Allfree, Henry I.

ALLFREE, MCGOVERN, PHELPS, SANDERSON

Posted By: Volunteer (email)
Date: 5/23/2007 at 20:37:23

In nearly every community are individuals who by innate ability and sheer force of character rise above their fellows and win for themselves conspicuous places in public esteem. Such a one is the well-known gentleman whose name appears above, a man who has been identified with the history of Jasper County for a period of forty-five years, for his entire life has been spent here, his mature years having been closely interwoven with the material growth and development of the central part of the County, while his career as a progressive man of affairs has been synonymous with all that is upright and honorable in citizenship.

Henry I. Allfree, well-known farmer of Sherman Township, was born in that Township May 19, 1866, and he is the son of A. K. and Sophia (McGovern) Allfree, both born in Pennsylvania, the father in 1826 and the mother in 1830, where they grew to maturity and were married. In 1857 they came to Iowa and bought one hundred and sixty acres in Sherman Township and here established a good home, this land now being owned by his son, Henry I., of this review, and on this place the latter was born and reared. The father drove overland from Fayette County, Pennsylvania, to Jasper County, Iowa, though he stopped a year in Ohio and a year in Illinois. He and his wife went to work with a will and succeeded and they are still living on the farm they developed in Sherman Township, making their home with their son, Henry I., who delights in ministering to their wants in their declining years. He is the younger of two children, the other being Mrs. Clara Phelps, of Colfax. The parents are worthy members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, are well known and have a host of good friends in this community.

Henry I. Allfree grew up on the home farm, which he helped develop, and when old enough he attended the public school near his home. When a small boy he spent almost all of three years in the saddle, herding cattle on the open prairie, and driving stock for some of his neighbors, and during those years he had many thrilling experiences, but this life developed in him not only a strong constitution, but also an independence of spirit and a courageousness that have stood him well in hand in later life. The subject has always stayed at home, and, as intimated, he now runs the home place, which he has purchased. He has kept it well improved, and made its one hundred and sixty acres yield abundant harvests. He is also the owner of one hundred and forty acres of valuable and desirable land in Mound Prairie Township, this County. For a period of fifteen years he has operated a threshing machine in this community, which has tended to further his acquaintance and to increase his annual income. He is known to be a very hard and persistent worker and is noted for accomplishing a great deal in a short time.

Mr. Allfree was married on October 15, 1898, to Belle Sanderson, who was born in Ohio, the daughter of James Sanderson, of Newton Township, this County, and to the subject and wife have been born five children, namely: Minnie, Mary, Jimmie, Edith and Vera. Politically, Mr. Allfree is a Democrat and he has been school director and he is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows.

Past and Present of Jasper County Iowa, Gen. James B. Weaver, Editor-In-Chief, B.F. Bowden & Company, Indianapolis, IN, 1912, p. 927.