Edna's Paternal Great Grandparents Nicholas and Maria Crider

Edna's Paternal Great Grandparents Nicholas and Maria Crider.  Both born in Switzerland.  Nicholas was a weaver by trade and emigrated to the US in 1846.  He and Maria settled in Ohio where he cleared 40 acres, erected a log house and other buildings.  They stayed there for 10 years.  They moved to Iowa and settled on 160 acres of government ground which Nicholas had purchased in Powesheik County in 1856.  On this property he erected the same primitive structures of logs as were to be found on the majority of the homesteads of that period, placing his land under cultivation gradually as he cleared it.  Here he resided until his death at age 77.  He was a Democrat in politics considering the principles of that party to more closely resemble the governmental policy of his native land.  He was of  the Lutheran denomination when he was in Switzerland and Ohio, but after coming to Iowa, he united with the Moravian Church. 'The Moravian Church places a high premium on Christian unity, personal piety, missions, and music'. You can read the wiki info here From Pat: Nicholas and Maria are buried in the Harmony (Moravian) cemetery south and west of Brooklyn, Iowa. Gives the year of their death March, 1883.