Devin, Michael L.

Born: 1823-01-26 Ohio

Died: 1899-08-06 Iowa

Born in Morgan County, Ohio, Michael L. Devin was a merchant, farmer, and livestock breeder. He attended public schools in Ohio as a boy, living in McConnelsville at one point, but relocated to Macon County, Illinois as a young man. In April 1847, he married Amanda J. Taylor, with whom he had at least seven children. In the spring of 1855, he moved to Des Moines, Iowa, where worked as a merchant until 1860, when he started a farm, planted an orchard, and began breeding livestock. The census of 1860 reveals he was doing very well, owning a personal estate valued at $800 and real estate valued at $10,000. In June 1863, he registered for the draft in Polk County's fifth congressional district, but there is no indication that he actually served during the Civil War. He died of old age in Bloomfield Township, Polk County, Iowa.

Benjamin F. Gue, History of Iowa (New York: Century History, 1903), 4:71-72; U.S. Census Office, Fifth Census of the United States (1830), McConnelsville, Morgan County, OH, 129; Illinois Statewide Marriage Index, Macon County, 13 April 1847, Illinois State Archives, Springfield, IL; Iowa, U.S., State Census Collection, 1836-1925, 1856, Des Moines, Polk County, IA, 30 (Provo, UT: Ancestry.com Operations, 2007); U.S. Census Office, Eighth Census of the United States (1860), Polk County, IA, 113; U.S., Civil War Draft Registrations Records, 1863-1865 (Provo, UT: Ancestry.com, 2010); U.S. Census Office, Tenth Census of the United States (1880), Polk County, IA, 8; Iowa, U.S., Death Records, 1880-1904, 1920-1967 (Lehi, UT: Ancestry.com, 2017).