ANDREWS, J. D.

ANDREWS, SMITH, STARKEY, LIZER, GILLEN, BARTON, BROWN, EVENSEN, ANDERSON, BAKKE, SCHULTZ, GRINELL, AUSTIN

Posted By: Jean Kramer (email)
Date: 5/27/2004 at 15:37:41

Biography reproduced from page 499 of Volume II of the History of Kossuth County written by Benjamin F. Reed and published in 1913:

J. D. Andrews, who owns and operates half of section 6, Wesley township, has been actively and successfully identified with the agricultural and stock-raising interests of Kossuth county for more than thirty years. His birth occurred in Marshall county, Indiana, on the 4th of February, 1851, his parents being Daniel and Susan (Smith) Andrews. The father was presumably of Scotch extraction and a native of the state of New York. While still in his early childhood he removed with his parents to Ohio, where he was reared and married to Miss Susan Smith, the mother of our subject. She was born in Pennsylvania in 1818, but was only a child when her parents went to Ohio, and there completed her schooling and grew to womanhood. In the early period of their domestic life Mr. and Mrs. Andrews went to Indiana, locating in Marshall county, where the father passed away when our subject was a child of three years. He engaged in farming but figured prominently in the political life of his community and was a colonel in the National Guard of Indiana. Six children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Andrews, as follows: Mary, the wife of William Starkey, of Richland Center, Wisconsin; Lucy C., the wife of Eli Lizer, of Waverly, Kansas; Calphurnia, who married E. D. Gillen, of Rapid City, South Dakota; J. D., our subject; Elizabeth, the wife of W. L. Barton, of Algona, Iowa; and Solomon, who was drowned when a child of two years. The mother lived to attain the age of eighty-nine years, passing away in 1907. She was of German extraction.

J. D. Andrews pursued his education in the common schools of Indiana until he was a lad of nine years, when the family came to Iowa, settling in Buchanan county. He remained at home until he had attained his majority and then began farming in that county, which continued to be his place of residence for several years thereafter. In 1882, he came to Kossuth county, first locating on a farm south of Burt in the township of that name, but in 1897, he came to Wesley township, settling on section 6, where he holds the title to three hundred and twenty acres of excellent land. Nearly all of the buildings now in use on this place have been erected during the period of Mr. Andrews’ residence, and he has also made other extensive improvements, consistent with the progressive spirit he manifests in his undertakings. His farm is provided with an excellent equipment and has a well kept and thriving appearance. He engages in diversified farming and also raises some stock, and is meeting with more than average success in both. He is a man of practical ideas and progressive methods, as is evidenced by the condition of his fields and property generally.

On the 13th of March, 1889, Mr. Andrews was married to Mrs. Olive R. Brown, who was born in Norway, November 16, 1864, but was reared in America, having emigrated to this country with her parents, Hans and Carren (Evensen) Anderson, when a child of two and a half years. The father, who was a farmer, first located in the vicinity of Rochester, Minnesota, but in 1870, he removed to Kossuth county, settling in Seneca township, where he continued his agricultural pursuits until his death on July 17, 1902. The mother, who is still living, now makes her home in Minnesota. Mrs. Andrews is the eldest of the eight children born to her parents, the others being as follows: Carrie, the wife of Anton Bakke, of Ledyard, Iowa; Albert L., who is residing in Seneca; Lee, who lives in Todd county, Minnesota; Louise, who became the wife of Fred Schultz, of Jefferson, Iowa; Nora, who married Walter Grinell, of Minnesota; and Hannah Louise and Hilma Caroline, both of whom are deceased. At the age of sixteen years, in 1880, the lady who now bears the name of Mrs. Andrews, became the wife of John Brown, and to them were born three children: Emma Jane, deceased; Effie, the wife of Harry Austin, of Harlan, Iowa; and Lawrence J., who is a resident of Washington county, Colorado. The family of Mr. and Mrs. Andrews numbers nine: Achsah, R.; Fay Lloyd; Howard V.; Ruth A.; Susan C.; Glenford J., deceased; Lounora M.; Calphurnia; and James Dean.

The family attend the local Protestant churches, Mrs. Andrews being a member of the Presbyterian church. He accords allegiance in political matters to the republican party, but has never been an office holder. Mr. Andrews is one of the citizens of Wesley township whose success is largely due to unremitting diligence, persistently applied in the execution of carefully planned and well defined methods. He is highly regarded in his community, as he has conducted his transactions in an honorable and upright manner, and has proven himself to be trustworthy and thoroughly reliable in all relations of life.