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Jasper County, Iowa
Historical and Genealogical Data Exchange
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James
Stark Through
a residence of forty years in Jasper County, James Stark, long one of the most
progressive and careful tillers of the soil in Hickory Grove Township, and who,
having accumulated a competency, is now spending his declining years in quiet
and in the midst of plenty in his beautiful home in the village of Newburg, this
Township, as a man who can be trusted at all times and places, one who is
honorable and successful in business, loyal to his duties of citizenship and
faithful to his many friends. Since
he came here, four decades ago, his career and the industrial history of Newburg
and Hickory Grove Township have been very closely interwoven, therefore as well
for his long and prominent connection with the growth and prosperity of the
community as for his sterling rectitude of character do we gladly present his
life record to the readers of this volume. Mr.
Stark is a Hoosier by birth, his birth having occurred in Ripley County,
Indiana, April 19, 1839, the son of Elijah and Elizabeth (Johnson) Stark, both
born in Kentucky, where they spent their early lives, were educated and married,
moving to Indiana in an early day and locating in Ripley County, where he
followed his trade of carpenter and builder successfully, accumulating a
competency, so that he spent the latter years of his life in retirement, dying
in Grant City, Missouri, at the advanced age of eighty-eight years, he having
moved to Missouri when past seventy years of age.
He was a man of fine character and strong personality, making friends
readily wherever he went. He became
one of the leading builders in Ripley County, Indiana, well known and
influential in the upbuilding of the County, which was comparatively new when he
went there. There were twelve
children in the family of Mr. and Mrs. Elijah Stark.
Politically, he was a Whig, later a Republican.
For a period of four years he was County clerk of Ripley County, his son,
James, of this review, being his deputy. The
father was also County treasurer for six years; he filled both these offices
with much credit to himself and to the satisfaction of the people. James
Stark, of this review, grew up in Indiana, and in his youth assisted his father
with his work and under him learned the carpenter's trade.
He attended the common schools in Ripley County and received a fairly
good education. In early life he
preferred farming to carpentering, it seems, although he was very proficient in
the use of tools, consequently followed farming the most, and he got a good
start through his close application and economy and was enabled in time to buy a
good farm of one hundred and twenty acres in Ripley County, Indiana.
On this he made his home four or five years, making a great success as a
general farmer, but desiring to cast his lot in a newer country and having heard
of the rich, cheap land in Jasper County, Iowa, he sold out in his native state
and emigrated to the latter in 1870. Being
at once favorably impressed with the prospects
here, he decided to make his
permanent home here, but in order to properly familiarize himself with the new
conditions which confronted him here, he decided not to purchase a farm upon his
arrival, consequently he rented land a few years, finally buying a valuable farm
of one hundred and sixty acres in Hickory Grove Township, which he improved and
rendered very productive and here carried on general farming and stock raising
successfully until 1899, when he retired from active life and moved to the
village of Newburg, this Township, there built a modern, cozy and convenient
cottage and a good barn and he has lived retired ever since, enjoying the fruits
of long years of hard and consecutive labor. Politically,
Mr. Stark is a Republican and he has always manifested a keen interest in local
affairs and has ably served his Township as assessor for two years and as
trustee for ten years, later he was County supervisor for six years.
He filled all these offices in a manner that stamped him as a man of
ability, public spirit and a proper conception of the duties of a right-minded
citizen, and won the hearty commendation of all concerned.
He and his wife are members of the United Brethren Church. On May 1, 1864, Mr. Stark was married to Esther Ludwick, who was a native of Indiana and the daughter of Jacob and Esther Ludwick, the father dying in Iowa and the mother in Indiana. Six children were born to Mr and Mrs. James Stark, named as follows: William C., who lives at Stone City, Jones County; Mary Elizabeth, who married Willie Newton, lives on his father's homestead; Anna Florence is the wife of Newton J. Morgart and they live on a farm in this County; Elijah L. lives at Gilman, Marshall County; Clarence H. lives on his father's farm; Edith B. married Clarence Grubb, a carpenter and builder of Oskaloosa, Iowa, James Stark is one of the honored veterans of the great Civil War, having served six months in Company B, Sixty-eighth Indiana Volunteer Infantry. Three months of his time was spent in pursuit of John Morgan, the intrepid Southern raider, in Kentucky. During his brief service he acquitted himself as a faithful soldier for the Union. Past and Present of Jasper
County Iowa, Gen. James B. Weaver, Editor-In-Chief, B.F. Bowden & Company,
Indianapolis, IN, 1912, p. 1032. |
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