DAKER, Henry

DAKER, PEMBERTON, BROWN, CLARK, PARKER, ATKINSON, WALLEY

Posted By: Sharon R Becker (email)
Date: 2/3/2014 at 11:17:06

HISTORY of CERRO GORDO COUNTY, IOWA
WHEELER, J.H. Vol. II. Pp. 543-44. Lewis Pub. Co. Chicago. 1910

BIOGRAPHY ~ HENRY DAKER

Henry Daker, a farmer in section 32, Lake township, Cerro Gordo county, Iowa, ploughed the first furrow ever turned on the land he now owns, and has lived and labored here ever since, contributing his part toward the development of agricultural interests in this locality. He was born in Delhi, Delaware county, Iowa, November 26, 1856, son of John and Mary (Pemberton) Daker, both natives of Yorkshire, England, the former born February 6, 1820, the latter, April 21, 1821. Both died in Iowa, on the farm on which their son Henry now lives, the father, August 5, 1895; the mother, January 22, 1892. They were the parents of three children, tow of whom are living, Henry and Benjamin, both of Lake township. At the age of fourteen the father was apprenticed to the trade of a shoemaker in England, and worked at that trade there until 1855, when, accompanied by his wife, he came to this country, landing in New York after a voyage of seven weeks. They spent one year in New York and the following year, 1856, came west to Iowa and settled at Delhi in Delaware county, where he worked at his trade until June, 1874. During that time the leather he used was brought by stage from Dubuque. Coming to Cerro Gordo county in June, 1874, he purchased the north half of section 32, then all wild land, for which he paid eight dollars and fifty cents an acre. With the assistance of his sons he improved the farm, and here he and his good wife made their home until their death, as above noted.

At the time of their removal to the farm Henry was about eighteen years of age. He had received a fair education in the graded schools of Delhi, and from the time of their settlement in Lake township up to the present time his energies have been devoted to agricultural pursuits. He now owns two hundred and forty acres all utilized for general farming purposes and being successfully operated. All the present buildings here were erected by him. After he had ploughed the first furrow on this land he stuck into it two cottonwood sprouts. That was on the northeast corner of the farm. These today are large trees. In speaking of his early experience here Mr. Daker says the first night he spent at Mason City he slept on the floor of the only hotel in the town, wrapped in a blanket. Clear Lake at that time was nothing but a small settlement on the lake shore.

On February 20, 1879, Mr. Daker married Miss Emma L. Brown, who was born in Livingston county, Illinois, March 12, 1857, daughter of Jonathan and Clarissa (Clark) Brown. Her father, a native of New York, born May 28, 1828, is now a resident of St. Paul, Minnesota. Her mother, born in Pennsylvania March 27, 1832, died in 1874. They were the parents of three children: Frank, of St. Paul, Minnesota; Mrs. Daker; and Mead, of Shell Lake, Wisconsin. Mrs. Daker's father settled in Livingston county, Illinois, in 1855, in 1868 moved to McHenry county, that state, and in 1872 came to Cerro Gordo county, Iowa, and purchased a tract of wild land in Mr. Vernon township, where he lived until 1900, when he retired from the farm. For thirty-eight years Mrs. Daker has lived on the same road. She and Mr. Daker have had three children, namely: Frank, at home, married Nina Parker, of Clear Lake, Iowa, and they have one daughter; Clara, wife of Walten Atkinson, of Lake township, Cerro Gordo county, and they have one daughter; and Charles, deceased.

Politically Mr. Daker has been a life long Republican. He has always taken an active interest in local affairs, and has filled the offices of township treasurer and school director, having served a dozen years in each, and still being the incumbent of the former office.

NOTE: Henry Daker died on December 18, 1919. Emma L. (Brown) Daker died September 2, 1911 at Clear Lake, Iowa. Frank E. Daker was born on October 6, 1879, and died on May 20, 1955. His wife, Nancy Abigail "Nina" (Parker) Daker, was born on September 21, 1880, the daughter of John Gibson and Mary Catherine (Walley) Parker. She died on June 12, 1967, Clear Lake. Charles Daker was born in 1882, and died in 1883. They were interred at Clear Lake Cemetery, Clear Lake IA.

Transcription and note by Sharon R. Becker, January of 2014