John A Storey (1851 - bef. 1951)

Born 13 Apr 1851 in Armstrong Co., Pennsylvania

Biography

HON. JOHN A. STOREY.-The gentleman whose name initiates this review is one of the leading attorneys of south central Iowa. His long years of successful practice here, coupled with his special qualifications and liberal education, render him a serviceable and valued ally but a formidable opponent. As a counselor he is conscientious and painstaking, seldom advising legal action for trivial cause, however good the case.

Mr. Storey has for many years been an active and aggressive worker in the ranks of the Republican party, and as a campaign orator, as well as a pleader before the bar of justice, he is forceful and eloquent, confining his arguments to facts rather than theories, and carrying convictions of his honesty and sincere ity to the hearts of both jurors and miscellaneous audiences.

The subject of this sketch was born in Armstrong county, Pennsylvania, on the 13th of April, 1851. He was reared to manhood a farmer lad, familiar with toil and the value and cost of money. His labors on the farm were interspersed with study in the district schools, at the academy in his native county, and he spent four years at school in Oil City,-a portion of the time in the high school,-passing the long vacations of summer in riding a horse on the tow-path, hauling flatboats and barges, laden with provisions and dry-goods coming in and oil on the outward voyage. The oil at this time was taken from the wells to market in barrels, this being before the days of pipe lines. He then engaged in teaching for two years, being but eighteen years of age when he first entered the schoolroom as an instructor. When twenty-one years of age he entered the classical department of Washington and Jefferson College, at Washington, Pennsylvania, graduating with the second honors in his class, in 1874.

He then turned his attention to the legal profession, entering the office of his uncle, Judge Boggs, at Kittanning, Pennsylvania, and pursuing his studies there, under very favorable circumstances, until the fall of 1875, when he came to Iowa and located in Greenfield. Soon after locating here he entered upon the active practice of his profession, first forming a partnership with the Hager brothers, one of whom is now a member of Congress from this (the Ninth) district of Iowa. The firm title was Hager, Storey & Hager. This partnership was dissolved by mutual consent in the fall of 1881, and Mr. Storey was alone in practice for one year, when he removed to Fontanelle and formed a law partnership with Henry Grass, which existed until 1892, though Mr. Storey returned to Greenfield in 1888.

Our subject has been honored by the party which he has served so faithfully, being elected a member of the Twentieth and Twenty-first General Assemblies, and serving on various committees, the most important of which was that of the judiciary, of which he was chairman in the Twenty-first General Assembly. In 1884 his name was placed upon the ticket as Presidential Elector from the Seventh Congressional District, and he at once entered upon a vigorous canvass for the success of the Republican ticket. In this canvass he made speeches in every county in the district, and the result of the election showed how well he performed his duty. In the fall of 1888 Mr. Storey was brought forward by his friends as a candidate for Congress, failing to receive the nomination by just one vote. On another occasion his name was brought forward by his friends, though without his knowledge or solicitation, as a candidate for District Judge, but in the manipulation of political affairs the candidate was named from another county in the district. On the 1st of December, 1895, Hon. J. H. Henderson, one of the Judges of the Fifth Judicial District of Iowa, resigned his incumbency, his resignation taking effect January I, 1896. Mr. Storey was appointed by the Governor to fill the vacancy, and is now actively serving as a Judge of the District Court,-a position for which he is eminently qualified.

The recital of these facts simply shows the prominence of our subject in the political affairs of the district in which he lives. In professional circles he is equally prominent, his strength as an attorney and counselor being recognized by all who know him, without regard to party lines. A work of this character would certainly fall short of giving a fair representation to Adair county were there failure to incorporate a review of the life of this honored citizen.

Mr. Storey has been twice married, the companion of his youth having been Miss Miranda Hayes, of Washington, Pennsylvania, whom he wedded in 1876. Five years of happy married life were spent, when the dread destroyer invaded the sacred precincts of the home and claimed the wife and mother, leaving two motherless daughters, Mossie and Ethel, the latter having been at the time a babe of less than two years. Since the death of their mother they have been tenderly cared for by their maternal grandparents, at Washington, Pennsylvania, where they are being educated in the seminary. The grandparents are very well-to-do, and these young ladies are receiving all the advantages afforded by wealth and affluence.

Mr. Storey married his present companion in 1885. She was Miss Ella Mullarky, a native of Butler county, Iowa, and at the time of her marriage she was assistant principal in the Fontanelle public schools. Mrs. Storey also was liberally educated, being a graduate of the Iowa State Normal School at Cedar Falls. Two children bless this union: John A., Jr., and Dorothy.

Our subject is prominently identified with the fraternal societies, being a member of the Masonic order, the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Knights of Pythias. In the first mentioned he has attained to the Knights Templar degrees, holding membership in Crusade Lodge, No. 386, A. F. & A. M.; St. John's Chapter, No. 73, R. A. M., at Fontanelle; and Bethany Commandery, No. 29, K. T., at Creston. The church relations of the family are with the Presbyterians.

The family genealogy of our subject is as follows: His parents were Thomas B. and Margaret (Mosgrove) Storey, both of whom are natives of the Keystone State, the father having been born in 1812 and the mother in 1818. The venerable parents now reside on the old farmstead which has been the family home for over fifty years. His father's family were of Scotch-Irish lineage, the original American representatives having come to the United States in the early part of the present century, and his paternal grandfather was killed in the battle of Black Rock, during the war of 1812. His mother's family were of English origin, removing to Ireland during the Cromwell wars and coming to America from the Emerald Isle.

Thomas B. and Margaret Storey became the parents of four sons and three daughters, six of whom are now living. Mary J., the eldest of the children, is now the widow of John Phillips and resides at Portland, Indiana. James A. is a lumberman at Elyria, Ohio. Hannah became the wife of J. W. Newmaker, and is now deceased, having left four children. The subject of this sketch was the next in order of birth. Phoebe I. is the wife of Rev. Asa Leard, D. D., a clergyman of the Presbyterian Church, now in charge of Knox Presbyterian Church at Omaha, Nebraska. Thomas J. is a farmer in Adair county, Iowa; and Joseph M. is employed in tilling the willing soil of the old homestead in Pennsylvania and in caring for his aged parents.

Sources

A MEMORIAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD OF IOWA CHICAGO: THE LEWIS PUBLISHING COMPANY 1896