WILLIAMS, James - 1914

WILLIAMS, TONKIN, HARVEY, HANCOCK, HENDRICKSON

Posted By: Volunteer
Date: 7/8/2009 at 23:53:51

HISTORY OF
Cherokee County
IOWA
VOLUME II
ILLUSTRATED
CHICAGO
THE S. J. CLARKE PUBLISHING COMPANY
1914
by Thomas McCulla

JAMES WILLIAMS.

Since 1895 James Williams has owned and operated a farm of three hundred" and fourteen acres on section 32, Marcus township, and, having managed his interests capably and conscientiously, has surrounded himself with a gratifying measure of success. He was born in Jo Daviess county, Illinois, April 7, 1856, and is a son of Thomas and Amelia (Tonkin) Williams, the former a native of Cornwall and the latter of St. Agnes, England. The father came to America about 1853 and located in Pennsylvania, where he was foreman of some mines. He afterward followed the same occupation in Virginia and finally moved to Illinois, where he lived retired until his death in 1863. His wife survived him many years, dying in 1900.

James Williams was reared and educated in Illinois and from his early childhood worked upon the homestead, aiding in the support of his widowed mother. He and his brothers continued at home until the spring of 1879, when they disposed of the farm and moved to Ida county, this state, where they rented land. At the end of two years James Williams and one of his brothers bought a quarter section in the same locality but after operating this for a similar period of time Mr. Williams of this review sold his interests and came to Cherokee county, buying one hundred and twenty acres in Amherst township, and one hundred and sixty-six in Tilden township. This first tract of land he operated until 1895, when he sold the Amherst township farm and moved upon three hundred and fourteen acres of excellent land on section 32, Marcus township. He has improved this place with two sets of buildings and has carried forward the work of its development in an able way. For the past twenty years he has devoted most of his time to stockraising, keeping thoroughbred Poland China hogs, Duroc Jersey hogs, Aberdeen Angus cattle and Percheron horses. Within the last year, however, he has disposed of practically all of his cattle and horses and concentrates his attention upon breeding and dealing in registered hogs.

On the 22d of June, 1884, Mr. Williams was united in marriage to Miss Priscilla Harvey, a daughter of Joseph and Eliza (Hancock) Harvey, natives of England. The father was a miner in that country but after coming to America engaged in farming in Illinois for several years. He afterward resumed his mining operations but during the last fifteen years of his life again followed agricultural pursuits. He died in July, 1884, and was survived by his wife until 1907. Mr. and Mrs. Williams became the parents of six children: Bertha, the wife of J. H. Hendrickson, a farmer in Amherst township; Edward J., who assists his father in the operation of the home farm; Sadie, Gladys and Lydia, all of whom live at home; and Hazel Ruth, who died in 1894, at the age of two years.

Fraternally Mr. Williams is connected with the Ancient Order of United Workmen, the Modern Woodmen of America and the Modern Brotherhood of America. He is a member of the Methodist church and gives his political allegiance to the republican party. For a year before and during the Worlds Fair in Chicago he was in the livestock commission business in that city and he still retains his interest in this line of work. He is a stockholder and director in the Farmers Cooperative Store in Marcus and is a man of recognized business ability. In this section of the state he is known as one of the most prosperous livestock breeders and dealers and his success is entirely the result of his practical methods and his unremitting industry.