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IOWA
ITS HISTORY AND TRADITION
VOLUME III
1804-1926
E. C. MORAIN
Edson C. Morain, sheriff of Green county, has by his faithful and fearless
discharge of duty gained a wide reputation, and his efforts in opposition to
criminals and lawbreakers have been extraordinarily successful. In the
performance of the ordinary duties of his office he has shown himself competent and conscientious, and his record has been one that has gained for him the respect and confidence of his fellowmen to a marked degree.
Mr. Morain was born in Barton county, Missouri, on the 15th of April, 1873,
and is a son of Allen and Martha (Winstead) Morain. Both parents were natives of Illinois, the father being of French extraction and the mother of German ancestry. They were married in Illinois and their first child was born
there. When only seventeen years of age Allen Morain was made a deputy sheriff of Piatt county, Illinois, under an uncle, Samuel Morain, who was sheriff of that county, and distinguished himself as a man hunter. Subsequently Mr. Morain went to Barton county, Missouri, where he engaged in farming. This was immediately following the Civil war and criminals, particularly horse thieves, were active. The sheriff of Barton county called on the citizens for help and Mr. Morain responded and did much effective work in the pursuit and apprehension of the thieves. After remaining in Barton county about five years, he came to Greene county, Iowa, in 1877, locating in Greenbrier township, where he resided up to the time of his death. At different times he was in the local secret service and helped to round up cattle thieves which were so troublesome to the settlers. He was a member of the Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, in which he had attained the thirty-second degree of Scottish Rite. To him and his wife were born thirteen children, one of whom died in infancy, while the other twelve, nine sons and three daughters, are still living. The mother died in 1914 and the father in 1918.
Edson C. Morain received a public school education and was early coached by
his father in secret service and detective work, receiving the benefit of the
latter's extensive experience along that line. These lessons took deep root
in the young man's mind, so that in later years he profited greatly by them.
Coming to Greene county with his father, he has always remained here, and
on attaining mature years he turned his attention to farming, in which he was
successful. He continued in that vocation until January 1, 1919, when he was
appointed deputy sheriff of Greene county. So efficiently did he discharge
the duties of that office that in November, 1924, he was elected sheriff and
was reelected two years later, being the present incumbent. He has had a
noteworthy record in the apprehension of criminals, one of his most notable
feats being the rounding up of a gang of four bank robbers, one of the most noted
in the middle west, following which he broke up three other notorious gangs.
Federal officers state that the arrest of the bank robbers was one of the
most important accomplishments in the record of the state. Mr. Morain caught
the fourth and last member of the gang at Manitowoc, Wisconsin, in May, 1926,
after a chase of fifteen months, in which he showed detective skill of the
highest order.
In 1894 Mr. Morain was united in marriage to Miss Annie Baux, of Guthrie
county, Iowa, and they are the parents of four children, namely: Allen C., who
is a commercial salesman in Minneapolis, Minnesota; Florence M., who is the
wife of Ralph Phillips, a farmer of Greene county; Harold I., who is attending
Iowa State College, and was captain of the football team which for two years
won practically every game; and Kenneth E., who is in high school. Mr. Morain is a member of Sunbeam Lodge, No. 476, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, and Green Lodge, No. 315, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and he and his wife are earnest members of the Christian church. Though of unassuming manner, he possesses a forceful individuality that makes and impression on all who come into contact with him. He is genial in his social relations and is deservedly popular throughout Greene county.
http://www.iagenweb.org/history
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