and Margaret (McAllister) McQuistan, who came to America in 1875.
When Mr. & Mrs. Alexander McGeachy first came to Clinton Township (Sac County) in 1878, this land was a vast unbroken prairie, but they applied themselves with true Scottish determination to the task of bringing the land under cultivation and succeeded beyond their expectations.
Alexander and Isabelle McGeachy were parents of Malcolm; Edward; Jean; Alexander, married Olive Duncan; Margaret (Mrs. Ross Compton); Agnes; and Isabelle, who died at five years
Mr. & Mrs. Ross Compton are parents of Bruce, married Marjorie Coalter; Robert, married Frances Calpsaddle; and Dawn (Mrs. Clarence Etler).
|
|
|
******************************************************
(with reference to the McQuistan family)
Source: Sac County, Iowa, by William H. Hart,
B.F. Bowen and Co., Inc, Indianapolis, IN, 1914, p. 874
Alexander McGeachy was born at Glen Barr, Killian
parish, Argyleshire, Scotland, on July 7, 1847, and died in this county on
January 18, 1902. His parents were Malcolm and Jean (McCorkindale)
McGeachy, the first of who lived and died in his native land. Jean came to
America in 1873 and died a few years later in Sac County.
Alexander McGeachy came to America in 1870 and
immediately went to Illinois, where he settled temporarily near Rockford.
In the fall of the same year he went farther west and settled in Clinton county,
Iowa, where he remained until his marriage in 1878. He and his young wife
then came to Sac county and located on a farm of one hundred acres on section
31, Clinton township. Six years later they were able to add sixty acres to
their farm and by the time of Mr. McGeachy’s death in 1902 they owned a fine
farm of two hundred acres in this township. The land at first was a vast
unbroken prairie, but they applied themselves with true Scottish determination
to the task of bringing the land under cultivation and succeeded beyond their
expectations.
Mr. McGeachy was married on January 10, 1878, in Monroe
county, Iowa, to Isabelle McQuistan, who was born on February 14, 1852, at
Saddell, Scotland, and is the daughter of Edward and Margaret (McAllister)
McQuistan.
The McQuistan family * came to America in 1875 and
first settled at Rockford, Winnebago County, Illinois. In 1881 they came
to Sac County, where they lived the remainder of their lives. Mr. and Mrs.
McQuistan were the parents of ten children: Mrs. John McLean, of this
county; Donald, of Pender, Nebraska; John and Ronald, of Bloomfield, Nebraska;
Mary of Sioux City, Iowa; Mrs. John McCullum, of Bloomfield, Nebraska, and Mrs.
Andrew Bruce, of Kingsley, Iowa.
To Mr. and Mrs. McGeachy were born seven
children: Malcolm, Edward, Jean, Alexander, Margaret, Agnes and Isabelle,
who died at the age of five years. Malcolm, Margaret and Alexander are
still with their mother; Edward is a farmer in Levey township, this county; Jean
married Earl Manly, a farmer of Clinton township, and Agnes is a student in the
college at Cedar Rapids, this state.
Mr. McGeachy was a man of high civic ideals and a warm
supporter of all measures and enterprises, which were to promote the general
welfare of his community. Politically, he was a Republican, but, while
interested in the great political questions of the day, he never felt that he
had the time to engage in politics. He and his family were life-long
members of the Presbyterian Church and contributed liberally of their means to
its support. Mr. McGeachy was a man of great force of character and
personality and enjoyed a wide degree of popularity in the community where he
spent so many years. He left a good name, which will be honored by his
friends and cherished by his descendants.
*From Sac County Mail List Archives at
https://lists.rootsweb.com/hyperkitty/th/read/IASAC/2002-02/1013184654
Subject: Death Record of Margaret ( McAlister ) McQuistan from Woodbury Co.
Date: Fri, 8 Feb 2002
Margaret "Pegy" McAlister was the wife of Edward McQuistan, mother
of Isabell McGeachy, Christine McClean, Mary McQuistan, Margaret Bruce and 4
sons; John, Edward, Donald and Ronald McQuistan.
Death Record
Margaret McQuistan, death place: Arlington township (Woodbury Co., Iowa), age at
death: 86y 5d; d: 25 Jan 1909; bplc.: Scotland; b: Aug 1822; Father: John
McAllister; Mother: Isabelle Colver; Informant: A. Bruce; cause of death:
Catarrheal Phenonia (sp?); Physician: W. H. Dewey; Burial: Odebolt, 9 Jan
1909
(transcribed by B. Horak)
