ED DEARDORFF

The property known as the Pinewood Farm, adjoining the city limits of Tipton, is the home of Ed Deardorff, the place comprising one hundred and sixty acres of valuable and productive land. Mr. Deardorff was born in Tipton, his natal day being February 15, 1868. He is the fifth in a family of six sons born of the marriage of Daniel Koch and Mary (Dunlap) Deardorff, both of whom were natives of Pennsylvania, the former born in Dillsburg, York county, December 19, 1825, while the latter claimed Altoona as the city of her nativity, her natal day being January 4, 1829. She lost her parents in early life, after which she was reared by people who in 1853 came to Cedar county, Iowa. In 1852 the father accompanied his brother Louis to the middle west and shortly after their arrival in this part of the country they came to Cedar county. The father was a wagon maker by trade and followed that business during his early life but during the last thirty years of his life he engaged in farming on the tract of land which is now owned by our subject. He inherited many of the sterling traits of his German ancestry and became a very successful and prominent resident of Cedar county. Unto him and his wife were born six sons: Charles Lewis, who died in May, 1905, at the age of forty years; William C., who resides in St. Louis, Missouri; Walter J., a resident of Columbus, Ohio; Olin G., of Chicago; Ed, of this review; and Frank A., who makes his home in Los Angeles, California. Both the parents are deceased, the mother passing away on the 27th of February, 1891, when she was sixty-two years of age, while the father, surviving for a long period, departed this life on the 2d of April,1909 when he had reached the venerable age of eighty-four years.

Mr. Deardorff has spent his entire life in and near Tipton and acquired his education in the public schools of this city. It was during his early youth that his parents took up their abode on the farm which is his present home, so that much of his life has here been passed. He early became familiar with the work of the fields and is now the owner of the old homestead, embracing one hundred and sixty acres, located in Center township, just outside the corporation limits of Tipton. The place is valuable, owing to its close proximity to the city and to the highly cultivated fields. The old home was destroyed by fire and in 1908 was replaced by a beautiful country residence, supplied with all modern conveniences, and the place in its entirety, known as the Pinewood Farm, is one of the attractive properties of this section of the county. Mr. Deardorff carries on general farming and stock-raising, in which he is meeting with excellent success, being numbered among the representative farmers of his locality.

In 1889 occurred the marriage of Mr. Deardorff and Miss Mary Ellen Porter, who was born ten miles south of Tipton, April 17, 1867, a daughter of John and Margaret (Matter) Porter. The father was born near Cincinnati, Ohio, while the mother was born in Germany, whence she emigrated to the new world at the age of nineteen years. She came direct to Cedar county and it was here that she gave her hand in marriage to John Porter. Her death occurred April 17, 1901, when she was sixty-eight years of age. She had for a long period survived her husband, who died in 1885, at the age of fifty-eight years. By her marriage Mrs. Deardorff has become the mother of three daughters and one son, Myrtle, Helen, Dorothy and Ralph, all born on the home farm.

Mr. Deardorff gives his political support to the republican party, while his fraternal relations connect him with Cedar Lodge, No. 11, A.F. & A.M., and with the Knights of Pythias, in both of which he is a valued member. The family belong to the Methodist Episcopal church. Having spent his entire life in and near Tipton, Mr. Deardorff is well and favorably known, fully sustain the reputation that was borne by his honored father.