EBERSOLE, Henry

EBERSOLE, MCCURDY, BENTLEY, HAMMOND, GISH, HINKLEY, HURST, EDDY

Posted By: Volunteer Transcribers
Date: 1/20/2003 at 12:17:07

HENRY EBERSOLE 

Henry Ebersole, who is engaged in general farming on section seven, Bloomfield township, was born on the 10th of June, 1846, in Pennsylvania, and is a son of Abraham and Barbara Ebersole, who were also natives of the same state. They were married there, and in the spring of 1865 removed to Illinois, settling upon a farm. The following autumn they removed to Iowa, taking up their abode upon a farm near Delmar, Mr. Ebersole renting the land upon which he made his home for two years. He and his family afterwards spent four years near Maquoketa and then returned to Brookfield township, where a farm was purchased north of Delmar, comprising one hundred and sixty acres. There Mr. Ebersole carried on agricultural pursuits for five years, after which he purchased what is known as the old Norton farm, but after a year he removed again to the vicinity of Delmar and bought the old Setford farm, continuing its cultivation for seven years. He afterward became the owner of the Conray place, and seven years later he disposed of his landed possessions and removed to Maquoketa, where he resided for eleven years. In the fall of 1900 he gave up active business life and is now living retired, making his home with his children. His wife died July 16, 1892, and lies buried in Brookfield township. For his second wife he married in 1897, Mrs. Sarah McCurdy.

Mr. Ebersole has been an energetic, progressive man, and his perseverance and diligence have been the means of winning him creditable success. He is also public spirited, and interested in everything pertaining to the welfare of the community and its advancement along social, material and moral lines. He has refused to accept office, but has always supported the Republican party and attends the services of the Methodist Episcopal church.

In the Ebersole family were eleven children, namely: Mattie, who died in infancy; Henry, of this review; Catherine, who became the wife of Albert Bentley, who resided near Maquoketa and died in June, 1887, leaving a son and two daughters; Fannie, who is the wife of J. C. Hammond, of Omaha, Nebraska, who died in the summer of 1899 and is survived by one of their two children; Mary Ann, the wife of John Gish, who resides on a farm near Maquoketa and has two children; Isaac, who married Cynthia Hinkley and resides near Delmar; Emma, who married Abe Hurst, and with their one child they reside near Delmar; Amos B., who married Dora Eddy and is living at Guthrie Center, Iowa, with their one child; and three children who died in infancy.

The educational advantages which Henry Ebersole enjoyed were very limited. He was a student in the district schools for a time, but in the practical school of experience he has learned the greater part of the lessons which fit him for life’s duties. At the age of twenty-one he put aside his textbooks and assisted his father upon the farm until his marriage, which occurred March 4, 1876, at Delmar, Iowa, the lady of his choice being Miss Elizabeth Bollinger. She was a daughter of Jacob and Anna (Miller) Bollinger, both of whom were natives of Switzerland. Their marriage was celebrated in Indiana, and in the fall of 1854 they removed westward, settling in the vicinity of Delmar, upon a farm which the father purchased the following spring. There they resided until 1884, when Mr. Bollinger purchased another farm, having sold the first property. The second place consisted of one hundred and thirty acres of good land in Bloomfield township. His death there occurred in 1890. The mother resided upon the homestead until 1891, when she removed to an adjoining farm of fifty acres, there residing until 1900, when she sold the property to her youngest son and now makes her home with Mr. Ebersole. Mrs. Ebersole was one of a family of twelve children. Eight of this number are yet living, namely: Elizabeth, who became the wife of our subject; Edward, a farmer near Delmar, who married Emma A. Davis and has one child; Lydia, the wife of Samuel Barrick, of O’Brien county, Iowa, by whom she has three children; Jacob, who married Julia Schamp and with his wife and five children resides near Fulton, Jackson county, Iowa; Anna, the wife of Daniel K. Kauffman, a farmer of Bloomfield township, by whom she has five children; Henry, an agriculturist living near Eldwood, Iowa, who married Agnes Schultz and has seven chidren; Katie, the wife of George Sidle, who resides upon a farm in Bloomfield township, and by whom she has five children; Leonard, who married Leafy Baker, by whom he has one child. They reside upon a farm near Maquoketa.

The marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Ebersole was blessed with two children: Frank E., who was born February 28, 1877, and is now with his father; and Rosie A., who was born February 4, 1879, and died May 17, 1890. The mother of these children was called to her final rest on June 13, 1901.

After his marriage Mr. Ebersole began farming upon rented land in Bloomfield township, where he remained for six years, when he purchased forty acres of land near Delmar, making his home thereon for two years. At the expiration of that period he sold the place and came to his present home of one hundred and twenty-five acres in Bloomfield township. He has made excellent improvements upon the place and has an attractive residence, which stands in the midst of a well-kept lawn that is adorned with beautiful flower beds. There are also good barns and substantial outbuildings upon the place and everything is kept in repair, indicating the careful supervision of the diligent and enterprising owner. His son Frank makes a specialty of breeding ‘Aberdeen Angus cattle, and one of that breed sold at the live stock show at Chicago in 1900 for one dollar and fifty cents per pound. He raises hogs and horses for the market, and his stock-raising business is meeting with creditable success.
  Mr. Ebersole, of this review, gives his attention almost exclusively to his farm, and on this account has never been an aspirant for office, although he has served as road supervisor and school director. He votes with the Republican party and attends the Methodist Episcopal church. From the time he attained his majority he has been dependent entirely upon his own resources, and his capable business management and energy have been the strongest features in his prosperity.
Source: The 1901 Biographical Record of Clinton Co., Iowa, Illustrated published: Chicago : S. J. Clarke Pub. Co., 1901.