Carroll County IAGenWeb

HISTORY OF CARROLL COUNTY IOWA

A Record of Settlement, Organization, Progress and Achievement

VOLUME II ILLUSTRATED

CHICAGO THE S. J. CLARKE PUBLISHING COMPANY 1912

Transcribed and donated by Vance Tigges & Kathy Weaver.

Francis William Anderson, a representative and progressive agriculturist of Carroll county, makes his home on section 6, Union township. His birth occurred in Benton county, Iowa, on the 1st of September, 1865, his parents being David and Phoebe (Haynes) Anderson, both of whom were natives of Ohio. His paternal grandfather, Samuel Anderson, was likewise born in the Buckeye state and came of German ancestry. By occupation he was a farmer. He wedded Miss Matilda Cutchall and they became early settlers of Benton county, Iowa, there passing away when well advanced in years. Their children were fifteen in number, namely: James, Matilda. William, Marion, David, Robert, Lewis, George, Samuel, Mary, Sarah, Caroline, Rebecca, Jane and Bertha, Joseph and Sarah (Minor) Haynes the maternal grandparents of our subject, were also early settlers of Benton county. Iowa. Their children were as follows : Dennis, Charles. Hiram, Phoebe, Alma and Mary. Both the father and mother of Francis W. Anderson were numbered among the early settlers of Benton county, Iowa, where their marriage was celebrated in 1857. David Anderson, who was a carpenter by trade. passed away in that county in 1902, when sixty-six years of age. His wife died in early womanhood, her demise occurring in 1867.

Francis W. Anderson was reared in the home of his paternal grandmother in Benton county, Iowa, having lost his mother when but two years of age. He attended the district and public schools in the acquirement of an education and when nine years old removed to Blairstown, where he remained until a youth of twelve. At that early age he began working by the month as a farm hand, being thus employed for a period of twelve years. General agricultural pursuits have claimed his attention throughout his entire business career and he is now the owner of a fine farm of over two hundred acres on section 6, Union township, annually gathering rich crops which find a ready sale on the market.

Mr. Anderson has been married twice. On the 4th of March, 1887, he wedded Miss Anna Sharp, a daughter of Rev. John and Amanda Sharp. She died a year later, however, and on the 19th of November, 1890, Mr. Anderson was again married, his second union being with Miss Cora Davis, a native of Union township, this county, and a daughter of Squire Armstrong and Catharine A. (Morris) Davis, who are mentioned at greater length on another page of this work. Mr. and Mrs. Anderson now have two children, Roy A. and Lina M.

In politics Mr. Anderson is a republican, loyally supporting the men and measures of that party. For a number of terms he served as a school director. Fraternally he is identified with the Modern Woodmen of America, while his religious faith is indicated by his membership in the United Brethren church, to which his wife also belongs. Mr. Anderson is a member of the building committee which is at present erecting a new house of worship. At all times his life has been active, useful and honorable and it is his genuine personal worth that has gained for him the favorable position which he occupies in the regard of those who know him.

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