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Aged 60 years 6 months
Find A Grave contributor Anonymous ...
Joseph P. Kerr
JOSEPH P. KERR, residing on section 31, of Center Township, was born in Butler County, Pa., May 18, 1829, and is the son of Andrew and Sarah (Porter) Kerr, natives of Pennsylvania. Mr. Kerr is of Irish descent; his great-great-grandfather, Thomas Kerr, was born in Ireland in 1721, as was also his great-grandfather, Thomas Kerr, Jr., who was born in Ireland in 1743, and who married Margaret Clerk, a native of Ireland, and by this union there were ten children: Mary, who married William Steward; John, who married Jane...
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Aged 60 years 6 months
Find A Grave contributor Anonymous ...
Joseph P. Kerr
JOSEPH P. KERR, residing on section 31, of Center Township, was born in Butler County, Pa., May 18, 1829, and is the son of Andrew and Sarah (Porter) Kerr, natives of Pennsylvania. Mr. Kerr is of Irish descent; his great-great-grandfather, Thomas Kerr, was born in Ireland in 1721, as was also his great-grandfather, Thomas Kerr, Jr., who was born in Ireland in 1743, and who married Margaret Clerk, a native of Ireland, and by this union there were ten children: Mary, who married William Steward; John, who married Jane Porter, was drowned; Thomas, whose first wife was Ann Williams, and whose second wife was Elizabeth Douglas; Ann, who was united in marriage with Thomas Parks; David, who married Rebecca Kennedy; Rebecca and Ella died when children; Margaret, who married Thomas Walker; Jonathan, who formed a matrimonial alliance with Mary Bradin, and Joseph, who married Nancy Bradin. Our subject's grandfather, John Kerr, was a native of Pennsylvania, being born near Emlenton, in 1767, and united in marriage with Jane Porter in 1791. By this union there were also ten children: Sarah, who born in 1792, and who married Andrew Sloan, died of consumption March 24, 1821; Thomas, who was born in 1793, was united in marriage with Isabel Stewart, and died Sept. 14, 1857; Margaret, who was born in 1794, and who married Mathew McDowell, died in 1848; Rebecca, born in 1796, married Daniel Spicer in 1812, and died of typhus fever in 1815; John, who was born in 1798, and who married Mary Berry, died in 1830; Jonathan, who was born in 1799, and was the husband of Nancy Keifer, died in 1876, from a third stroke of paralysis; Jane, who was born in 1801, was united in marriage with Robert Crawford, and died from a cancer in 1858; David, who was born in 1803, was united in marriage with Mary Zigler; Andrew, the father of our subject; Ann P., who was born in 1807, was married to Jack Zigler, in 1827.
Andrew Kerr, the father of Joseph P., was born Jan. 11, 1805. He was a pioneer of Venango County, Pa., where his parents moved when he was but a lad, and where his early days were spent. He was married, on the 2d of September, 1828, to Miss Sarah Porter, born May 13, 1804, who was the daughter of Joseph Porter. They were the parents of three children: Joseph P., our subject; David, who was born June 5, 1832, was united in marriage with Nancy Black in the year 1852, and resides in Missouri; John, who was born June 9, 1835, was married Dec. 25, 1860, to Philena Alden; three children were born to them. He was drowned in the Des Moines River on the 13th of April, 1867. Andrew Kerr died March 5, 1839.
The early life of our subject was spent upon the farm in Butler County, Pa., receiving his education in the district schools of his native State. He emigrated with his mother to Henry County in 1856, settling on section 31, of Center Township, where his step-father, Mathew McDowell, had purchased 130 acres of land, partially improved. Here the family still reside, and here on the 11th of September, 1859, Mr. McDowell departed this life. Mr. Kerr purchased 130 acres of land on section 31 of Center Township, and now has a finely improved farm. On the 22d of October, 1863, Mr. Kerr led to the marriage altar Miss Eliza Ann Nicholson, a native of North Carolina. Her grandfather was a soldier in the Revolutionary War; her parents, John and Sarah (Brooks) Nicholson, were natives of North Carolina. Mr. and Mrs. Kerr are the parents of eight children, all of whom are living: Andrew John, now in Missouri; Sarah, the wife of Albert Smith, of Center Township; Joseph Byron, Charles M., Ira N., Leander B. and Mahlon A. are still at home.
Mr. Kerr's business is that of general farming; he is a well-educated man, having been a teacher in Pennsylvania for many years, and has taught ten terms in this county. He has held various township offices, and his success in life has all been due to his own efforts. Thought never enjoying good health, Mr. Kerr has worked on and now has the reward due to those who help themselves. He is a member of the Presbyterian Church and his wife of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and they are always ready to help those in need. They have the confidence and respect of the whole community. Mr. Kerr always cast his vote with the Republican party.
(Portrait and Biographical Album, Henry County, Iowa; Acme Publishing Company, Chicago, 1888, p. 545-55.) |
