SION BRITCHER

View Portrait of Sion Britcher and Family

Sion Britcher, proprietor of the Maplehurst Stock Farm, is one of Cedar county’s native sons, his birth occurring August 4, 1862, in Fairfield township, his parents being Jesse and Ann (Smith) Britcher, both natives of Kent, England. The father was reared and educated in the land of his birth and in 1849 came to the United States. It was in March, 1856, that he became a resident of this county and he subsequently purchased one hundred and sixty acres of land, his active business life being devoted to agricultural pursuits. He was married in New York, on the 4th of April, 1855, to Miss Ann Smith, and they became the parents of four sons and three daughters, namely: Mary Jane, the wife of Josiah Dorcas, of Tipton, Iowa; James Edward, also a resident of Tipton; Sion, of this review; Anna Elizabeth, the wife of C. G. Sawyer, of Dayton township; Henry, also of Dayton township; Frederick Elmer, living on the old homestead in the same township; and Nellie Belle, who died in infancy. The father died on his farm in Dayton township, July 24, 1902, but the mother is still living and continues to reside there.

Reared on the home farm, Sion Britcher early became familiar with every department of farm work. His early education was obtained in the country schools, later he attended high school at Clarence, Iowa, for three years and the Davenport Business College, from which he was graduated. Previous to taking his business course, however, he engaged in teaching school for two years and afterward continued to follow that profession in this county for four years, but the greater part of his time and attention have been devoted to agricultural pursuits. He purchased his present farm on section 1, Red Oak township, in 1905, and today has a well improved and highly cultivated place of eighty acres, which is devoted to general farming and stock-raising. He makes a specialty of short-horn cattle and today has twenty head of registered stock, with Fashion Sentinel at the head of the herd.

On the 7th of June, 1893, Mr. Britcher married Miss Lilian Thompson, whose birth occurred January 7, 1867, in Indianapolis, Indiana, where she continued to reside until her marriage. Her parents were Henry L. and Lovina (Dawson) Thompson. The children born to our subject and his wife are as follows: Irma; Jesse Riley; Max, who died in infancy; and Jean.

The republican party has always found in Mr. Britcher a stanch supporter of its principles, but he has never cared for political honors, preferring to devote his entire time and energies to his business affairs. He is public-spirited, however, and takes a commendable interest in the welfare of the community in which he resides.