Name changed on entry to US from Nestori Raikkala.
History of Warren County, Iowa ... to 1908
by Rev. W. C. Martin, D. D. Chicago: S. J. Clarke Publishing Company, 1908. Evansville: Unigraphic, 1979 [Reprint]John McCuddin submitted by Dick Barton
For many years John McCuddin was actively identified with the farming interests of this county and after a useful and well spent life is now living retired in New Virginia, enjoying the fruits of former toil. He was born in Connecticut, on the 19th of December, 1843, a son of John and Jennie (Rowley) McCuddin, who were natives of Ireland and Scotland respectively. They were married before their emigration to America and both died when our subject was about three years old.
After the death of his parents John McCuddin made his home with an older sister in Chicago until thirteen years of age, when he ran away, his only possessions at that time being an overcoat and a pair of overalls. Since then he has been dependent entirely upon his own exertions. He spent six years in Davenport, Iowa, taking care of race horses, and in 1860 went to Wheatland, Clinton county, where he worked on a farm until after the outbreak of the civil war. Feeling that his country needed his services he enlisted in 1862 in Company I, Twenty-sixth Iowa Volunteer Infantry and served for one year and ten months, when he was discharged on account of disability caused from sickness. He participated in the following engagements: Chickasaw Bayou, Arkansas Post, Champion Hills, Jackson, Mississippi, and the siege of Vicksburg. At the last named place the flag of the regiment was left on the field after the first fight and Mr. McCuddin displayed his bravery in going after it and bringing it in. He then served as color bearer until the surrender of Vicksburg.
On leaving the army he returned to Clinton county, Iowa, but for a year was unable to work. He then resumed farming and continued to make that his occupation until he retired from active labor. In 1871 he came to Warren county and purchased forty acres of land in Virginia township, to the cultivation of which he at once turned his attention. He improved several tracts of land in the same township and in his chosen field of labor met with excellent success. He still owns seventy-nine acres in Clarke county. Five years ago he retired to a pleasant home west of the village, but when his wife died soon afterward he sold that place and bought his present home in New Virginia.
While still a resident of Clinton county, Mr. McCuddin married Miss Frances E. Rundell, a native of Ohio, who passed away in Virginia township, in March, 1903, leaving the following children, namely: Charles, who is married and has a family living in Nebraska; Lola, the wife of Jesse Brewer, a farmer of Virginia township; Orville, a farmer of Madison county, Iowa; William, who is single and resided in Sioux City, Iowa; Rhoda, the wife of Marshall Howlette, a farmer of Virginia township; Abe, a business man of Des Moines; and John, who is married and follows farming in Virginia township.
Mr. McCuddin and all of his sons support the republican party and he is an earnest and faithful member of the Christian church, to which his wife also belonged. He is a man honored and respected wherever known and he is a true and loyal citizen of the Union for which he fought during the dark days of the rebellion.