S. P. GLENN is a native of Sangamon County, Illinois, a son
of Thomas M. and Anna (Scott) Glenn, natives of South Carolina. He was born
November 6, 1825, and was reared on a farm, making his home with his parents,
and obtained his education in the common schools, which he attended in the
winter. When twenty years of age he enlisted in the Mexican war in Colonel
Baker’s regiment, Company E, Fourth Illinois, from DeWitt County. He was absent
from home just twelve months, his most important engagements being the siege of
Vera Cruz and the battle of Cerro Gordo. He returned to his home in Illinois
and engaged in farming. In 1853 he with
his family and parents, moved to Clarke County, Iowa, and entered 160 acres of
Government land on the northwest quarter of section 27, township 73, range 25
west, Fremont Township. He at once went to work to build a cabin in which to
shelter his family, which consisted of a wife and two children. Here he lived
two years, when he sold out at an advance on the purchase price, and bought an
adjoining farm, which he afterward sold and moved to Kansas. Meeting with
reverses there he returned to Iowa where he has since lived. At the breaking out of the war of the
Rebellion he raised what was known as Company F, Sixth Iowa Infantry, which was
the first company to leave for the field from Clarke County. He participated in
the battle of Shiloh and had many narrow escapes, but was by shot or shell
uninjured. He was married July 1, 1847,
to Frances Orlena Hamilton, and to them were born nine children –Thomas M.,
Olive A., James K., Samuel P., Orlena, Tabitha, Ruth, George and Fanny. James
K., Samuel P., Orlena and George are deceased. Mrs. Glenn died February 3,
1866, and in 1867 Mr. Glenn married Miss Sarah E. Harlan, a daughter of Aaron
and Jemima (Polly) Harlan, early settlers of Clarke County. Mr. Harlan was born
in Barren County, Kentucky, January 13, 1803, and in his infancy his father
moved to Hamilton County, Ohio, and thence in 1807 to Wayne County, Indiana,
where he lived until manhood. He married Jemima, daughter of William and Jemima
(Kelsoe) Polly, and to them were born eight children – James R., Stephen,
Hosea, Noah, Aaron, Edee, Nancy and Sarah E. Mr. Harlan came to Clarke County
in the fall of 1853, and first purchased eighty acres of land in Osceola
Township, northeast of the village. He afterward bought forty-five acres in
Fremont Township. He is now in the seventy-fourth year of his age and is one of
the oldest residents of Clarke County.
SOURCE: Biographical and Historical Record of Clarke
County, Iowa, Lewis Publishing Company, Chicago, Illinois, 1886 p. 232
