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Jasper County, Iowa
Historical and Genealogical Data Exchange
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John M. Rorabaugh Very
largely to his own efforts is the success of John M. Rorabaugh, well known
agriculturist of Mound Prairie Township, Jasper County, attributable, for he has
been a man of resourcefulness and self-reliance all his life, preferring to
depend upon no one to do his planning or his work, and, being ambitious and
industrious, he has forged to the front in the face of obstacles. Mr.
Rorabaugh was born in Clearfield County, Pennsylvania, May 24, 1848.
He is the son of Israel and Phoebe (McQuillan) Rorabaugh, both natives of
Pennsylvania, the father born in 18191 and there they grew up and were married,
and in that country Israel Rorabaugh followed lumbering.
He hewed out frame timber and rafted it down the Susquehanna River. In
1860 he immigrated with his family to Jasper County, Iowa, and located in Mound
Prairie Township. He had come here
previously, in 1857, and bought one hundred and forty acres, after which he went
back to Pennsylvania. Later he
bought one hundred and sixty acres more and in 1892, having accumulated a
competency, he retired from active life and moved to Colfax and there he made
his home until his death, in 1902, his widow surviving until 1905.
He and his wife were members of the United Brethren Church in early life,
but after coming to Colfax they joined the Methodist Church.
He was a Republican and for some time he served his community as justice
of the peace. His was a large
family, twelve children, of whom John M., of this sketch, was the second in
order of birth. John M.
Rorabaugh attended the public schools in Pennsylvania and Iowa.
At that time there was only one school in the Township here and the
subject had little chance to get an education.
During the winter he worked at the old stage station, located where his
house in Colfax now stands. He
worked for his board so that he could attend school.
When he was fifteen years of age he began working out as a farm hand. When he was twenty-three years old he bought eighty acres in
Mound Prairie Township. He improved
this and added to it until he now owns two hundred acres of excellent land.
He has met with a large measure of success as a general farmer. He
retired from active life in the spring of 1911 and moved to Colfax. Politically,
he is a Republican and he belongs to the United Brethren Church. Mr. Rorabaugh
was married on December 3, 1871, to Julia Kelly, who was born on East Fortieth
Street, New York City, December 15, 1852, the daughter of Patrick Kelly, a
quarryman by occupation. In the
fall of 1864 the Kelly family moved to Knox County, Illinois, and in 1870 they
came on to Mound Prairie Township, Jasper County, Iowa, locating on a farm, and
there Mr. Kelly lived the rest of his life, dying in 1888. The following children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Rorabaugh: Mrs. Phoebe Elizabeth McCracken; Thomas Francis; Frederick Orland, who lives in Mound Prairie Township, is represented in a separate sketch in this volume; and Mrs. Mary E. Baker. Past and Present of Jasper County Iowa, Gen. James B. Weaver, Editor-In-Chief, B.F. Bowden & Company, Indianapolis, IN, 1912, p. 911. |
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