JAMES A. WADE, one of the enterprising and successful
farmers and stock-raisers of Green Bay Township, residing on section 8, was
born in Montgomery County, Indiana, February 8, 1844, a son of Isaac and Elinor
(Barnhill) Wade, who were natives of Kentucky and Indiana respectively. They reared
a family of nine children – W. S., Sarah Elizabeth, James A., Mary Alice, Eliza
Jane, John Henry, Martha Ann, Charles Harvey and Nellie Myrtle. When our subject was two years old his
parents came to Iowa, locating in Des Moines County, where the family lived for
ten years, coming in 1856 to Clarke County, and settling in Green Bay Township.
James A. was reared to manhood on a farm in Clarke County, receiving his
education in the common schools of this and Des Moines counties. In October, 1863, he enlisted in the Ninth
Iowa Cavalry, Company H, and was engaged with his regiment in fighting
guerrillas and bushwhackers in Missouri and Arkansas, and had many hard-fought
skirmishes and battles with those noted rebels. He received an honorable
discharge at Davenport, Iowa, when he returned to his home in Clarke County. Mr. Wade was married March 6, 1870, to Miss
Eliza Jane Harbin, a daughter of John and Providence (Gardner) Harbin, her
father being a prominent pioneer and wealthy citizen of Clarke County. Mr. and
Mrs. Wade have four children – Levina Eleanor, Nellie Myrtle, Archibald Fred
and Alfred Leslie. Mr. Wade is engaged in stock-raising, feeding and dealing in
stock, in which pursuit he has met with good success. His farm contains 340
acres of choice land under fine cultivation, with good, two-story residence, a
fine orchard and commodious out-buildings and large barn.
SOURCE: Biographical and Historical Record of Clarke
County, Iowa, Lewis Publishing Company, Chicago, Illinois, 1886 p. 432-3
