Connelly, Fred D.

CONNELLY, KLINE, PERIN, LOGAN, PORTER

Posted By: Volunteer Transcriber
Date: 8/27/2009 at 18:24:56

Connelly, Fred D.

One of the wide-awake and enterprising young farmers of Independence Township, Jasper County, who is eminently deserving of the esteem in which he is held, is Fred D. Connelly, a man of strong convictions, ever ready to maintain the soundness of his opinions on any subject, but is never unreasonable in his views, political or otherwise, according every man the same rights which he claims for himself. He is energetic in all affairs pertaining to the general good of the community.

Mr. Fred D. Connelly was born in Clear Creek Township, Jasper County, Iowa, on November 21, 1876, and here he grew to manhood and received his education in the common schools; however, being the son of a pioneer, he did not receive such educational advantages as one might wish, there being only limited opportunities of attending school in the days when he was a boy, though he has since made up for this lack by wide miscellaneous home reading. So he grew up inured to the privations of life in an early settlement, and the rigid discipline he received then has doubtless done him a world of good in subsequent life.

Mr. Connelly is the son of H. C. and Mary C. (Kline) Connelly, the father born in Fulton County, Illinois, and the mother near Hagerstown, Maryland. The former spent his early boyhood in his native State, moving to Marshall County, Iowa, when he was about fifteen years old, thence to Jasper County where he established a good home and spent the balance of his life, dying in Independence Township on October 24, 1902. The mother moved with her parents to Iowa when a small girl and grew up in Clear Creek Township, where they settled. Her death occurred in Independence Township, Jasper County, on January 24, 1904. H. C. Connelly was an honored veteran of the Civil War, having enlisted from Marshall County in the Union army in Company K, Twenty-third Iowa Volunteer Infantry, in August 1862, and he served faithfully until the close of the war, receiving an honorable discharge.

Eleven children were born to Mr. and Mrs. H. C. Connelly, all born in Clear Creek Township; they were named as follows: Cynthia, the eldest, died in infancy; Charles H., who lives on a farm in Independence Township; Mary I. Perin, of Independence Township; W. W. lives in Des Moines; Hattie A. Logan, of Colfax, Iowa; Fred D., of this review; Cyrus A., of Des Moines; Rollie A., of Independence Township; Jessie B. died when four years of age; Curtis M. of Independence Township; James died in infancy.

Fred D. Connelly assisted with the general work on the home farm when a boy, and he has made farming his life work, now owning twenty acres in Independence Township on which he makes a good living.

Mr. Connelly was married on November 1, 1902, to Carrie Perin, who was born in Independence Township, Jasper County, Iowa, December 24, 1882. She here grew to womanhood and received her education in the common school. She is the daughter of Henry I. and Almira (Porter) Perin, the father born in Indiana and the mother in Scott County, Iowa. They are residing at Baxter, Jasper County, and are mentioned elsewhere in this work. There were five children in the Perin family, all living.

To Mr. and Mrs. Connelly one daughter has been born, Leora Irene, whose birth occurred on January 6, 1905. She is attending the rural schools of her neighborhood, and is a bright and winsome little lassie, the light of the pleasant home of the Connellys and a favorite with all who knew her.

Politically, Mr. Connelly is a Republican, but he has never taken a very active interest in public affairs. He is a member of the Baxter camp of the Modem Woodmen of America. Mr. Connelly takes a great delight in his home, and while he believes in having the necessities and some of the luxuries of life he does not believe in making dollars the sole aim of life, there being much that is higher. Past and Present of Jasper County Iowa B. F. Bowden & Company, Indianapolis, IN, 1912 Page 1163.