Nicholson, Howell P., Jr. 1872 – 1955
NICHOLSON, WOODWARD, MARTINDALE, MATHESON, LOGSDON, EMERSON, HARVEY, DE SMITH
Posted By: Joy Moore (email)
Date: 4/18/2015 at 09:52:14
HOWELL P. NICHOLSON, JR.
One of the active, able and progressive young farmers in the vicinity of Ossian is Howell P. Nicholson, Jr., engaged in general farming, stock-raising and dairying upon the Chestnut Hill farm, the property upon which he was born and reared. He is a native of Winneshiek county, his birth having occurred on the 14th of April, 1872, his parents being Howell P. and Caroline (Woodward) Nicholson. The father was born in Crawford county, Pennsylvania, on the 13th of January, 1831, and is a son of Harry and Mercy (Martindale) Nicholson, natives of Vermont. Howell P. Nicholson moved to Winneshiek county on the 11th of April, 1855, and is thus counted among the earliest pioneers in this part of Iowa. He purchased two hundred acres of land on section 4, Military township, and section 33 Springfield township, and turned his attention to agricultural pursuits, becoming one of the most prosperous and substantial farmers of his locality. At all times a progressive and public-spirited citizen, he has taken an active part in promoting the development of the community in which he has so long resided and has held some important positions of trust and honor, including those of township trustee and various school offices. He has now retired from active life and makes his home with his son, the subject of this review. His wife also survives and has reached the age of eighty-five. To their union were born eight children: Elsie, who married John Matheson, of Rockford, Iowa; Ellis H., of Hamilton City, California; Murry J., who lives in Fort Dodge; Elvie, who married J. H. Logsdon, of Decorah; Elmie, the wife of Henry Emerson, of Bakersfield, California; Abel L., of Santa Maria, California; George W., also of Santa Maria; and Howell P., of this review.
The last named was reared upon the farm which he now owns and from his early childhood has aided in its operation, becoming familiar through practical experience with the best and most modern methods of farm operation. He has now full control of the homestead, comprising two hundred acres of fine land, and upon it he engages in general farming, stock-raising and dairying, making a specialty of breeding and fattening blooded Holstein cattle. All of the departments of his farm are important and profitable, for he is a reliable, farsighted and discriminating business man and the entire place reflects in its neat and attractive appearance his careful supervision and practical labors. In addition to the management of his farm he gives a great deal of time to the affairs of the Silver Spring Creamery Company, of which he is manager, and to the cemetery association, of which he acts as treasurer.
Mr. Nicholson was married, on the 19th of October, 1892, to Miss Margaret Harvey, a daughter of Cyrus A. and Margaret (De Smith) Harvey, the former a native of Vermont and the latter of Canada. They came to Ossian in 1866 and remained residents of that town the remainder of their lives. Mr. and Mrs. Nicholson have become the parents of four children: Ernest P., a clerk in the First National Bank of McGregor; and Hazel K., Cyrus Rodney and Hugh Philo, who live at home.
Mr. Nicholson is a member of the Methodist church and fraternally is connected with the Masonic order and the Modern Woodmen of America. He gives his political allegiance to the republican party and, being interested in the cause of education, has done a great deal to promote it through his able work as secretary of the school board. In his business dealings he has ever been straightforward and reliable, enjoying the confidence of those with whom he has been associated, and as a worthy and representative citizen of Winneshiek county he fully deserves the substantial prosperity which is his today.
Source: History of Winneshiek County, Iowa Vol. II Chicago the S. J. Clark Publishing Company 1913
Hillside Cemetery gravestone
Winneshiek Biographies maintained by Bruce Kuennen.
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