Recollections of Iva Mae (Ward) Miles
15 September 1996
William R. Strawn was born 3 Aug 1816 in Perryopolis, Fayette (Co),Pen nsylvania. His parents were Job Strawn Sr and Hannah (Bowers)McCauley. H e and his four brothers and seven sisters were leftorphans at an early a ge and were sent to live with differentrelatives. William was slight o f build, fair complexion and wore abeard.
William enlisted in the Civil War on 5 Sep 1861. He was with theIndian a Volunteers as a Wagoner in Company A, 31st Regiment. He washonorably d ischarged on 6 Jun 1863, as he was badly ruptured when hefell across t he wagon tongue while driving his team across a smallditch.
William and (first wife) Mary had two sons, Charles and Amos. With myg reat grandmother Mahala he had one daughter, Emma Bell and raisedMahal a's son whom they gave the name of William C. V. Strawn, but hewas not W illiam R. Strawn's son. I do not know who the boy's fatherwas.
William C. V. Strawn was born 16 May 1862 in Jasper Co, Iowa and died2 2 Jan 1890 in Iowa. He was married to Mary Elizabeth (Tipton)Hazelton o n 20 May 1884. They are buried in Prairie City, Jasper(Co), Iowa besid e Mahala. William R. Strawn died 27 Aug 1897 inColfax, Jasper (Co), Io wa.
Posted at Ancestry by Patryka Tachick :
At age of 69 lived in Prairie City, IA, as a wood sawyer, janitor fora s chool house and a custodian for a graveyard. William Strawnserved as a P rivate in Co. "A", 31st Indiana Volunteers fromSeptember 5, 1861 to Ju ne 6, 1863, which was the full period of hismilitary service. Born in P erryopolis, Fayette Co., PA and livedthere until six year old, then ca me to a farm six miles east ofSummerset, Buckeye Co., OH and lived the re for four year (until age10). The moved to Indianapolis, the nearest t own. He lived thereuntil he was married at the age of 25, when he move d to a farm fivemiles west of Shelbyville, Shelby Co., IL and lived th ere about ayear. From there he moved to Bellmore, Parke Co., IN and li ved inthat town until the spring of 1860 when he came to a farm one ha lfmile from Prairie City, IA and stayed there until the following fall ,when he moved back to Indiana, living in Harveysburg, Fountain Co., IN. He stayed there until he enlisted in the army.
On his return from the army, he went Back to Harveysburg and stayedthe re a few months and then went to work on a farm in Eagle Creek,nine mi les west of Indianapolis, IN. He was there for about a year,then moved t o another farm about thirty miles away, nameunremembered. He stayed th ere for about a year and then went back toHarveysburg, IN, remaining t here until he moved back to Prairie City,IA (in 1870). He had four bro ther and seven sisters. His parents diedwhen he was very small and he w as raised by various relatives at adistance from each other. While liv ing in Bellmore, IN, he worked atfarming and in a grist mill. In Harve ysburg he worked at wagonmaking. In Prairie City, he farmed. In Eagle C reek, he worked forJohn Jennings and James Moore. In Prairie City, lat er, he workedvarious jobs. In the Civil War he was a Wagoner in Compan y A, 31stRegiment of the Indiana Volunteers. He enlisted at Montezuma o nSeptember 5, 1861 and was honorably discharged on June 6, 1863. Whilei t he line of duty at Pittsburgh Landing, TN on the 9th of April1862, whi le driving his team across a small ditch, the saddle mulefell twice an d threw him forward in the front of the saddle, whichbadly ruptured hi m. he also fell across the wagon tongue and hurthimself. About October 2 8, 1862, at Louisville, KY, he was taken illwith typhoid fever and was s ent to hospital no. 7, where he stayedabout four months and was then s ent to Quincy, IL, where he stayedsome time. Then he transferred to In dianapolis, where he wasdischarged.
At an early age William Strawn was sent to live with a brother-in-law,W illiam Rodman, husband of his half-sister, Hannah Strawn, in MarionCou nty, IN. William Rodman was granted guardianship of WilliamStrawn, a m inor, age 13, on the 3rd of August, 1829. Rachel(William's sister) was s ent to live with her aunt and uncle, Georgeand Anne (Bowers) Whitting i n Washington Township, Fayette Co., PA.William married first to Mary A nn Vest-Guisinger, who had beenpreviously married to Mr. Guisinger. Wi lliam married the second timeon the 20th of October 1869 to Mahala Ann V an Gundy, before he wasdivorced from his first wife, Mary Ann Vest-Gui singer. They moved toPrairie City, Jasper County, Iowa about 1870. He d ivorced Mary AnnVest-Guisinger in 1877. He then married Mahala Ann Van G undy a secondtime on the 1st of April 1877 in Vandalia, Jasper County, I owa.William was not German in spite some of the claims of later descendants. His first wife, Mary Ann Vest-Guisinger married a Mr. Guisingerf irst, she then married William R. Strawn, second and then third,marrie d Mr. Rodman. We believe that Charles Almond Strawn'sinformation on th e Strawn family being German is derived from thosefacts and there is n o documentation at all to prove any truth to hisstory. [Patryka Tachic k.FTW]
Residences & events:
7/2/1880 Prairie City Demoines Twp, Jasper Co, IA. At census timeWil liam Strawn, 60, was a laborer. Living with him were Mahala Ann,46, W illiam, 18, works in a printing office, and Emma B, 9.
