MARLOW, EDWARD

MARLOW, WITHERELL, NEITZEL, HAWK

Posted By: Jean Kramer (email)
Date: 1/2/2004 at 15:18:56

Biography reproduced from page 288 of Volume II of the History of Kossuth County written by Benjamin F. Reed and published in 1913:

Edward Marlow, a pioneer of Iowa and a man who was actively identified with its agricultural development for thirty-nine years, is now residing in Burt, giving his attention to various phases of activity, which are the outgrowth of a long agricultural career. Mr. Marlow was born in Kane county, Illinois, November 16, 1848, and is a son of Patrick Marlow, a native of Ireland, who married in that country and came to the United States at an early day. He settled in Vermont and later moved to Kane county, Illinois, where he bought land near Canada Corners which he farmed successfully for some time before his removal to Stephenson county, Illinois, where he remained until 1868, when he joined his son, Edward, in Iowa.

Edward Marlow received his education in the public schools of Kane county and remained at home until he was eighteen years of age. He assisted his father in the labors of the farm and has added to his knowledge by reading and observation since he attained maturity. He came to Iowa when he was still a young man and in partnership with is father homesteaded one hundred and twenty acres of land and also took up a tree claim of forty acres. His land was entirely unimproved. He broke the soil, fenced his fields, built barns and outbuildings, and brought it to a highly developed state. He was married in 1873 and bought more land in the same section. He built a fine residence upon his property, equipped and furnished it along modern lines, and pursued his policy of development constantly. He planted a large portion of his farm to groves and orchards and his fruit-culture was a valuable addition to his income. He specialized for a number of years in the raising and feeding of stock, keeping large herds of thoroughbred cattle and horses. In 1906, after thirty-nine years of agricultural labors, he abandoned this field of activity, purchased a house in Burt, Iowa, and has since been living there. He has become actively interested in the affairs of the city in which he resides and is representative of the best qualities of citizenship.

On August 16, 1873, Mr. Marlow was united in marriage in Algona, Iowa, to Miss Mary J. Witherell, a native of St. Lawrence county, New York, and a daughter of Nelson Witherell, who was born at the foot of the Green mountains in Vermont. The father moved with his family to Wisconsin and located on a farm near Sun Prairie, where he carried on agriculture until 1875, when he moved to Jasper county, Iowa. To Mr. and Mrs. Marlow were born eleven children, ten of whom are living: Rufus N., a farmer of Stevens county, Minnesota; Lemuel R., who is following agriculture upon his father’s farm; Burton H., also engaged in the cultivation of the soil in Union township, Iowa; Edward P., a farm of South Dakota; Katie J., the wife of Herman Neitzel, of Lone Rock, Fenton township; Bessie W., now Mrs. Claude Hawk, of Crandon, Spink county, South Dakota; Hattie O., who married Charles Hawk, of Redfield, South Dakota; Hugh H., who is following farming in Burt township, Kossuth county; Benjamin C., of Redfield, South Dakota; Kenneth Adelbert, who is at home; and George, who died at the age of two years.

In his politics Mr. Marlow is a progressive republican and has served as treasurer of the school board for fifteen years. He is actively interested in the growth of the city in which he is now residing and his power of organization has influenced its business development. He was one of the promoters and is now a stockholder in the Farmers Exchange Elevator Company, in which he was a director for fifteen years. He was one of the promoters of the Farmers Elevator Company and served as a director of this organization for several years. He is actively interested in the affairs of his community and has served as delegate to numerous state and county conventions. Fraternally he is a blue lodge Mason and he and his wife affiliate with the Order of the Eastern Star. Mr. Marlow has been a resident of Iowa and of Kossuth county for forty-five years and is one of the well known citizens of the state. He has witnessed the growth and development of the section in which he resides and has himself been an active factor in it. Progressive ideas and a liberal mind, combined with personal experience in the details of farming, were the basis of his agricultural success. In Burt he is a valuable addition to its citizenship, by reason of the high principles by which he molds his life.