Story, Thomas H.

STORY, BARTOW, GUTHRIE

Posted By: Volunteer
Date: 7/29/2013 at 20:27:13

Thomas H. Story is one of those men who were destined from birth to be in the vanguard of progress, and as he has followed the calling of a farmer. He has been the first of the agriculturists of Madison township to obtain those implements which have not only lightened the labor of tilling the soil but have contributed to prolonging its fertility as well. He is descended from English ancestors in whom was bred the determination to make a position for themselves, and that will to do was transmitted to him. His father, William Story, was born in England, but as a young boy came with his parents to the United States. The family located in New York state, where he grew to manhood and married Miss Hannah Bartow, a native of that state. In 1854 he joined the courageous band of pioneers who were emigrating to the west to get a new start in life from the rich land which the government had just opened for those who wanted a home. After arriving in Iowa he assisted a brother by conducting a sawmill on Buffalo creek a little above Anamosa. There, after a short time, he found six men who would be his companions on a journey west to Wall lake, where they might enter land. They reached their destination and put up their shanties, but the hostility of the Indians made them desist from their intention and seek more civilized regions. William Story then went to Jackson county, Iowa, where he entered one hundred and twenty acres of land, on which he resided for about thirteen years, when he came to Jones county, locating in Madison township, for he had acquired four hundred acres here. Some time in the early '8os he bought an extensive tract of land in Cass county, and about 1883 or 1884 went to live upon it, making it his home until his death, which occurred August 10, 1889, in the sixty-third year of his age. His wife survived him until 1902, when on the 1st of January, she too passed away at the age of seventy-four. In politics William Story was a stanch republican, but was never an office seeker.

Thomas H. Story, the subject of this sketch, was born in a log house in Madison township, November 11, 1854. He acquired such an education as he was able to obtain in the district schools and gained practical experience in farming at home under the instruction of his father. In 1879, when he was twenty-five years old, he began his business career. For a portion of a year he worked on the construction of the Bellevue & Cascade Railway, which has now been incorporated in the Milwaukee & St. Paul system, and then, in 188o, he came to Madison township. He located on eighty acres of his present farm, which he had purchased from his father, and engaged in farming which has since been his vocation. He now cultivates three hundred acres, two hundred and twenty of which Mr. Story himself owns, while eighty acres belong to his wife. Besides general farming which he carried on, Mr. Story raises a large number of short-horn cattle, making a specialty of dairying and milking from twenty-five to thirty cows. He is progressive and enterprising in his methods, keeping well abreast of the times as they bring improvements in the means of cultivating the soil. The fact that he was the first man in his section to buy a field corn husker may be an illustration of this statement.

In 1880 Mr. Story wedded Miss Sarah Guthrie, a daughter of Clement Guthrie, who was one of the early settlers of Hale township and during his life one of the well known men of this county. Of this union there have been born five children: Anna H., Ralph E., James H., Ettie M. and Nellie A. All the young people are still unmarried and live at home.

On national issues Mr. Story is a republican in his political views, but at local elections he always votes for the best man irrespective of party. Though not an office seeker, he takes a vital interest in the welfare of his community and has rendered efficient service in the past twenty years as a school director. While not a professed member of any church he believes in the efficacy of religious work and is ever generous in his support of it. To his farm and his stock he gives the best of his time and strength, in which lies the secret of the phenomenal success that the years have brought him and in the bosom of his family finds his keenest enjoyment when he rests from the toil of the day. He owns an automobile and his enthusiasm for that diversion finds large outlet in long trips through the country.

From History of Jones County, Iowa, Past and Present, R. M. Corbitt, S. J. Clarke Publishing Co., Chicago, 1910, p. 541.