Annals of Iowa
Volume 1 No. 9 January 1865
History of Davis County, Iowa
by Capt. Hosea B. Horn of Bloomfield
Chapter II
In the year 1838, Mr. William Hardesty came to this county and settled on the disputed territory near the line of Van Buren county. He was from Fountain county, Indiana, and came to the territory of Iowa in company with Uriah Biggs, Esq., who had a contract with the United States government for surveying certain public lands of the “Black Hawk purchase.” He settled on a small stream called Henry Creek, where he lived and died…In the autumn of 1840 Mr. Haden Smith and Mr. William F. Johnson came up from Van Buren…and settled “claims”…This was some two years and a half before the whites were permitted by law to settle on the “purchase.” Hence those adventurers were surrounded on all sides by the Sac and Fox Indians. They were friendly, however, and assisted the squatters to raise their cabins, capture wild game, hunt bees & c., and many of them took a pride in doing so. Some ten or a dozen Indians were present and assisted Mr. Johnson to raise his cabin.
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William Hardesty is the father of Mary Ann Hardesty b. May 1 1830 in Indiana, died April 21, 1873 at Van Buren, Iowa (buried at the Maple Hill Cemetery in Birmingham) who married Foster Anderson b. Oct 15 1825 in Somerset, Pennsylvania, died June 16, 1918 in Van Buren, Iowa (also buried at the Maple Hill Cemetery). A daughter was Florence Ellen Anderson b. 1853 in Iowa, died 1949 (buried at the Washington Cemetery in Washington, Washington, Kansas) who married William France Hackney, son of William S. Hackney and Mary Jane Enlow (our line). William France Hackney was born 1850 Fe8 in Iowa and died 1915 Oct 26 (also buried at the Washington Cemetery).
William Hardesty having died about 1844, it would appear his wife Mary also was dead before 1850. Mary Ann Hardesty was married to Foster Anderson in Sept 20 1849 and they have their own household in the 1850 census, while Mary Ann’s siblings are found in the household of Abner Rush. Foster Anderson is two households from Job Yarnell, believed an extended family relative of the McKenneys. Eli Yarnell’s daughter had married William McKenney, assumed brother of our George Washington McKenney.
The Hackney family is associated with the McKenney family through the Crocketts, Sarah Elizabeth Hackney, sibling of William France Hackney, marrying Samuel Kelly Crockett.
1850 Lick Creek, Van Buren, Iowa
Source Citation: Year: 1850; Census Place: Lick Creek, Van Buren, Iowa; Roll: M432_189; Page: 343; Image: 199.
107/107 Job YARNELL 58 3000 PA
Catherine 18
Amelia 20 OH
Ithamer 18
Eliza 15
Mary MATTOCKS 10
108/108 Wm BURCH household
109/109 Foster ANDERSON 26 OH
Mary 20 OHSource Citation: Year: 1850; Census Place: Union, Van Buren, Iowa; Roll: M432_189; Page: 389; Image: 293.
74/74 Abner RUSH 56 farmer 1600 OH
Mary 40
Richard HARDISTY 14 IA
William 10
John 8
Mary RUSH 3
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