BESHA, GEORGE A.

BESHA, SIXBURG, FRALEY

Posted By: Jean Kramer (email)
Date: 5/24/2004 at 16:47:29

Biography reproduced from page 283 of Volume II of the History of Kossuth County written by Benjamin F. Reed and published in 1913:

George A. Besha, who has resided in Algona since 1904, is the local representative of the Albert Moore Grain Company. His birth occurred in Evans Mills, Jefferson county, New York, on the 7th of May, 1859, his parents being Joseph and Almira (Sixburg) Besha. The father was born in France and came to this country when twenty years of age, settling in Jefferson county, New York, where he spent the remainder of his life as a farmer, passing away in 1892. The mother, a native of the Empire state, was of Mohawk-Dutch parentage and died in 1902. Their children were ten in number, namely: Lewis, Jane and Mary, all of whom are deceased; Charles, who is a resident of the state of New York; Malinda, the wife of J. J. Fraley, of Philadelphia, Jefferson county, New York; Ferdinand, living in the Empire state; Peter, who is deceased; George A., of this review; and Nettie and William, both of whom reside in New York..

George A. Besha was educated in the district school near his father’s farm and remained at home until a youth of eighteen, when he began working by the month as a farm hand, being thus employed until he started out as an agriculturist on his own account at the age of twenty-five. He actively busied himself with agricultural pursuits in New York until 1892, when he came west and settled in Blackhawk county, Iowa, where for a time he continued in the work of the fields. Removing to Rockwell, Iowa, he there entered the service of the Albert Moore Grain Company. After a time, and still in the employ of that concern, he went to Kanawha, Iowa, and in 1904 came to Algona, where he helped to build the local elevator for his employers. Mr. Besha has been a faithful and valued employe of his company, having rendered them valuable services in the establishment of other stations before coming to this city, and, as a testimonial to his ability, he has, since the establishment of the branch in Algona, been in charge of his company’s interests here. They handle grain, hay, coal, salt, wood and stone, and the business, under Mr. Besha’s management, has been very successful.

On the 28th of December, 1886, Mr. Besha was married to Miss Arletta Sixburg, of New York, and to them have been born three children, Ward, Edith and Agnes. Mr. Besha supports the democratic party and is a worthy representative of Iowa’s democracy. His religious affiliation is with the Catholic church and he is also a member of the Yeomen lodge of Algona. Mr. Besha is prominent in business circles here and enjoys a large acquaintanceship among the representative citizens of this city and vicinity. He is a man of sterling integrity, affable in his social, church and business relations, a man of fine qualifications which go to make up the higher order of American citizenship.