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Jasper County, Iowa
Historical and Genealogical Data Exchange
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Wilford Williams Biographies
should not be published unless there is something in the life and character of
the individual worthy of emulation or imitation by others under like
circumstances, certainly not for self-aggrandizement; but sufficient has been
drawn from the life-history of Wilford Williams, one of the large landowners of
Linn Grove Township and one of Jasper County's most progressive agriculturists,
to show that there is something in the inner life of this man worthy of more
than incidental mention. He began
life practically at the bottom of the ladder, which he has climbed to the top
with no help but a brave
heart, industrious hands and an intelligent brain, and is a living example of
what may be accomplished in this nature-favored country of ours by thrift and
perseverance, even under circumstances that are frequently discouraging. Mr. Williams was born in
Orange County, Indiana, August 18, 1845, and he is the son of John and Anna
(Landman) Williams, both natives of the same locality in which their son was
born, and there they grew to maturity, received what education they could in the
early schools of the country and there were married, and there began life on a
farm of one hundred and sixty acres which they owned. By hard work they got a good start in life, but they left
Indiana in 1855, driving a team through to Jasper County, Iowa, bringing all
their household effects, using wagons, two teams of horses and a team of oxen.
They settled in Linn Grove Township, where Mr. Williams bought one
hundred and sixty acres, which he later sold and, moving to Earlham, this state,
bought one hundred and sixty acres near there, and he remained on that place
until his death in 1903. He was a
member of the Friends Church. His
family consisted of the following children:
Mrs. Malinda Stanley, Isaac, Isaiah, Wilford, of this review; Stanford,
deceased: Richmond is living at Cedar Falls, Iowa; Albert is a resident
of Oskaloosa, this state; John; Elmina and Rachael are deceased; Thomas L.;
Robert died in infancy. Wilford Williams had only a
limited schooling in the primitive schools of Indiana and Iowa, and during the
crop seasons, when a boy, he assisted with the general work on the home farm,
later working by the month; then he rented a few years, and in 1867 he bought
eighty acres, which he still owns. By close application and good management he
prospered and added to his original holdings until he now owns seven hundred and
nine acres of very choice and productive land, after giving each of his children
eighty acres. He has kept his land
under first-class improvements and a high state of cultivation, carrying on
general farming and stock raising on an extensive scale.
He has been one of the largest cattle feeders of the County, having fed
large numbers of both cattle and hogs for fifty years and no small part of his
large competency has been derived from this source.
He has been very robust throughout his very busy life, having a capacity
for work in excess of the average man. He
has pleasant home and neat surroundings. Mr. Williams is a Republican
and he has served his Township as trustee. He is a member of the Friends Church.
In November 1866, Mr.
Williams was united in marriage with Anna Graham, who was born in England, and
this union resulted in the birth of the following children:
Charlie is living west of Lynnville; Eddie is living north of Lynnville;
Mrs. Lillie Ratcliffe was next in order of birth; Harry and Earl are both living
north of Lynnville. Past and Present of Jasper County Iowa, Gen. James B. Weaver, Editor-In-Chief, B.F. Bowden & Company, Indianapolis, IN, 1912, p. 1064. |
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