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Biographical History of Cherokee County, Iowa
W. S. Dunbar & Co., Chigago - 1889


    ELISHA GLEASON, deceased, was one of the prominent and highly esteemed
    citizens of Cherokee County, in which he had long resided.  He was born
    in Middlebury, Wyoming County, New York, February 2, 1819, and was a
    son of ABEL and ANN (HOGLE) GLEASON.  When sixteen years of age his
    parents removed to Washtenaw County, Michigan, remaining there two
    years; they then removed to La Salle County, Illinois, where ELISHA
    grew to manhood; his youth was spent in attending the common schools,
    and in performing the duties that fall to the lot of a farmer's son;
    in later years he learned the carpenter's trade, and became an expert
    mechanic.  He was married in La Salle County, Illinois, in May, 1845,
    to Miss ABBIE HUFF, who was born in the State of New York, and reared
    in Illinois.  She was the daughter of JOHN and LAURA HUFF. In the fall
    of 1859 Mr. GLEASON removed to Jones County, Iowa, and lived there
    until 1864, when he went to Clinton County, Iowa.  At the end of four
    years he came to Cherokee County and took a homestead in Silver Town-
    ship, upon which he lived until his death, which occurred June 4, 1889.
    Mr. GLEASON and wife reared four children: JUDSON, of Holstein, Ida
    County, Iowa; N. D.; ORPHA, wife of FRANK STILES, of Silver Township,
    and BELLE, deceased, the oldest child, the wife of G. D. DUDLEY.  She
    died in 1879, leaving one daughter, MABEL, who has a good home with
    her uncle, N. D. GLEASON.  Mrs. ABBIE GLEASON died in September, 1874.
    Mr. GLEASON was again married in the fall of 1885, to Mrs. JULIA
    MATTOON, who is now living in Ida County.  Mr. GLEASON adhered to the
    principles of the Republican party; he was formerly an Abolitionist,
    and in Illinois was known as a conductor in the underground service.
    For many years he served as justice of the peace.  He was a member of
    the Baptist Church for forty years, and was a liberal contributor to
    all religious movements.  Shortly after his arrival in Cherokee County,
    before he had made any preparations for building his new house, his
    temporary dwelling had caught fire, and his entire possessions were
    destroyed; he was not at home at the time, and when he returned in
    the evening he found himself and his family homeless, without a mouth-
    ful of food or a change of clothing.  There was not a dwelling in
    sight, and the broad, rolling prairie stretched unbroken before their
    view.  But to one of Mr. GLEASON'S elastic temperament, such things
    were of only passing annoyance, for as he many times remarked, "Time
    will bring a change." And he also said in speaking of the trials which
    had fallen to his lot, "I have never seen a homesick day since I set
    my chair on my own homestead in Silver Township."  He was noted for
    his generosity, and as one of his friends once remarked, "If ELISHA
    had been a millionaire he would have been one of the jolliest fellows
    in existence."  He was a kind and indulgent father, giving his children
    every educational advantage in his power.  During the first year of his
    residence in Silver Township he devoted his evenings to teaching his
    boys, as there was no school in the township.  The next spring his
    daughter BELLE arrived from Clinton County, Iowa, and taught the first
    school in the township.

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