Elba B. Lamborn
Elba B. Lamborn
Elba B. Lamborn, a prominent and progressive farmer of
Franklin township, owning and operating two hundred and forty
acres of fine land, was born in Champaign county, Ohio, on the
28th of May, 1850, and is a son of Nathan and Laura (Burnham)
Lamborn. The father was born in Chadd’s Ford, Chester
county, Pennsylvania, May 2, 1824, and the mother in Champaign
county, Ohio, March 2, 1823. The father was eleven years of age
when he removed with his parents to Ohio and in that state he
grew to manhood. At the age of eighteen he was apprenticed to a
carpenter and worked for three years for his board and clothing,
after which he followed his trade in Champaign county until 1855.
In that year he came to Iowa and in the spring purchased one
hundred and sixty acres of land. He returned to Champaign county
and brought his family to Iowa, settling first in Hardin, where
he engaged in the grocery business for two years. In 1863 he took
up his residence upon his farm and continued its development and
improvement until his death, which occurred May 10, 1907. He was
prominent and well known in local public affairs, serving for a
number of years as township trustee and as township clerk, and in
his passing this section lost one of its earliest pioneers and
one of its most valued and representative citizens. He and his
wife became the parents of two children, the elder of whom died
in Ohio at the age of three years.
Elba B. Lamborn was still a child when his parents came to Iowa
and in the public schools of Hardin and Waukon he acquired his
education, attending school during the winter of 1868-9 with E.
M. Hancock. Later Mr. Lamborn attended a business college in
Milwaukee, conducted by R. C. Spencer, and after laying aside his
books he remained upon the homestead, assisting his father with
its operation until 1871. In that year he removed to Luana, where
for a time he clerked in a store but later engaged in various
occupations until 1881, when he opened a mercantile enterprise of
his own in that city, continuing active in its conduct for four
years thereafter. In 1885 he sold out and after residing on the
farm for a short time went to Chicago, where in 1888 and 1889 he
was employed by American Express Company in their transfer
department. He returned to Iowa at his father’s request, the
latter’s health being in an impaired condition, and took
charge of the homestead, continuing to develop and improve it
along modern, practical lines until November, 1908, when he
purchased the property upon which he now resides, his youngest
son taking charge of the original farm. Mr. Lamborn owns two
hundred and forty acres of fine land in Franklin township and he
has improved this with substantial barns and outbuildings, a
comfortable residence and all the equipment necessary to
facilitate the work of the fields. He and his son operate the two
farms together, carrying on general agricultural pursuits and
giving a great deal of attention to the breeding and raising of
high-grade stock.
Mr. Lamborn has been twice married. On the 17th of December,
1872, he wedded Miss Mary J. Van Kirk, who was born in Danville,
Illinois, November 11, 1852, a daughter of Enos M. and Catherine
(Carithers) Van Kirk, natives of Vermilion county, Illinois. They
removed to Kankakee county, the same state, and there the father
engaged in farming until his death. Mrs. Lamborn passed away on
the 14th of July1890, leaving three children. Belle was born on
the 7th of September, 1875, and married Charles H. Simonds,
engaged in the ice and coal business in Momence, Illinois. Harry
V., born June 7th, 1878, is now foreman in the Pittsburgh Plate
Glass Company’s works in Minneapolis. He married Miss Helen
E. Jacobson. The youngest son, Don E., was born March 9, 1890,
and is now cultivating the family homestead. He married Miss
Libbie M. Clark on the 27th of January, 1913. Mr. Lamborn’s
second marriage occurred on the 4th of June, 1894, when he wedded
Miss Gertrude Eliza McClintock, born in Winnesheik county, near
Frankville, on the 26th of April, 1869. She is a daughter of
William and Ann (Cleverley) McClintock, the former born in
Pennsylvania, near Philadelphia, and the latter in London,
England, about the year 1840. Her father has passed away, his
death having occurred in 1871, when he was seventy-one years of
age. By his second marriage Mr. Lamborn has one daughter, Imo A.,
who was born on the 27th of July, 1902. She is attending district
school No. 4 at North Grove, two miles distant from her
father’s farm, and has not missed a day or been tardy once
in nineteen weeks.
Mr. Lamborn is a member of the Modern Brotherhood of America and
he gives his political allegiance to the republican party. For
eight years he did excellent work as township clerk but has never
aspired to public office, although he is progressive and loyal in
matters of citizenship. In this section where a great deal of his
life has been passed he is well known and highly respected, his
genuine personal worth and sterling qualities of character having
gained for him the esteem and regard of all who are associated
with him.
-transcribed by Linda Earnheart
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