page 3 of an address prepared and presented by W. W. McElhinney at the McElhinney Reunion in Waterloo, Iowa, August 31, 1918.
he is now living. Henry and Andrew are farmers in tama county, Iowa. Charles has retired, and is living in Waterloo. of the girls, Sarah Ann and Matilda died. Eliza and Mary Jane live in Waterloo, Eliza having married john Brewster. Catherine Smith lives in Massachusetts, and phoebe Montgomery is still in Ireland.
Andrew McElhinney was our grandparents' fourth son. He was six feet tall, with black hair and eyes. He had large, rugged features, and in youth was a muscular man of great strength. He was a good mixer, a very close observer, and a man of rare good judgment. He and his brother David came to the united states together in 1850. they worked around Philadelphia, from may 19th to august 11st, for seven dollars a month, to get enough money to take them to western Pennsylvania, where my father lived. after a short stay with my father, they sought employment in the lumber district along the Allegheny river, where they became expert lumbermen.
David excelled in chopping running the mill machinery. He could fell a large pine, and apparently throw it where he chose. I remember hearing about a bet he made that he could lay a maul fifty feet from the base of a tree ninety feet high and drive it into the ground when he cut it down. He won the bet and received the money.
Andrew was an expert in teaming and moving timer. it was while working at White Oak Mills that he miss Nancy Smith, a shrewd judge of human nature, who did not take long to discover Andrew's great abilities. although she had several desirable suitors, she preferred the green Irishman to all the others. they were married early in 1859, moved west in the spring of that year, and settled down in Geneseo Township, Tama county, Iowa, where they made their home and raised their family. they had four boys and three girls. twin boys and a girl died in infancy. Estella, Fayette, Byron and Tressa are still living, Byron in Goldfield, the others in Waterloo.
David was our grandfather's fifth son, a powerfully built man, six feet tall, with dark auburn hair and black (?) eyes. his was rather a fair complexion, with a frank, affable expression of countenance. He had a host of friends and would go out of his way to assist any of them in case of need. He was very popular in the community in which he lived. it was while living a White Oak Mills that he met his future wife, miss Jane McClune. they had may traits in common, and made a jolly pair and a happy home. they had a family and one boy and two girls. William, the boy, died when he was fifteen years old from typhoid fever. Elizabeth, the older daughter, married a man of German descent named Louis bon Brake. unfortunately, the marriage did not prove successful, and after several years of separation, she secured a divorce. for years, she managed the home farm, and she has never remarried. Elizabeth had three daughters. the oldest married a man named Redmond, and died within two years, leaving a child who only lived till it was seven years old. the second daughter also died. only the youngest girl is left, and she is now living with her mother in canton, Ohio. Jennie, uncle David's youngest daughter, married a physician, name Dr. Bailey. they passed through Seattle some years ago on their return trip to mineral point, Wisconsin, where Dr. Bailey intended to resume practice after a winter spent in California.
William McElhinney was the sixth son in our grandfather's family. while all the others were above the ordinary, William was in a class by himself. He was in all respects the best specimen of manhood I ever met.