Oxley, Alonzo W. 1858 - 1930
OXLEY, TOWNSEND, ALEXANDER, KANAWHA, RATHBURN
Posted By: Joy Moore (email)
Date: 4/20/2015 at 08:39:09
ALONZO W. OXLEY.
Among the prominent and successful farmers and business men of Winneshiek county and among the most progressive and public-spirited citizens of this part of Iowa is numbered Alonzo W. Oxley, the owner of the Woodside Farm, on sections 4 and 5, Bloomfield township, and well known in business circles as the founder and upbuilder of the Pleasant Ridge Telephone Company.
He was born on the property he now occupies on the 13th of October, 1858, and is a son of W. H. and Christina (Townsend) Oxley, the former a native of Ohio and the latter of Indiana. The parents came to Winneshiek county in 1850 and located in Bloomfield township, where they spent the remainder of their lives. To their union were born six children: Alonzo W., of this review; John; David, deceased; Guy, of North Dakota; Aleda, the wife of F. Alexander, of Altoona, Iowa; and Ida, who married E. H. Oxley, of Kanawha, Iowa. John Oxley has had an eventful and successful career. As a young man he journeyed on foot to Castalia, Iowa, and there learned telegraphy, working at it for many years thereafter and advancing through the sheer force of his ability through all the different offices connected with the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railroad system. He is now superintendent of their main division, with headquarters at Chicago, and is numbered among the most reliable and trustworthy representatives of the road.
Alonzo W. Oxley was reared at home and became familiar in his childhood with the details of farm operation. Upon reaching manhood he assumed charge of the homestead and afterward purchased eighty acres of it. Later he bought the remainder and his holdings now comprise one hundred and sixty acres, lying on sections 4 and 5, Bloomfield township. This is known as the Woodside Farm and is one of the finest agricultural properties in the neighborhood, reflecting everywhere in its neat and attractive appearance the owner's careful supervision and practical labors. For the past five years Mr. Oxley has devoted a large portion of his farm to the raising of alfalfa and now has the largest field in Iowa, cutting from it five tons to the acre. He has been very successful in this venture and has besides demonstrated the facility with which alfalfa may be raised in this state and the profits which may be gained from its production.
On the 27th of September. 1882, Mr. Oxley was united in marriage to Miss Libby Rathburn and they have become the parents of two children: Myrtle, who is employed in a bank at Selby, North Dakota; and Walter, who resides in Seattle, Washington.
Mr. Oxley is known in business circles of this city as the founder of the Pleasant Ridge Telephone Company and as the builder of those lines running between Ossian, Postville, Castalia, Clermont and West Union. He was for ten years president of the concern and in that position demonstrated his administrative and organizing ability and his power of control, much of the success of the institution being due to his well directed efforts. Fraternally he is connected with the Masonic lodge and the Modern Woodmen of America and he is a progressive in his political views, taking an intelligent interest in everything pertaining to the growth and development of the community. He merits the confidence and respect of all who know him and is numbered among the substantial citizens of the county.
Source: History of Winneshiek County, Iowa Vol. II Chicago the S. J. Clark Publishing Company 1913
Greenwood Centennial cemetery gravestone
Winneshiek Biographies maintained by Bruce Kuennen.
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