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SHURTLEFF, G. A. 1834-1929

SHURTLEFF, EATON

Posted By: Tammy (email)
Date: 5/5/2015 at 05:54:49

Earliest Grundy Resident Dies Here Monday

G. A. Shurtliff Passed Away From Old Age After Short Illness

Came To This County Seventy-Four Yr. Ago

Mr. Shurtliff Owned One Farm in Grundy County For Over Seventy Years

G. A. Shurtliff died at his home in Grundy Center Monday morning after a short illness. He was taken to his bed on Sept. 5th. He suffered from old age and heart trouble.

Mr. Shurtliff would have been ninety-five years old the 24th of next month. He was the oldest living person in this town prior to his death and had resided in Grundy county longer than any other. He came to the county when he was 21 years old. That was 74 years ago. This was his home ever since.

Mr. Shutliff was the only son and the third child in a family of five children. In his native province his boyhood and youth were quietly passed and in the public schools he obtained a good education which fitted well for the practical duties of life. When he was 21 years of age he left the province of Quebec and came to Grundy county, Iowa. That was in 1855. He located on Section 4, Washington township, where he bought 100 acres of land at $3.00 an acre. He owned this original purchase at the time of his death. During his first years here he didn't have a neighbor to the east of him for a distance of eight miles. The nearest place to trade was at Waterloo. He received a good price for his first wheat crop, which brought him $1.75 a bushel. The fist crop of wheat brought him six times as much as he paid per acre for the land that the crop was grown on.

In 1867 Mr. Shurtliff returned to Quebec and was united in marriage with Mary E. Eaton, daughter of a Quebec farmer. The young couple came to their new home in the west immediately following their marriage.

Mr. Shurtliff was a member of the Presbyterian church in Grundy Center since its organization in 1869. He was elected one of the church's trustees in 1870 and was ordained as an elder two years later, which office he held continually up to the time of his death.

Aside from operating his own farm, Mr. Shurtliff was for many years manager of the chain of Arend Cole farms located in Washington township. There was 2400 acres in this tract and Mr. Shurtliff supervised the farming operations there for many years.

Mr. and Mrs. Shurtliff left the farm forty-six years ago and moved to Grundy Center. For many years they maintained a winter home at Hammond, La., where they spent their winters until the death of Mrs. Shurtliff four years ago. Since that time Mr. Shurtliff lived alone in his home here throughout the year and until the last few weeks he was able to get about daily and to supervise his business affairs.

Mr. and Mrs. Shurtliff had no children. He had four sisters, all of whom are dead. There are four nephews and one niece living in four different states. They are Willis E. Hunt, Quebec; Flavius S. Cole, Marysville, California; Ralph R. Small, Hot Springs, S.D.; Lot W. Small, Chadron, Nebraska. The niece is Mrs. Hattie May Cole, McDonald, Kansas. L. W. Small and his wife were the only relatives present at the funeral. Mr. Small was with his uncle during his last illness.

Mr. Shurtliff was a quiet, unassuming type of man. He was honorable in all of his dealings and was easy to get along with. He had the full trust and confidence of those who knew him best. He accumulated quite a large estate during his lifetime. What disposition he made of it will be revealed when his will is filed for probate.

Funeral services conducted by Rev. R. B. Fisher were held at the Presbyterian church in Grundy Center Wednesday afternoon. The remains were laid by the side of the wife in the Grundy Center cemetery.

--The Grundy Register (Grundy Center, Iowa), 26 September 1929, pg 1


 

Grundy Obituaries maintained by Tammy D. Mount.
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