P.H. Boland

BOLAND, OCONNOR, OBRIEN, HALE, ONEIL, BYRNE

Posted By: S. Ferrall - IAGenWeb volunteer
Date: 9/8/2022 at 18:24:03

Among the young men who are engaged with the plow in turning the soil of the Iowa prairies to their advantage and converting apparently barren lands into fertile fields is P. H. Boland, who is engaged in agricultural pursuits in Logan township, Clay county.

He was born in Allamakee county, Iowa, March 17, 1870. Reared to farm life he is familiar with every phase and department of the business and his youthful energy and enterprise are fast finding wealth in the soil and leading him along the pathway of success to prosperity.

He is of Irish extraction, possessing the zeal and characteristic grit of those of his nation, his parents being Michael and Anne (O'Connor) Boland, his mother having married and died in Iowa.

His father came from Galway county, Ireland, to the United States in the early '50s, locating in New York city, where he remained for a brief period and then removed to Galena, Illinois, thence to Allamakee county, this state, where he remained until 1879 and then located in Webster county, where he still resides, living a retired life. Prior to locating in Webster county he successfully followed general agriculture and stock-raising for a number of years, but later engaged as section foreman on a railroad, which he followed up to the time of his retirement.

He reared a large family, the surviving members being Daniel, a railroad contractor, of Pierre, South Dakota; Joseph, who resides in Washington, and P. H., our subject.

Some time after his wife had departed this life Mr. Boland was united in marriage to Miss Anne O'Brien, to which union were born Thomas F., a railroad engineer of Fort Dodge, Iowa; Martin H., a baker of Vancouver, British Columbia; and Eleanor, who lives in Fort Dodge, Iowa. Two children passed away early in life.

Nothing unusual transpired in the early life of P. H. Boland. He was reared on his father's farm and engaged in the daily routine of country lads, attending the district schools during the winter, where he acquired his education. He continued in active farm work until he was twenty-three years of age, when he became employed on the railroad, remaining for three years, at the termination of which time he went to Fort Dodge and established himself in the livery business. He had not continued long in this enterprise when, deeming that there were larger opportunities in agriculture, he disposed of his interest and took up farming.

Six years ago he removed to Clay county and located on section 26 in Logan township, where he owns one hundred and sixty acres of highly cultivated land upon which he has since resided. He does a general agricultural business and engages to some extent in raising horses, cattle and sheep. His and machinery. He has a number of head of graded stock and makes a specialty of breeding Chester White hogs, their superior quality being known throughout the country. In addition to general farming and other interests Mr. Boland owns stock in the Farmers' Elevator at Ayrshire.

In 1897 Mr. Boland wedded Miss Mary E. Hale, a native of Shiocton, Wisconsin, her birth occurring October 24, 1875, a daughter of Sanford and Rose (O'Neil) Hale. Her father was born in eastern Massachusetts and located in Delavan, Wisconsin, about the year 1871, from which place he subsequently went to Shiocton, Wisconsin, there holding the position of foreman in a lumber mill, and where he died. They had one child, Mary E. After the death of her husband Mrs. Hale wedded Thomas Byrne, in 1884, and they have one child, George F. They reside about nine miles from Fort Dodge.

To Mr. and Mrs. Boland have been born the following children: Valeria, ten years of age; Marie, who is passing her sixth year; and Georgia, who is four years old. Mr. Boland gives his political allegiance to the democratic party and belongs to the Catholic church in Ayrshire. He is a man whose enterprise and honesty have gained him a good reputation throughout the community and he is numbered among the progressive and substantial citizens of the township.

~ History of Clay County, Iowa; from its earliest settlement to 1909; by Samuel Gillespie & James E. Steele, 1909; pg 670-671