Original Owner of the farm

This is from the Past and Present of Dallas County, Iowa
Chicago: The S. J. Clarke Publishing Company, 1907.

Joel D. Lisle

A well developed and highly improved farm of two hundred and forty-five acres, situated on section 19, Dallas township, is the property of Joel D. Lisle, who came here in 1871. He is engaged in farming and stock-raising, feeding and fattening several carloads of stock for the market each year. Mr. Lisle was born in Belmont county, Ohio, May 14, 1852, a son of John Lisle, who was likewise born in that county, and is mentioned in the sketch of George Lisle, elsewhere in this work.

Joel D. Lisle was reared and educated in the county of his nativity and upon starting out upon an independent business venture he came to Dallas county in 1871, locating on a tract of land belonging to his father, who owned one thousand acres in this county. He operated that tract until 1877 and then located on the farm which is today his home. He, however, began here with one hundred and sixty-five acres, but has since added to his original holdings until he now has two hundred and forty-five acres. He has laid many rods of tiling, has fenced the land, erected a modern and up-to-date two-story country residence, has built two large barns and set out fruit and shade trees. Altogether his is one of the most valuable and well kept farms of this section of the county. He engages in raising the various cereals adapted to the soil and climate and also raises stock for the market, feeding from one to two carloads of hogs and three carloads of cattle annually. Both branches of his business are proving a profitable source of revenue to him and he is thus numbered among the progressive and enterprising citizens of his section of the county.

Mr. Lisle further established a home of his own by his marriage, on the 27th of September, 1877, to Miss Malinda Hicks, who was born in Belmont county, Ohio, and with her father, James Hicks, removed to a farm near Knoxville, Iowa, about 1852. Mr. and Mrs. Lisle have a daughter, Ina P., who is a young lady at home, and they also lost a son, Roy, who died at the age of two years.

Mr. Lisle gives his political support to the republican party and is now serving as township trustee. His wife is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church. Mr. Lisle is well and favorably known in various sections of the county and as one of its pioneer settlers deserves mention in this volume, for his life has been passed in conformity with the most honorable principles and his success has been so worthily won and is so richly merited that all rejoice with him in what he has accomplished.


George H. Lisle

The farming and stock-raising interest of Dallas county find a worthy representative in George H. Lisle, who owns a well improved farm, situated on section 19, Dallas township, his post office address being Jamaica. He was born in Belmont county, Ohio, May 12, 1854, a son of John and Ann (Kinney) Lisle, who were likewise born in the same county. The father had come to Dallas county and purchased about one thousand acres of wild and undeveloped land and his sons had located thereon and began to develop and improve the land. In 1878 the father joined his sons here and spent his remaining days in Dallas county, passing away in 1892, while his wife had passed away in the year 1875.

George H. Lisle is one of a family of six sons and three daughters, of whom five sons and one daughter still survive. Two of his brothers, Henry Lisle, of Perry, and Joel D. Lisle, of Dallas township, are mentioned on another page of this work. George H. Lisle was reared to manhood in his native county and during the period of his boyhood and youth pursued his studies in the common schools. He remained under the parental roof until he attained his majority and then came to Dallas county, the date of his arrival here being February 27, 1877. He was employed by his brother at farm labor for one year and then located on his father's tract of land, assisting to develop and clear the land and transform it into a valuable property. He then made purchase of eighty acres in Dallas township but has since added to his original holdings and now has a well improved farm, which he devotes to general agricultural pursuits and to the raising of stock. He has improved the place with a modern two-story residence, which is supplied with all conveniences and accessories which add to the comfort of the inmates, and he has set out many shade and fruit trees, has built good barns and outbuildings and now has a finely improved farm, which indicates in its neat appearance the progressive spirit of the owner.

Mr. Lisle was married in this county in 1878, to Miss Martha Blood, who was born in Franklin county, Ohio, near Columbus, a daughter of Samuel Blood, who was of English birth. Their marriage is graced with three daughters: Maud Alice, the wife of Irvin Myers, a farmer of Sugar Grove township, Dallas county; Grace Ellen, the wife of William Cooper, of Fort Collins, Colorado; and Blanch A., a young lady at home.

Although not active in local political affairs, Mr. Lisle gives stanch support to the men and measures of the republican party. Mrs. Lisle and the eldest daughter are members of the Christian church. The family is one highly esteemed in this community, while in every public movement or measure which tends to advance the best interests of the county Mr. Lisle interests himself.
Henry Lisle

Henry Lisle, who won a gratifying measure of success as a farmer and stock-raiser, in which connection he became widely known, is now living retired in Perry. He was born in Monroe county, Ohio, October 3, 1847, and his education was acquired in the public schools of Belmont county, that state, while he was spending his boyhood days in the home of his parents, John and Anne (Kinney) Lisle. The father, who was born in Belmont county, died near Perry, Iowa, in his eighty-seventh year, while his wife passed away in Ohio in 1876, at the age of fifty-four years. They mere married in Belmont county, Ohio, and the father followed farming in that state until his removal to Iowa in 1879, at which time he took up his abode in Dallas township, Dallas county. Here he purchased a farm and at one time owned five hundred and sixty acres of rich and valuable land. He also bred many hogs, making a specialty of the Poland China, and he also bought and raised many colts. He carried on general farming and the feeding and raising of stock until seventy-five years of age, when he sold his interests in Dallas township and purchased a home near Perry of forty acres. There he spent his remaining days. While living in Belmont county, Ohio, he served as township treasurer for fourteen years. He was a lifelong member of the Methodist Episcopal church and his early political support was given to the whig party. Upon its dissolution he joined the ranks of the new republican party. He was always interested in the work of public progress and improvement and kept in touch with the trend of modern thought. At the time of his death he was the oldest subscriber of the Belmont Chronicle, of which he had been a reader for more than sixty-six years. Unto Mr. and Mrs. Lisle were born five sons and four daughters and six of the number are yet living: Sarah, who is the wife of Isaac Tolbert, a resident of Perry; Henry, of this review; J. D., who married Malinda Hicks and is now living in Dallas township; George H., who married Mattie Blood; James, who wedded Jane Kinney, now deceased, and makes his home in North Dakota; and Emmet, who married Lula Ridgway and is living in Boone county, Iowa.

Henry Lisle was reared in Ohio and in the summer months worked upon the home farm, while in the winter seasons he attended the public schools until the 4th of July, 1863. Two days before he had offered his services to the government in defense of the Union, although not yet sixteen years of age, and on Independence day of that year, while raking wheat in the field, he was called for active duty with the army. He dropped his rake to support his country, becoming a member of Company D, One Hundred and Twenty-ninth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, with which he participated in the battle of Cumberland Gap, where General Frazer surrendered twenty-two hundred prisoners. Mr. Lisle acted as one of the escort of these prisoners to Lexington, Kentucky, and then returned to Tennessee, being quartered at Cumberland Gap. On the 4th of March, 1865, he was mustered out at Cleveland, Ohio, after which he returned to the home farm.

On the 3d of October, 1867, Mr. Lisle was married to Miss Elizabeth E. Turner, whose birth occurred in Belmont county, Ohio, July 28, 1867. She was a daughter of William and Becky (Vernon) Turner, the former born in Maryland and the latter in Ohio. Her father died in 1890, at the age of seventy-seven years, while the mother passed away in March, 1868. In their family were twelve children, of whom nine are now living: Martha, the wife of Phineus Campbell; William, who married Isabelle Wilson; Becky, the wife of Malin Wood; Richard, who married Miss Campbell and after her death wedded Jane Linard; Hendley, who married Laura McMullen; John, who wedded Minerva Bishop; Embree, who married Martha Cothran; Tacey, the wife of Eli Doudney; and Allamander, who married Adeline Harris. The father of this family was a farmer in Ohio and resided there until his death. At one time he entered two hundred acres of government land in Linn county, Iowa. The land office was at that time at Des Moines. He took part in the early development of the locality and to some extent engaged in the raising of tobacco. His early youth had been passed in Maryland, whence he removed to Ohio when a lad of thirteen years. He had no chance to attend school but became well posted on the Bible and was a consistent member of the Christian church. In politics he was a republican.

Following his marriage Mr. Lisle engaged in farming in Belmont county, Ohio, until March, 1872. He then started for Iowa, reaching Perry on the 17th of that month. He located in Dallas township, where he followed farming until the 20th of February, 1905, when he purchased a home in Perry, where he has since lived retired. He engaged in the raising of high grade Hereford cattle and also bred some fine horses, two of which were the grandsons of Donald Dania, which took first prize at the Des Moines fair at Perry in 1892. In his business life Mr. Lisle was very active and progressive and made good use of his opportunities, with the result that he acquired a gratifying measure of success and is now comfortably situated in life.

Unto Mr. and Mrs. Lisle were born five children: Orean; Effie, the wife of Henry Murphy; Frank, who died at the age of twenty-two years; Elbert, at home; and John W., who married Lottie Robinson, by whom he has two sons, Forest E. and Frank U.

Mr. Lisle was one of the trustees of Dallas township for twelve years, his long continuance in office being proof of his capability and trustworthiness. In 1906 he was elected county commissioner for a term of two years and since age conferred upon him the right of franchise he has been a stalwart champion of the republican party. He now belongs to Horeb lodge, No. 408, I. O. O. F., and to Redfield post, No. 26, G. A. R., while both he and his wife are connected with the Rebekah lodge, No. 263. He manifests the same loyalty in citizenship that he displayed when on southern battlefields he followed the old flag in defense of the stars and stripes.