The life record of L. D. Albaugh had covered but three years when he was brought to Cedar county, arriving in 1853. He was reared to farm life and on arriving at years of maturity elected to follow agricultural pursuits with the result that his intelligently directed effort has made him the owner of a farm of one hundred and eighty acres finely located within two and one-half miles of Mechanicsville.
He was born in Carroll county, Ohio, March 4, 1850. His father, William Albaugh, also a native of the Buckeye state, was born in 1828 and was there joined in wedlock to Miss Mary Hosterman, also a native of Ohio. They continued residents of that state until 1853 when, thinking to have better opportunities west of the Mississippi, they journeyed to Iowa, casting in their lot with the early settlers of Cedar county, where the father, whose financial resources were somewhat limited, rented land. He gave unrelaxing attention to the development of the property, however, and the practical methods which he followed in cultivating his fields brought to him success that enabled him later to purchase a farm. In the fall of 1898 he lost his wife and, since retiring from active life, now makes his home in Mechanicsville.
L. D. Albaugh was reared on the old homestead and at the usual age entered the public schools, wherein he mastered the common branches of English learning. In the summer season he was trained in the work of the fields and assisted his father in carrying on the home farm until twenty-five years of age. He was then married in Pioneer township on the 7th of October, 1875, the lady of his choice being Miss Louisa Shrope, who was born in Pennsylvania but was reared in this county. She was a daughter of Mrs. Margaret Shrope, one of the worthy pioneer women of Iowa, mentioned elsewhere in this volume.
Following his marriage Mr. Albaugh cultivated rented land for several years and all during that time was actuated by the ambition to own land and, carefully saving his earnings, he purchased eighty acres of his present farm in 1891. The added stimulus of cultivating his own land and thereby gaining the entire reward of his labors now proved the motive power in his work, and he began making repairs and bringing the farm into a state of good improvement. As opportunity offered he bought more land and now owns one hundred and eighty acres in his home place. It presents a neat and attractive appearance with its well tilled fields and high bred stock, and he raises and feeds stock, for which he receives a good return upon the market. He has studied the best methods of cultivating his land and enhancing its productiveness and the fields respond in large crops.
In 1892 Mr. Albaugh was called upon to mourn the loss of his wife, who died on the 10th of June of that year. There were six children by that marriage: Harry, who now carries on a farm in Pioneer township; Elba, who was married but is now deceased; Mamie, who is the wife of Richard Burrows; Cora, the wife of Simon Singer of South Dakota; Pearl, the wife of John Nolan, a resident farmer of Pioneer township; and Orlie, who is married and follows farming in Fremont township. On the 23d of February, 1893, Mr. Albaugh was again married, his second union being with Ida Dwinnell, who was born and reared in Cedar county and is a daughter of Austin Dwinnell, who came to this state from Maine in 1855. There are two children of the second marriage: Irma Leona and Ralph Lorenzo.
Mr. Albaugh proudly cast his first presidential vote for General Grant in 1872, and he has never failed to support the presidential nominee of the party since that time. His study of the vital questions and issues of the day has led him to the belief that republican principles are most conducive to good government, but he has never been an office seeker and has filled no public positions save in connection with the schools, serving on the school board for a number of years. He has been a resident here from his childhood days, witnessing the growth and development of the county through fifty-seven years. During this period he has seen villages established and develop into thriving towns and cities, has seen wild lands converted into productive farms and telegraph and telephone lines constructed. Cedar county has not been behind other districts in adopting those things which show the onward march of civilization, and Mr. Albaugh has at all times been an advocate of progress and improvement.
