My Genealogy Hound

ASA LEWELLING, the clerk of the district court of Phelps county, is a native of Henry county, Iowa, and was born February 3, 1845. His father, William Lewelling, is a native of Pennsylvania, and was married in Indiana to Cyrena Wilson, a native of Virginia. In 1838 they removed to Henry county, Iowa, being among the first settlers in that section of the state. The senior Lewelling was a minister of the Quaker faith, with strong anti-slavery views, and preached for several years in Indiana and Iowa, and was an able and useful man.

Asa Lewelling was reared on a farm and attended the common district school when opportunity afforded. When he was thirteen years old he started out to do for himself, obtaining employment on a farm in Henry county. He worked steadily until the war broke out, when he enlisted in the Seventh Missouri infantry, and served two years. He was captured at the battle of Mark’s Mills and taken to Camp Ford, Tyler, Tex., whence he escaped, however, but was recaptured and held for several months. After he returned from the service he attended Howe’s High School at Mt. Pleasant, Iowa, for one year, and in 1874 secured a position as teacher in the Illinois State Reform School, continued in this capacity for five years, and proved himself to be a most satisfactory instructor in every respect.

Mr. Lewelling was married, April 1, 1868, to Amanda V. Hord, who was born in Van Buren county, Iowa, May 11, 1850. Her father, Frank Hord, was a native of Kentucky, and was a wagon-maker by trade. He was one of the California gold hunters in 1852, crossing the plains in that year. He died in 1856. The union of Mr. and Mrs. Lewelling has resulted in the birth of four children, viz. — Etta, born April 13, 1869, wife of O. C. Frank; Claude, born January 23, 1875; Guy, born September 8, 1882; Fredrica, born February 25, 1884.

Mr. Lewelling came to Phelps county, Nebr., in the spring of 1879, took a homestead in Cottonwood township and was among the first to settle in that locality. He was elected a member of the county board of supervisors and was chairman four years, and was elected clerk of the district court of Phelps county on the republican ticket in the fall of 1887. He has been a member of the Masonic fraternity since 1868, and is also a member of the A. O. U. W., Grange and Alliance.