J Henry Gonder

GONDER

Posted By: County Coordinator (email)
Date: 5/4/2010 at 09:16:40

An excellent farm of 160 acres on sections 17 and 18, Beaver township, pays tribute to the care and cultivation of J Henry Gonder, a wide awake, alert and energetic business man, who belongs to that class which have won for Iowa her well earned and well merited reputation of being one of the leading agricultural states of the Union. He was born in McLean county, Illinois, February 18, 1857, and is a son of Daniel and May Ann (Leeding) Gonder, the former a native of Ohio and the latter of England. In the year 1856 the father went to Illinois, purchasing land in McLean county, upon which he settled and which he continued to cultivate until 1884. He then went to Greene county, Iowa, where he purchased a farm and also bought across the line in Boone county, operating his land until 1900, when he retired and took up his abode in Rippey, Greene county, where he resided until the death of his wife, which occurred in may 1912. He is now making his hoe with his son William in Grand Junction, at the advanced age of eighty-eight years. He is a veteran of the Mexican war and has ever been a true and loyal to his country as when he followed the stars and stripes into the land of the Montezumas.
J Henry Gonder was reared in McLean county, Illinois, where he pursued a public school education. Practical experience in farm work prepared him for the duties which he afterward undertook in managing a farm of his own. He remained at home until he was married and then came to Boone county, purchasing 125 acres of land on section 19, Beaver township. This he improved and operated for seventeen years, but thinking his home too far distant from a school, he disposed of that place and purchased his present fine farm of 160 acres on section 17 and 18, Beaver township. To the further development and cultivation of this property he has since given his attention. His work is persistently and energetically done, and his labors are guided by intelligent direction. In addition to his farming interests Mr Gonder is a stockholder in the Beaver Cooperative Company at Beaver, Iowa and is also interested in a threshing outfit. Thus he is broadening his business connections and adding to his success.
On January 17, 1884, Mr Gonder was untied in marriage to Miss Etta Carter, a daughter of Joseph and Sarah (McNaught) Carter, who were natives of Illinois, the father following faming in McLean county all of his life. He passed away in June 1876, at the age of thirty-five years and is survived by his wife, who is living in Lexington, Illinois at the age of sixty-seven. Mrs Gonder was born in McLean county, Illinois December 1865, and by her marriage she has become the mother of seven children: Mabel the wife of O B Lofstedt, a resident of Grand Junction, Myrtle the wife of M J Rinker a farmer of Beaver township, Lennie with wife of Harry Clark a resident farmer of Amaqua township, and Mary, Henrietta, Daniel R, and Velda all at home.
Mr Gonder gives his political allegiance to the republican party ad for two terms served as trustee of Beaver township. He ahs also been constable of the township for twenty years, and he discharges his official duties with promptness and fidelity. Fraternally he is connected the Odd Fellows and the Yeomen. His long residence in this section of the state has made him widely known and his substantial qualities have gained him high and enduring regard.

1914 Boone County History Book