Fred L. Bissell

BISSELL, LATTIN, SIKES

Posted By: Judy Wight Branson (email)
Date: 10/10/2005 at 20:31:27

Among the well known and highly esteemed farmers of Jackson township is Fred L. Bissell, who was born in that township on the 4th of August, 1861, a son of Orrin B. and Caroline L. (Lattin) Bissell, natives of Portage county, Ohio, and Trumbull county, Ohio, respectively. The father farmed in the Buckeye state for some time, but in the early '50s he removed to Madison county, Iowa. More extended mention of him appears in the sketch of Elmer E. Bissell.

Fred L. Bissell, as a boy, attended the district schools of Jackson township, and some idea of the primitive nature of the schoolhouses and furniture may be gathered from the fact that the building was of logs and the seats at first but rude benches, although later pine seats were provided. When twenty-one years of age Mr. Bissell became a teacher in the country schools and continued to follow that profession until he began farming on his own account. At one time he proved up on a claim in Dakota and at the same time taught school, but practically all of his life has been spent in his native county, and the greater part of the time he has concentrated his energies upon farming. He raises pure-blooded Duroc Jersey hogs, most of which he sells to other farmers in this county, and his stock has a deservedly high reputation. His energy and initiative have been potent factors in his success, and his sound business judgment enables him to so manage his financial interests that his resources increase from year to year.

Mr. Bissell was married in 1883 to Miss Fannie A. Bissell, a native of Ohio and a daughter of Samuel and C. Emelia (Sikes) Bissell, the former born in Massachusetts in 1797 and the latter in Connecticut in 1828. The father, who was a minister of the Presbyterian church, was principal of the Twinsburg (Ohio) Institute, a private academy. He was a graduate of Yale and was not only a thorough scholar himself, but also a forceful teacher, and the school of which he was for many years the head was a well known educational center. His wife was for about twelve years a preacher and was a highly educated woman.

Rev. Bissell died in Twinsburg, Ohio, in 1895, and his widow passed away in this county two years later. The wife of our subject was their only child. She is one of the valued members of the Church of Christ in Jackson township, known as the Early chapel, and is one of the workers, in its Sunday School.

Mr. Bissell has no political aspirations and is very retiring in disposition, seeking to avoid publicity. The work of cultivating and improving his quarter section of fine land leaves him no time for outside interests, but in doing well the work that lies closest at hand he is not only gaining individual prosperity but is also contributing to the wealth and the agricultural development of his county.

Taken from the book, “The History of Madison County, Iowa, 1915,” by Herman Mueller.