Isaac Percy Hallock

HALLOCK, NORTON

Posted By: Steve Harrison (email)
Date: 7/4/2004 at 16:07:57

"HISTORY OF AUDUBON COUNTY, IOWA", H. F. ANDREWS, 1915.
pages 667-669.

ISAAC PERCY HALLOCK

In 1866, when the Hallock family was established in Audubon county, the very first settlers were arriving here, so that it is safe to say that the family has been connected with the history of Audubon county, and especially the agricultural life, practically ever since it was occupied by white people. It is true that there were settlers in Audubon county before 1866, but they were very few, and the county had made no considerable progress in any line before that time. The remarkable success of this family in agriculture is to be attributed, not only to the fact that the family was established in the county when land was cheap, but to the peculiar genius which the two generations here have shown for the business of farming.

Isaac Percy Hallock, one of the most extensive farmers of Exira and Oakfield townships, who is a representative of the third generation in Audubon county, but who really is a representative of the second generation of large landowners, is one of the few well-known farmers who is a native of the county. He was born on February 13, 1883, on the farm where he now lives. His parents, Isaac and Malinda Ann (Norton) Hallock, came here in a very early day. The former, who was born in Illinois in 1840, came to Audubon county with his parents when sixteen years old. They located on the farm where Isaac Percy Hallock is now living, entering the land from the government. Coming from Illinois in a prairie schooner they engaged in general farming, and while Isaac and Malinda Ann (Norton) Hallock started in this county with a hundred and sixty acres of government land, they increased their holdings gradually from year to year until they owned twenty-five hundred acres at the time of Mr. Hallock's death. He was known to be the largest stock feeder in the county. When the family first came to Audubon county they were compelled to haul their produce to Omaha and Des Moines by wagon. Isaac and Malinda Hallock were the parents of seven children, Harriett, Clarence, Alice (deceased), and Isaac Percy. Charles, Mary and Irene died in infancy.

Educated in the schools of Exira township, Isaac Percy Hallock saw the opportunities for farming in this section, and after quitting school took up this occupation with his father, with whom he was engaged until he was twenty-one years old. When he had reached his majority he began farming for himself by renting land from his father, and at the latter's death he received a part of the estate, and now controls about eight hundred acres of the best land to be found in Audubon county. Ordinarily, Mr. Hallock keeps about two hundred head of cattle on his farm and feeds out two hundred and fifty head of hogs every year. His farm is exceptional in one respect, in that he has about one hundred acres of timber on the land. Naturally, this timber is very valuable in a prairie country, and Mr. Hallock is conserving it to a time when its value will reach a maximum, and when he can enjoy the full benefit of the policy he has followed.

Mr. Hallock is a member of the Modern Woodmen of America, and the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks. He belongs to the latter order at Atlantic. He is a Republican.

It can hardly be expected that a young man who has under his care and supervision eight hundred acres of land can find much time for political or civic activities, and Mr. Hallock has shown rare wisdom in devoting his time, his energy and his ability to his own private business. In developing his farm to the maximum point of production he is perhaps doing more for the community where he lives than he might possibly do by neglecting his farm and devoting his time to public interests. This is especially true since Iowa's prosperity depends for its permanence upon the volume of agricultural production. Having reached the real crisis in this country, when the population has caught up with and passed the production and supply of food, it is a potent truth that farmers may serve their country best by doing everything in their power to augment the production and conserve the fertility of their farms. In this respect Isaac Percy Hallock deserves to rank as a young man, whose good work is growing year by year.