Frederick Grant "Fred" Kline

KLINE, MARTIN, DAVIS, HILL, KLEMISH, CUSIN, KRISER

Posted By: Ken Akers (email)
Date: 8/22/2008 at 23:26:21

History of Audubon County, Iowa, 1915, page 678, 744-746, Iowa Historical Society, Iowa City, IA

FRED KLINE

Fred Kline, one of the successful farmers of Audubon township, Au-
dubon county, Iowa, who, with his wife owns an excellent farm of two
hundred acres in this township, was born, July 9, 1867, in Johnson county,
Iowa, and is the son of Alexander and Este (Martin) Kline, natives of
Pennsylvania and Virginia, respectively, the former having been born near
Pittsburgh.

Alexander Kline's father, having died before Alexander was born, and
his mother having died when he was three years old, he was bound out to
one of his uncles, where he remained until he was eighteen years old, when
he ran away and, in company with some drovers, he left Pennsylvania for
Indiana; from Indiana he went to Illinois, and from Illinois to Iowa, about
1863. Following his marriage in Johnson county, Iowa, he came west to
Audubon county in 1871, arriving in the fall of that year, when he pur-
chased eighty acres of land from the railroad company, paying six dollars
an acre. After improving the farm and holding it for five years, he bought
eighty acres just north of the original farm, and after improving that, keep-
ing it seven years, he sold out and purchased eighty acres one mile east of
the second farm, where he lived for three years; but as a consequence of
bad luck and various misfortunes, was compelled to return to renting. After
renting land for eight years he purchased a hundred and sixty acres east
of Exira, where he lived for six years, when he again sold out and bought
a farm in Audubon township, where he lived for a few years and then re-
tired to Exira. After living in Exira for some time, he came to live with
his son, Andrew J., with whom he remained until his death. Although a
wagon maker by trade, he was always more pleased to work at the carpenter's
trade, or with an old threshing machine. For thirty-six consecutive sea-
sons he operated a threshing machine in Audubon county. Alexander and
Este (Martin) Kline were the parents of nine children, six sons and three
daughters, of whom Fred, the subject of this sketch, was the second born.

Receiving only a very limited education in the country schools of the
various neighborhoods where he lived, Fred Kline lived at home until twenty-
five years of age, at which time he was married and began renting land.
After renting for one year he purchased sixty acres of land in section 17
of Audubon township but held it only one year, when he sold out and be-
gan working for his father-in-law, continuing for four years. After rent-
ing land southeast of Exira for four years, he farmed a hundred and
twenty acres of land owned bv Mrs. Kline, located in section 21, Audubon
township, and in 1907 purchased an additional eighty acres, where he now
lives, having removed the buildings from the first farm to their present
location.

On September 3, 1891, Mr. Kline was married in Audubon to Leona
Davis, daughter of William and Martha (Davis) Davis, both natives of
Wales. The former came to America with his parents, David and Lucy
Davis when five years old, and first settled in Pennsylvania near Miners-
ville, where they lived for several years, and where he was a coal miner for
more than forty years. He followed his occupation, however, in different
parts of the country. Mrs. Kline's father and mother both were married
twice. Each had one child by a former marriage. David, the father's son
by his first wife, lived in St. Louis, and Mrs. Elizabeth Hill, the mother's
child by her first husband lived near Exira. Mrs. Kline is one of four
children born to her parents. One is deceased and the others, William and
Frank, are living in Audubon county. About 1879 the Davis family came
to Audubon county, and there established a family home, originally buying
land from the Rock Island railroad.

To Mr. and Mrs. Fred Kline have been born five children, as follow:
Jay D.; Eunice, who married Frank Klemish, and who is the mother of
one child, Lawrence; Veda, Florence and Chester.

A Republican in politics, Mr. Kline has served as school director. The
Kline family are supporters and frequent attendants at the Congregational
church, although they are not church members.

Lately, Mr. Kline has improved his farm by the erection of a large
fourteen-room house with baths, waterworks, and every other modern con-
venience. His barns are kept in first-class condition, and he is numbered
among the up-to-date and, enterprising citizens of this county, a worthy
citizen in every respect.

Note:
Generation No. 1
1. Frederick Grant "Fred" Kline, born July 09, 1867 in Shueyville, Johnson County, Iowa; died January 30, 1953. He was the son of 2. Alexander Kline and 3. Cornelia Estaline "Este" Martin. He married Leona B. Davis September 03, 1891 in Audubon County, Iowa. She was born 1871, and died 1947 in Iowa. She was the daughter of William E. Davis and Martha J. Davis.
Generation No. 2
2. Alexander Kline, born April 16, 1830 in Green County, Pennsylvania near Pittsburg; died July 11, 1908 in Exira, Audubon County, Iowa (4-1/2 mi.E). He married 3. Cornelia Estaline "Este" Martin December 24, 1863 in Johnson County, Iowa.
3. Cornelia Estaline "Este" Martin, born May 25, 1846 in Buckhannon, Upshur County, West Virginia; died April 11, 1942 in Exira, Audubon County, Iowa. She was the daughter of 6. Woodson Martin and 7. Sarah "Sally" Cusin or Kriser.