Guthrie-Keokuk-Cedar County IA Archives Biographies.....Maris, George Jenkins 1841 - 
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Joy Fisher sdgenweb@yahoo.com December 9, 2007, 7:13 pm

Author: Lewis Publishing Co. (1896)

HON. GEORGE JENKINS MARIS.- Among the prominent citizens of Iowa probably none
are better known or held in higher esteem than the gentleman with whose name we
are pleased to introduce this sketch. He has been a resident of this State since
1858 and of Guthrie county since 1872, his present residence being in Seeley
township and Wichita his post-office.

   George J. Maris was born in a log cabin among the hills of Morgan county,
Ohio, June 17, 1841, a son of pioneers of the Western Reserve. His father, Owen
Maris, was born in Delaware county, Pennsylvania, son of David and Sarah
(Fawkes) Maris. The Maris family were among the most prominent people of
Delaware county, Pennsylvania. In their religious belief they were Quakers.
Their history is traced back to England and to one George Maris, a Quaker, who
was persecuted there on account of his religion and who sought refuge and
freedom in America, landing here August 25, 1683. He acquired large tracts of
land in Delaware county, Pennsylvania.

   When Owen Maris was a young man he removed with his father to Jefferson
county, Ohio, locating near Mt. Pleasant, where they were among the pioneer
settlers. He was married in that county to Miss Rachel Jenkins, a member of one
of the leading families in the county and a relative of George J. Jenkins, who
was honored by General Grant with an appointment to a prominent position in
Indian affairs. The Jenkinses, too, trace their ancestry back to the English.
Mrs. Owen Maris died when the subject of our sketch was six months old. She was
a woman of more than ordinary intelligence and force of character, and was the
mother of a large family of children, eight in number, namely: Sarah Plummer,
Marshall J., Mary Ann Penrose, Phoebe B. Wright, Rebecca Smith, Clark T., George
J. and one who died in infancy. The father of our subject died in Iowa, at the
age of sixty-five years. He was by trade a carpenter, and in religion, like his
forefathers, he was a Quaker.

   George J. Maris, the immediate subject of our sketch, spent his boyhood days
in his native State and received his education in its public schools. At the age
of seventeen he came out to Keokuk county, Iowa, where he spent three years,
returning at the end of that time to Ohio. The following year, 1862, he came
back to Iowa, this time taking up his abode at Spring Dale, Cedar county, where
he bought a farm and where, June 2, 1865, he was united in marriage to Miss Mary
E. Smith, who was born in Erie county, New York, a member of a highly respected
family. Her parents, Gilbert and Lydia (Palmerton) Smith, were natives of
Vermont, and her father is now a resident of Wichita, Iowa. Her mother is
deceased. Their family is composed of the following members: Nathan E.,
deceased; Emily Harris, of Erie county, New York; Daniel W., Des Moines, Iowa;
Hannah, wife of Jesse Binford, of Iowa; and Mary E. Maris. Mrs. Maris was a
little girl of six years at the time she came with her parents to Iowa, their
settlement being in Cedar county, where she was reared and educated. Mr. and
Mrs. Maris have had seven children, viz.: Emma B., bookkeeper in the State
Treasurer's office, Des Moines; Eva P., wife of D. Spear, of this county; Lydia
C, of St. Luke Hospital, Duluth, Minnesota; Emily R., a graduate of St. Luke
Hospital; Walter S. and Florence L., at home. They lost one child in infancy.
All have had good educational advantages and three of the family have at times
been successful teachers.

   In 1872 Mr. Maris removed to his present farm, 260 acres, in Seeley township,
one of the best farms in all the country round, having substantial and
attractive improvements and being under a high state of cultivation. Among the
improvements we note a comfortable residence, good barns and other farm
buildings, modern windmill, orchard of choice fruits and a ten-acre grove.

   Politically, Mr. Maris has always given his support to the Republican party
and is regarded as one of its "wheelhorses" in this county and district. In 1875
he was honored by election to the Iowa State Legislature and served as a member
of the Sixteenth General Assembly, making a creditable record therein. Also he
has on various occasions been elected to fill local offices. He served two terms
as Treasurer of Guthrie county, has been a member of the High School Board, and
to whatever position he has been called he has performed prompt and faithful
service. Such, in brief, is a sketch of the life of one of Guthrie county's best
citizens.


Additional Comments:

Extracted from:

A MEMORIAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD OF IOWA

ILLUSTRATED

"A people that take no pride in the noble achievements of remote ancestors will
never achieve anything worthy to be remembered with pride by remote
descendants."'—MACAULAY.

"Biography is by nature the must universally profitable, universally pleasant,
of all things."—CARLYLE

"History is only biography on a large scale"—LAMARTINE.

CHICAGO: THE LEWIS PUBLISHING COMPANY
1896


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