John March

MARCH, KLINE, SIMONSON

Posted By: Anne Hermann (email)
Date: 1/2/2010 at 11:35:05

J. W. Ellis, History of Jackson County, Iowa, 1910

JOHN MARCH.

John March, who is now living retired on his place of one hundred and sixty acres in Perry township, devoted his attention to the work of farming and stock raising throughout his active business career. His birth occurred in Montgomery county, Pennsylvania, on the 25th of May, 1824, his parents being Samuel and Elizabeth (Kline) March, who were likewise natives of the Keystone state. On leaving Pennsylvania they took up their abode in eastern Ohio and there spent the remainder of their lives. They became the parents of nine children, three of whom still survive.
John March obtained a good practical education in the common schools and remained under the parental roof until he had attained the age of twenty years. At that time he rented a tract of land in Ohio, in the cultivation of which he was actively engaged for twenty-four years. On the expiration of that period, in 1869, he came to Jackson county, Iowa, and purchased the farm of one hundred and sixty acres in Perry township which has remained his place of abode continuously since. He gradually brought the place under a high state of cultivation and improvement, and in addition to the work of farming also made a specialty of raising stock, meeting with a gratifying and well merited measure of success in both undertakings. When his untiring industry and good management had won him a competence he put aside the active work of the fields and is now spending his remaining days in the enjoyment of well earned ease, but still makes his home on the farm.
In 1848 Mr. March was united in marriage to Miss Cynthia Simonson, a native of Ohio. Unto them were born two children, namely: Adele, who is deceased; and Frank, residing on the home farm. The wife and mother passed away in 1885, in the faith of the Presbyterian church, and her remains were interred in the cemetery at Andrew.
Mr. March has always given his political allegiance to the democratic party and has served as the capable incumbent in several township offices. He has now passed the eighty-fifth milestone on life's journey and receives the respect and veneration which should ever be accorded one who has traveled thus far on this earthly pilgrimage and whose career has at all times been upright and honorable.