SHIRLEY, WILLIAM

SHIRLEY, HAILSTONE, BARGER, PARTELLO

Posted By: Jean Kramer (email)
Date: 7/29/2003 at 19:44:23

Biography reproduced from page 578 of Volume II of the History of Kossuth County written by Benjamin F. Reed and published in 1913:

One of the most popular and public-spirited citizens of Swea City is William Shirley, superintendent of the public schools. He was born in the vicinity of Springfield, Illinois, on the 17th of January, 1877, and is a son of John and Margaret (Hailstone) Shirley. The father was born and reared at Shottle, a village near Derby, England, and is of Norman extraction, while the mother, who is of Scotch parentage, was born near the city of Glasgow. John Shirley was a successful landscape gardener in the old country and was employed by different members of the English nobility residing in the vicinity of Derby. In 1866 he emigrated to the United States and located at St. Louis, Missouri, where he remained for two years. At the expiration of that time he removed to Springfield, settling just outside the city limits. There he purchased thirteen acres of land and engaged in truck gardening, meeting with success. Through his thrift and enterprise he managed to acquire sufficient capital to enable him to purchase a farm of three hundred acres of excellent land near Minburn, Dallas county, Iowa, in 1891. Together with his family he settled upon this place, in the further cultivation and improvement of which he has since been engaged.

William Shirley attended the district schools in his native county until the family removed to Iowa, when he entered the high school at Minburn, graduating with the class of 1896. In the autumn following he began his career as a teacher, but he temporarily withdrew from this at the end of a year to attend Ames College. He pursued a civil engineering course there for a year, then returned to Dallas county and taught for four years. From there he went to Waukee, to accept the position of principal of the high school, capably discharging the duties of this office for three years. In 1906 he came to Swea City as superintendent of the new high school, and has since been located here. That he has filled the position in a highly creditable and capable manner is manifested by the period of his term of service, and the regard in which he is held by both parents and pupils and the community generally. The Swea City high school was built during the summer and fall of 1903, at a cost of ten thousand dollars and opened in the fall of that year, under Superintendent C. A. Smith. The average daily attendance in the grades and high school is one hundred and twenty-five pupils. The enrollment has increased during the intervening period, while the standard of scholarship has greatly improved under the capable supervision and direction of Mr. Shirley. He has worked tirelessly in his efforts to raise the educational standard and has had the satisfaction of seeing it develop until Swea City schools are now ranked with the best in Kossuth county. Mr. Shirley is a man of high ideals and noble purposes and strives to stimulate those who are privileged to study under him, not only to high mental achievements but to a recognition of their duties to the community and society at large. Although he fully appreciates the value of intellectual attainments, he never permits that to overshadow the higher or nobler purpose of education, and endeavors so far as possible to preserve the individuality of his pupils and to assist them to become strong, self-reliant men and women.

In 1900, Mr. Shirley was united in marriage to Miss Grace Barger, a daughter of Samuel and Emma (Partello) Barger, the father a native of Ohio, but of German extraction, while the mother was born in Connecticut and is of Yankee descent. When a lad of ten years Mr. Barger came west with his mother, who located on a farm in the vicinity of Boone, Iowa. There he was reared and married, continuing to reside upon the farm until 1884, when he went to South Dakota and took up a homestead. He cultivated it for seven years, then returned to Boone. At the end of a year he removed to Minburn, Dallas county, and there the mother died in 1899. He remained on his farm there, however, until 1912, when he came to Kossuth county and rented a farm seven miles north of Swea City. Three children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Shirley, as follows: Hale, who was born on the 27th of September, 1901; Pearl, whose birth occurred on January 23, 1904; and William, whose natal day was the 27th of September, 1908. The two elder children are attending school.

Both Mr. and Mrs. Shirley are members of the Methodist Episcopal church, and take an active interest in the work of its various organizations. While living at Minburn he belonged to the Good Templars lodge and at Waukee he joined the Knights of Pythias fraternity. His political views accord with the principles of the republican party, but at municipal elections he frequently casts an independent ballot, considering that it is more a question of the man best qualified for the office than of political issues. Although he is deeply interested in all municipal affairs, he has never taken an active part in local politics, feeling that the first and highest claim on his time and energies is his school work. He is most conscientious in the discharge of his duties, and this together with his progressive methods, makes him a leader in the intellectual life of the community.