History of Pottawattamie County, Iowa, 1907
by Homer H. Field and Hon, Joseph R Reed;
Published 1907 at Chicago
J.H. Clarke Publishing Co.
Henry A. Terry, p 1130-1132
Henry A. Terry, a retired nurseryman now living at Crescent, was born in Cortland county, New York, July 12, 1826, and has therefore long passed the scriptural limit of three score years and ten.
He was a son of Otis and Cynthia (Ruggles) Terry, who were natives of Worcester, Massachusetts, and of Irish and Scotch descent. They were reared in the state of their nativity and were married in 1816. The father generally followed the occupation of farming and was engaged in the raising of garden vegetables. Removing to New York, he lived at several places in that state and in 1836 became a resident of Oakland county, Michigan. The following year he removed to Livingston county, Michigan, where he followed farming until 1845, when he went to Knox county, Illinois. Two years later he established his home in Decatur county, Iowa, and in 1847 came to Pottawattamie county. Here he lived until about 1853 or 1854, when he went to Utah, where he died at the very venerable age of ninety-three years. His wife died in Decatur county, Iowa, in 1847 at the age of fifty-three years. They were members of the Church of the Latter Day Saints.
Henry A. Terry was reared to farm life upon the frontier at a time when much of the labor was performed by hand. In fact none of the modern farm machinery was then in use and it required much arduous toil to bring the fields under cultivation. His educational privileges were only those afforded by the common schools of the middle west at an early day.
At the age of twenty years he left home (at which time his parents were living in Nauvoo, Illinois) and started out in life on his own account. He followed farming at Garden Grave, Iowa, until 1847. The first money which he could call his own he earned in teaching a subscription school in Mercer county, Missouri, in the winter of 1846-7. In the fall of the latter year he came to Pottawattamie county, Iowa, and during the succeeding winter taught school on Honey creek in what is now Rockford township. Thus he became closely associated with the early development of the county along educational as well as material lines.
In September, 1848, he married and removed to Crescent, where he engaged in merchandising in the first store in the town and the second one in the county. Two or three years later he sold out there and went to New Haven, Connecticut, traveling by steamboat most of the way. There he remained for two years, clerking in a store for a brother-in-law.
On the expiration of that period, however, Mr. Terry returned to Pottawattamie county, settling at Council Bluffs, then called Kanesville, where he engaged in the seed and grain business. In 1857 he removed to Crescent, where he continued in the same line of business until 1860, when he sold out, having in the meantime -- in 1856 -- established a nursery. This was the first permanent nursery of the county and to H. A. Terry the people of Iowa are largely indebted for a demonstration of the fact that the state and especially the western portion of it is specially adapted to fruit growing.
He proved that those tender varieties that were popularly supposed to be too delicate for this climate could be cultivated here. Not only did his efforts and his nursery stack constitute the nucleus of many thriving orchards of western Iowa but in the cultivation of an orchard of his own he proved that the tenderest fruits can be successfully and profitably raised in this climate if given the needed care and attention. The effect of his labors is largely incalculable but all acknowledge the worth of his work in demonstrating the possibilities of Iowa for fruit production.
During his life here Mr. Terry has taken a helpful part in every movement organized in the state for the benefit of its agricultural interests. He is emphatically a public-spirited man and though now eighty-one years of age he still takes an active and helpful interest in all that pertains too the welfare of the community. Though retired from the nursery business, he now gives his attention to the propagation and raising of flowers. He has hundreds of varieties on his place, having produced many new kinds.
A plum of his own propagation is known everywhere as the Terry and has become a popular fruit. Mr. Terry conducted his business successfully, so that today he is well-to-do, being enabled to enjoy a well earned rest because of his activity in former years.
In September, 1848, was celebrated the marriage of Henry A. Terry and Mrs. Rachel T. Sirrine, who was born near New Haven, Connecticut, in 1824 and died July 18, 1873. Her parents were Eliphaz and Amarilla (Sanford) Gillette, and at the time of her marriage to Mr. Terry she was a widow. There were six children born of that marriage, of whom three are now living: H. S. Terry, who was the first white male child born in Crescent township and now a resident of the village of Crescent; Lillian, the wife of William Nusum, of Woodbine, Harrison county, Iowa; and Francis Rutherford, of Council Bluffs.
On the 15th of October, 1873, Mr. Terry wedded Esther J. Hough, who was born November 5, 1844, in Montrose, tee [Lee] county, Iowa, a daughter of S. M. and Eliza J. (Allen) Hough and a sister of Warren Hough. She was in her second year when the family removed to this county. Unto this marriage there were born six children, of whom three survive: Florence, the wife of Henry Williams, of Crescent; Grace, the wife of Thomas Adams, of Council Bluffs; and Howard A., also of Crescent. Those deceased are Clara M., Myrtle and Otis.
Mr. Terry has always been a democrat since age conferred upon him the right of franchise. He has held various township offices and has been treasurer of the school board. He is one of the oldest of the early settlers of the county. The land which he converted into a nursery was wild prairie when he bought it.
Sixty years have come and gone since he arrived in this county and he was one of its earliest representatives of educational interests. In many ways he has contributed to the growth and upbuilding of the county, aiding in laying broad and deep the foundation for its present development and progress. At all times he has been the champion of progressive public measures but perhaps greater credit is due him for his work as a nurseryman than for any other effort of his life.
In proving the possibilities of the state for fruit culture he accomplished a work that has been of inestimable value to Iowa, connecting his name closely with its history, so that no record of Pottawattamie county or the western part of the state would be complete without mention of him. On the organization of the first Agricultural Society, in 1856, J. E. Johnson was chosen president; L. M. Kline, vice president; H. A. Terry, secretary; and L. W. Babbitt, treasurer. The following years our subject was made president.
by Homer H. Field and Hon, Joseph R Reed;
Published 1907 at Chicago
J.H. Clarke Publishing Co.
Henry A. Terry, p 1130-1132
Henry A. Terry, a retired nurseryman now living at Crescent, was born in Cortland county, New York, July 12, 1826, and has therefore long passed the scriptural limit of three score years and ten.
He was a son of Otis and Cynthia (Ruggles) Terry, who were natives of Worcester, Massachusetts, and of Irish and Scotch descent. They were reared in the state of their nativity and were married in 1816. The father generally followed the occupation of farming and was engaged in the raising of garden vegetables. Removing to New York, he lived at several places in that state and in 1836 became a resident of Oakland county, Michigan. The following year he removed to Livingston county, Michigan, where he followed farming until 1845, when he went to Knox county, Illinois. Two years later he established his home in Decatur county, Iowa, and in 1847 came to Pottawattamie county. Here he lived until about 1853 or 1854, when he went to Utah, where he died at the very venerable age of ninety-three years. His wife died in Decatur county, Iowa, in 1847 at the age of fifty-three years. They were members of the Church of the Latter Day Saints.
Henry A. Terry was reared to farm life upon the frontier at a time when much of the labor was performed by hand. In fact none of the modern farm machinery was then in use and it required much arduous toil to bring the fields under cultivation. His educational privileges were only those afforded by the common schools of the middle west at an early day.
At the age of twenty years he left home (at which time his parents were living in Nauvoo, Illinois) and started out in life on his own account. He followed farming at Garden Grave, Iowa, until 1847. The first money which he could call his own he earned in teaching a subscription school in Mercer county, Missouri, in the winter of 1846-7. In the fall of the latter year he came to Pottawattamie county, Iowa, and during the succeeding winter taught school on Honey creek in what is now Rockford township. Thus he became closely associated with the early development of the county along educational as well as material lines.
In September, 1848, he married and removed to Crescent, where he engaged in merchandising in the first store in the town and the second one in the county. Two or three years later he sold out there and went to New Haven, Connecticut, traveling by steamboat most of the way. There he remained for two years, clerking in a store for a brother-in-law.
On the expiration of that period, however, Mr. Terry returned to Pottawattamie county, settling at Council Bluffs, then called Kanesville, where he engaged in the seed and grain business. In 1857 he removed to Crescent, where he continued in the same line of business until 1860, when he sold out, having in the meantime -- in 1856 -- established a nursery. This was the first permanent nursery of the county and to H. A. Terry the people of Iowa are largely indebted for a demonstration of the fact that the state and especially the western portion of it is specially adapted to fruit growing.
He proved that those tender varieties that were popularly supposed to be too delicate for this climate could be cultivated here. Not only did his efforts and his nursery stack constitute the nucleus of many thriving orchards of western Iowa but in the cultivation of an orchard of his own he proved that the tenderest fruits can be successfully and profitably raised in this climate if given the needed care and attention. The effect of his labors is largely incalculable but all acknowledge the worth of his work in demonstrating the possibilities of Iowa for fruit production.
During his life here Mr. Terry has taken a helpful part in every movement organized in the state for the benefit of its agricultural interests. He is emphatically a public-spirited man and though now eighty-one years of age he still takes an active and helpful interest in all that pertains too the welfare of the community. Though retired from the nursery business, he now gives his attention to the propagation and raising of flowers. He has hundreds of varieties on his place, having produced many new kinds.
A plum of his own propagation is known everywhere as the Terry and has become a popular fruit. Mr. Terry conducted his business successfully, so that today he is well-to-do, being enabled to enjoy a well earned rest because of his activity in former years.
In September, 1848, was celebrated the marriage of Henry A. Terry and Mrs. Rachel T. Sirrine, who was born near New Haven, Connecticut, in 1824 and died July 18, 1873. Her parents were Eliphaz and Amarilla (Sanford) Gillette, and at the time of her marriage to Mr. Terry she was a widow. There were six children born of that marriage, of whom three are now living: H. S. Terry, who was the first white male child born in Crescent township and now a resident of the village of Crescent; Lillian, the wife of William Nusum, of Woodbine, Harrison county, Iowa; and Francis Rutherford, of Council Bluffs.
On the 15th of October, 1873, Mr. Terry wedded Esther J. Hough, who was born November 5, 1844, in Montrose, tee [Lee] county, Iowa, a daughter of S. M. and Eliza J. (Allen) Hough and a sister of Warren Hough. She was in her second year when the family removed to this county. Unto this marriage there were born six children, of whom three survive: Florence, the wife of Henry Williams, of Crescent; Grace, the wife of Thomas Adams, of Council Bluffs; and Howard A., also of Crescent. Those deceased are Clara M., Myrtle and Otis.
Mr. Terry has always been a democrat since age conferred upon him the right of franchise. He has held various township offices and has been treasurer of the school board. He is one of the oldest of the early settlers of the county. The land which he converted into a nursery was wild prairie when he bought it.
Sixty years have come and gone since he arrived in this county and he was one of its earliest representatives of educational interests. In many ways he has contributed to the growth and upbuilding of the county, aiding in laying broad and deep the foundation for its present development and progress. At all times he has been the champion of progressive public measures but perhaps greater credit is due him for his work as a nurseryman than for any other effort of his life.
In proving the possibilities of the state for fruit culture he accomplished a work that has been of inestimable value to Iowa, connecting his name closely with its history, so that no record of Pottawattamie county or the western part of the state would be complete without mention of him. On the organization of the first Agricultural Society, in 1856, J. E. Johnson was chosen president; L. M. Kline, vice president; H. A. Terry, secretary; and L. W. Babbitt, treasurer. The following years our subject was made president.
History of Pottawattamie County, Iowa, 1907
by Homer H. Field and Hon, Joseph R Reed;
Published 1907 at Chicago
J.H. Clarke Publishing Co.
Henry A. Terry, p 1130-1132
Henry A. Terry, a retired nurseryman now living at Crescent, was born in Cortland county, New York, July 12, 1826, and has therefore long passed the scriptural limit of three score years and ten.
He was a son of Otis and Cynthia (Ruggles) Terry, who were natives of Worcester, Massachusetts, and of Irish and Scotch descent. They were reared in the state of their nativity and were married in 1816. The father generally followed the occupation of farming and was engaged in the raising of garden vegetables. Removing to New York, he lived at several places in that state and in 1836 became a resident of Oakland county, Michigan. The following year he removed to Livingston county, Michigan, where he followed farming until 1845, when he went to Knox county, Illinois. Two years later he established his home in Decatur county, Iowa, and in 1847 came to Pottawattamie county. Here he lived until about 1853 or 1854, when he went to Utah, where he died at the very venerable age of ninety-three years. His wife died in Decatur county, Iowa, in 1847 at the age of fifty-three years. They were members of the Church of the Latter Day Saints.
Henry A. Terry was reared to farm life upon the frontier at a time when much of the labor was performed by hand. In fact none of the modern farm machinery was then in use and it required much arduous toil to bring the fields under cultivation. His educational privileges were only those afforded by the common schools of the middle west at an early day.
At the age of twenty years he left home (at which time his parents were living in Nauvoo, Illinois) and started out in life on his own account. He followed farming at Garden Grave, Iowa, until 1847. The first money which he could call his own he earned in teaching a subscription school in Mercer county, Missouri, in the winter of 1846-7. In the fall of the latter year he came to Pottawattamie county, Iowa, and during the succeeding winter taught school on Honey creek in what is now Rockford township. Thus he became closely associated with the early development of the county along educational as well as material lines.
In September, 1848, he married and removed to Crescent, where he engaged in merchandising in the first store in the town and the second one in the county. Two or three years later he sold out there and went to New Haven, Connecticut, traveling by steamboat most of the way. There he remained for two years, clerking in a store for a brother-in-law.
On the expiration of that period, however, Mr. Terry returned to Pottawattamie county, settling at Council Bluffs, then called Kanesville, where he engaged in the seed and grain business. In 1857 he removed to Crescent, where he continued in the same line of business until 1860, when he sold out, having in the meantime -- in 1856 -- established a nursery. This was the first permanent nursery of the county and to H. A. Terry the people of Iowa are largely indebted for a demonstration of the fact that the state and especially the western portion of it is specially adapted to fruit growing.
He proved that those tender varieties that were popularly supposed to be too delicate for this climate could be cultivated here. Not only did his efforts and his nursery stack constitute the nucleus of many thriving orchards of western Iowa but in the cultivation of an orchard of his own he proved that the tenderest fruits can be successfully and profitably raised in this climate if given the needed care and attention. The effect of his labors is largely incalculable but all acknowledge the worth of his work in demonstrating the possibilities of Iowa for fruit production.
During his life here Mr. Terry has taken a helpful part in every movement organized in the state for the benefit of its agricultural interests. He is emphatically a public-spirited man and though now eighty-one years of age he still takes an active and helpful interest in all that pertains too the welfare of the community. Though retired from the nursery business, he now gives his attention to the propagation and raising of flowers. He has hundreds of varieties on his place, having produced many new kinds.
A plum of his own propagation is known everywhere as the Terry and has become a popular fruit. Mr. Terry conducted his business successfully, so that today he is well-to-do, being enabled to enjoy a well earned rest because of his activity in former years.
In September, 1848, was celebrated the marriage of Henry A. Terry and Mrs. Rachel T. Sirrine, who was born near New Haven, Connecticut, in 1824 and died July 18, 1873. Her parents were Eliphaz and Amarilla (Sanford) Gillette, and at the time of her marriage to Mr. Terry she was a widow. There were six children born of that marriage, of whom three are now living: H. S. Terry, who was the first white male child born in Crescent township and now a resident of the village of Crescent; Lillian, the wife of William Nusum, of Woodbine, Harrison county, Iowa; and Francis Rutherford, of Council Bluffs.
On the 15th of October, 1873, Mr. Terry wedded Esther J. Hough, who was born November 5, 1844, in Montrose, tee [Lee] county, Iowa, a daughter of S. M. and Eliza J. (Allen) Hough and a sister of Warren Hough. She was in her second year when the family removed to this county. Unto this marriage there were born six children, of whom three survive: Florence, the wife of Henry Williams, of Crescent; Grace, the wife of Thomas Adams, of Council Bluffs; and Howard A., also of Crescent. Those deceased are Clara M., Myrtle and Otis.
Mr. Terry has always been a democrat since age conferred upon him the right of franchise. He has held various township offices and has been treasurer of the school board. He is one of the oldest of the early settlers of the county. The land which he converted into a nursery was wild prairie when he bought it.
Sixty years have come and gone since he arrived in this county and he was one of its earliest representatives of educational interests. In many ways he has contributed to the growth and upbuilding of the county, aiding in laying broad and deep the foundation for its present development and progress. At all times he has been the champion of progressive public measures but perhaps greater credit is due him for his work as a nurseryman than for any other effort of his life.
In proving the possibilities of the state for fruit culture he accomplished a work that has been of inestimable value to Iowa, connecting his name closely with its history, so that no record of Pottawattamie county or the western part of the state would be complete without mention of him. On the organization of the first Agricultural Society, in 1856, J. E. Johnson was chosen president; L. M. Kline, vice president; H. A. Terry, secretary; and L. W. Babbitt, treasurer. The following years our subject was made president.
by Homer H. Field and Hon, Joseph R Reed;
Published 1907 at Chicago
J.H. Clarke Publishing Co.
Henry A. Terry, p 1130-1132
Henry A. Terry, a retired nurseryman now living at Crescent, was born in Cortland county, New York, July 12, 1826, and has therefore long passed the scriptural limit of three score years and ten.
He was a son of Otis and Cynthia (Ruggles) Terry, who were natives of Worcester, Massachusetts, and of Irish and Scotch descent. They were reared in the state of their nativity and were married in 1816. The father generally followed the occupation of farming and was engaged in the raising of garden vegetables. Removing to New York, he lived at several places in that state and in 1836 became a resident of Oakland county, Michigan. The following year he removed to Livingston county, Michigan, where he followed farming until 1845, when he went to Knox county, Illinois. Two years later he established his home in Decatur county, Iowa, and in 1847 came to Pottawattamie county. Here he lived until about 1853 or 1854, when he went to Utah, where he died at the very venerable age of ninety-three years. His wife died in Decatur county, Iowa, in 1847 at the age of fifty-three years. They were members of the Church of the Latter Day Saints.
Henry A. Terry was reared to farm life upon the frontier at a time when much of the labor was performed by hand. In fact none of the modern farm machinery was then in use and it required much arduous toil to bring the fields under cultivation. His educational privileges were only those afforded by the common schools of the middle west at an early day.
At the age of twenty years he left home (at which time his parents were living in Nauvoo, Illinois) and started out in life on his own account. He followed farming at Garden Grave, Iowa, until 1847. The first money which he could call his own he earned in teaching a subscription school in Mercer county, Missouri, in the winter of 1846-7. In the fall of the latter year he came to Pottawattamie county, Iowa, and during the succeeding winter taught school on Honey creek in what is now Rockford township. Thus he became closely associated with the early development of the county along educational as well as material lines.
In September, 1848, he married and removed to Crescent, where he engaged in merchandising in the first store in the town and the second one in the county. Two or three years later he sold out there and went to New Haven, Connecticut, traveling by steamboat most of the way. There he remained for two years, clerking in a store for a brother-in-law.
On the expiration of that period, however, Mr. Terry returned to Pottawattamie county, settling at Council Bluffs, then called Kanesville, where he engaged in the seed and grain business. In 1857 he removed to Crescent, where he continued in the same line of business until 1860, when he sold out, having in the meantime -- in 1856 -- established a nursery. This was the first permanent nursery of the county and to H. A. Terry the people of Iowa are largely indebted for a demonstration of the fact that the state and especially the western portion of it is specially adapted to fruit growing.
He proved that those tender varieties that were popularly supposed to be too delicate for this climate could be cultivated here. Not only did his efforts and his nursery stack constitute the nucleus of many thriving orchards of western Iowa but in the cultivation of an orchard of his own he proved that the tenderest fruits can be successfully and profitably raised in this climate if given the needed care and attention. The effect of his labors is largely incalculable but all acknowledge the worth of his work in demonstrating the possibilities of Iowa for fruit production.
During his life here Mr. Terry has taken a helpful part in every movement organized in the state for the benefit of its agricultural interests. He is emphatically a public-spirited man and though now eighty-one years of age he still takes an active and helpful interest in all that pertains too the welfare of the community. Though retired from the nursery business, he now gives his attention to the propagation and raising of flowers. He has hundreds of varieties on his place, having produced many new kinds.
A plum of his own propagation is known everywhere as the Terry and has become a popular fruit. Mr. Terry conducted his business successfully, so that today he is well-to-do, being enabled to enjoy a well earned rest because of his activity in former years.
In September, 1848, was celebrated the marriage of Henry A. Terry and Mrs. Rachel T. Sirrine, who was born near New Haven, Connecticut, in 1824 and died July 18, 1873. Her parents were Eliphaz and Amarilla (Sanford) Gillette, and at the time of her marriage to Mr. Terry she was a widow. There were six children born of that marriage, of whom three are now living: H. S. Terry, who was the first white male child born in Crescent township and now a resident of the village of Crescent; Lillian, the wife of William Nusum, of Woodbine, Harrison county, Iowa; and Francis Rutherford, of Council Bluffs.
On the 15th of October, 1873, Mr. Terry wedded Esther J. Hough, who was born November 5, 1844, in Montrose, tee [Lee] county, Iowa, a daughter of S. M. and Eliza J. (Allen) Hough and a sister of Warren Hough. She was in her second year when the family removed to this county. Unto this marriage there were born six children, of whom three survive: Florence, the wife of Henry Williams, of Crescent; Grace, the wife of Thomas Adams, of Council Bluffs; and Howard A., also of Crescent. Those deceased are Clara M., Myrtle and Otis.
Mr. Terry has always been a democrat since age conferred upon him the right of franchise. He has held various township offices and has been treasurer of the school board. He is one of the oldest of the early settlers of the county. The land which he converted into a nursery was wild prairie when he bought it.
Sixty years have come and gone since he arrived in this county and he was one of its earliest representatives of educational interests. In many ways he has contributed to the growth and upbuilding of the county, aiding in laying broad and deep the foundation for its present development and progress. At all times he has been the champion of progressive public measures but perhaps greater credit is due him for his work as a nurseryman than for any other effort of his life.
In proving the possibilities of the state for fruit culture he accomplished a work that has been of inestimable value to Iowa, connecting his name closely with its history, so that no record of Pottawattamie county or the western part of the state would be complete without mention of him. On the organization of the first Agricultural Society, in 1856, J. E. Johnson was chosen president; L. M. Kline, vice president; H. A. Terry, secretary; and L. W. Babbitt, treasurer. The following years our subject was made president.
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