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 by Sharon Elijah July 15, 2020

Frank Conner, who devotes his attention to general agricultural pursuits with excellent results, is the owner of three hundred and twenty acres of valuable land in Union township and makes his home on section 5. He is numbered among the worthy native sons of Carroll county, his birth having occurred in Richland township on the 26th of April, 1865. His parents, George and Melissa (Sigler) Conner, were both natives of Ohio. The father was reared in that state and followed steamboating on the Ohio and Mississippi rivers. In 1852 he removed to Lee county, Iowa, and turned his attention to general agricultural pursuits. In 1855 he and his brother John walked from Lee county to Panora in Guthrie county and entered a tract of land east of old Carroll. They believed the locality unfit for habitation at that time and did not settle here until 1862, George Conner taking up his abode in Richland township, Carroll county, in October of that year. He first came into possession of a farm of eighty acres and augmented his holdings by additional purchase as his financial resources increased until at the time of his death he owned between twelve hundred and thirteen hundred acres. When he passed away in 1900, at the age of seventy-one years, the community mourned the loss of one of its most substantial and respected citizens. His widow still survives him and has attained the age of about seventy-six. Both Mr. and Mrs. George Conner were Methodists in religious faith.

Unto them were born ten children, eight sons and two daughters, as follows: Emanuel, a sketch of whom appears on another page of this work; Luther, who is a resident of Watertown, South Dakota; John, who is deceased; Buchanan, living in the state of Washington; Clarinda, the wife of William Foxworthy, of Glidden, Iowa; Frank, of this review; Ezeriah, Narcissus, the wife of Harry Piper, of Union township; Oliver, who makes his home in Richland township; and Loxie.

Frank Conner was reared in Richland and Union townships and attended the district schools in pursuit of an education. He remained under the parental roof until the time of his marriage and then started out as an agriculturist on his own account, cultivating rented land for several years. Subsequently he bought a tract of forty acres in Union township and as his financial resources increased, owing to his untiring industry and capable management, he extended the boundaries of his farm by additional purchase until it now embraces three hundred and twenty acres. He has brought the place under the highest state of cultivation, so that the fields, now rich and arable, annually bring forth large crops. In all of his business affairs he is alert and enterprising, meeting with the measure of success which always rewards earnest, persistent and well directed labor.

On the 26th of February, 1886, Mr. Conner was united in marriage to Miss Emma Trucks, a daughter of Abraham and Melissa Trucks. They have the following children: Mamie, living in Union township, who is the wife of George Smith and has one son, Frank; George Abraham; Elsie; Bessie M.; Coral Edith; and Lena Velma.

Mr. Conner gives his political allegiance to the republican party, loyally supporting its men and measures. The cause of education finds in him a stanch champion and for a number of years he served as school treasurer and director. He belongs to Charity Lodge, A.F. & A.M., of Coon Rapids, and is also connected with the Modern Woodmen. He has resided within the borders of Carroll county from his birth to the present time and that his life has ever been upright and honorable is indicated by the fact that the associates of his boyhood and youth are still numbered among his stanch friends and admirers.

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