Luce, George Draft

LUCE, MENZEMER

Posted By: Linda Ziemann, Plym. CC (email)
Date: 3/19/2005 at 11:51:20

George Draft Luce

Of the many successful farmers and stockmen of Plymouth county, may well be mentioned in this work George Draft Luce, of Perry township, who was born at Sixth and Water streets, Sioux City, Iowa, on October 15, 1864, and is the son of Bartlett and Louisa (Menzemer) Luce, natives of Farmington, Maine, and Galena Illinois, respectively.

Bartlett Luce received his education in the schools of Maine, and as a lad learned the blacksmith trade, which he followed during his residence in that state. When yet a young man he came to Galena, where he engaged in his trade for some years. Here he was united in marriage to Louisa Menzemer, and here their child was born. He and his wife decided later to locate in Iowa, and with their child, two yoke of oxen and two prairie schooners, they started for Sioux City, where Mr. Luce landed with two cents in money. He at once traded his oxen for an old log blacksmith shop, and established himself in business. Here he engaged in his work for a number years, but later came to Plymouth county. He purchased two hundred and forty acres of land of the railroad company in Hungerford township, and took a tree claim of eighty acres and a pre-emption of eighty. He traded a pair of ponies to Owen Creighton, for his right in the tree claim. On the tract of two hundred and forty acres he built a good one and one-half-story frame house and erected other substantial buildings. Here he engaged in general farming and stock raising for twenty years, when he retired to Leeds, where he died in 1913, at the age of eighty-three years. The widow is still living at the home in Leeds, at an advanced age.

Bartlett and Louisa Luce were the parents of eight children, Fred, Harry, George Draft, Jennie, William, Bartlett, Louisa and Clara. Bartlett and Louisa were twins and were named for their parents; Fred lives in Chicago; Harry is a detective in Sioux City; Jennie is the widow of George Rodemaker, and lives in South Dakota,. William, Bartlett and Louisa are now deceased, the latter having died in infancy; William died at the age of thirty-two and Bartlett at the age of thirty; Clara is the wife of Peter Hanson, and lives at Bolta, Montana.

George Draft Luce received his education in the schools of Sioux City and in Hungerford township. and assisted his father with the work on the farm, until he was twenty-one years of age, at which time he worked as a farm hand for others for a time. In 1892 he engaged in farming for himself on a rented farm in Hungerford township, where he remained for two years, after which he rented a farm in Woodbury county for a year. He then purchased one hundred and sixty acres in Perry township, where he now lives. The place at that time was partly developed, but the only improvements were a "shack" house and a small barn. Mr. Luce had but three hundred dollars with which to pay for the place when he made the purchase, and for the first five years he had a most difficult time to meet the interest on the balance. He and his wife worked hard to meet the incumbrance on the farm, and put up no new building until the place was paid for. In 1905 they built a modern house, with every convenience, and in 1910 the new bank barn, thirty-four by fifty feet, with a full eight-foot basement, was built. In the barn, Mr. Luce is able to house eighteen horses and thirteen cows, and there is a hay capacity of seventy-five tons. The horse part of the barn is floored with plank and the cow part with concrete, with individual stanchions. The barn is nicely arranged for feeding, and is lighted with acetylene, the same as the house. The hog house, sixteen by sixty-four-feet, is built with a bank, and mostly constructed with concrete, with a storage room above for feed. He cultivates from seventy to one acres of corn each year, the balance of the place being in alfalfa and pasture. In addition to the grain that he raises, he is required each year to buy a large amount.

In 1891 George Draft Luce was united in marriage to Kate M. Woolworth, the daughter of Harvey and Dorothy Woolworth, and to this union three children have been born, Rosie, who died at the age of one and one-half years; Ernest and Nora, both of whom are at home. Mrs. Luce is an active member of the united Evangelical Lutheran church. They are prominent in the community in which they live and are held in the highest regard and esteem by all who know them. Their lives have been active ones and they have met with much success. They are devoted to the interests of their children, and their home is one of the most substantial in the township. The home farm, for which Mr. Luce paid twenty-two dollars and sixty cents per acre, is now valued at two hundred dollars per acre, it being one of the most highly-developed and well-improved farms in the county.

Politically, Mr. Luce is identified with the Democratic party, and has always taken an active interest in local affairs. For six years, he served as trustee of his township, and for eight years he served as assessor and was for one term director of his school district. He is a member of the Reliance Lodge No. 533, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, at Leeds. He has served his lodge in various offices and is now a past noble grand.

BOOK SOURCE:
History of Plymouth County, Iowa
Indianapolis, Ind.: B. F. Bowen, 1917