FRED E. BRITCHER

Fred E. Britcher is the owner of Elmdale Stock Farm, a well kept property comprising two hundred and forty acres of good land on section 31, Dayton township. He also has another farm of one hundred and six acres near Clarence and is one of the well known and prosperous agriculturists of this part of the state. His birth occurred April 2, 1872, on the farm where he now resides and here he was reared and educated, his preliminary course, acquired in the common schools, being supplemented by study in the high school of Clarence. He afterward engaged in teaching for a few terms and imparted readily and clearly to others the knowledge he had acquired. He then took charge of the home farm for his father and managed its interests for some time before his father’s death. His early training at farm labor well qualified him for this experience and his efforts have been attended with substantial and gratifying success.

Mr. Britcher was married in Dayton township on the 14th of September, 1900, to Miss Emma A. Miller, a native of Ohio, who was reared and educated in Cedar county, her father being Albert Miller, a well known farmer of Dayton township. The young couple at once began housekeeping upon the old Britcher homestead and in the intervening years Fred E. Britcher has made some notable improvements and changes on the place. He has rebuilt and remodeled the house, has put up a good barn, had divided the place into fields of convenient size by well kept fences, has enhanced the productiveness of the land by tilling and has made other substantial improvements. There are now two sets of buildings upon the farm. In addition to his home property Mr. Britcher in 1909 purchased a tract of land of one hundred and six acres near Clarence and cultivates the greater part of it. He is widely known as a breeder of and dealer in shorthorn cattle and also raises and fattens cattle and hogs for the market, shipping from two to three carloads of cattle and from one hundred and fifty to two hundred head of hogs each year. Resolute purpose constitutes one of the elements of his success and he is justly ranked with the active and progressive business men and farmers of Dayton township.

Mr. and Mrs. Britcher have two children, James A. and Genevieve E. Mr. Britcher belongs to the Methodist Episcopal church. His political faith is given to the republican party and while he has never sought nor desired office, he is now serving as president of the school board. His labors in behalf of education have been far-reaching and beneficial for he regards the public school as the bulwark of the nation and does everything he can to further its interests and promote its efficiency.