WILMER A. HIRST

Wilmer A. Hirst, widely known as a successful and enterprising farmer and stock-raiser of Springdale township, was born on the place where he now resides, his natal day being May 21, 1881. His paternal grandparents, John and Maria Hirst, both passed away in this county, while the maternal grandparents, Austin and Edith McConnell, died in Ohio and Iowa respectively. Thomas and Susan (Marsh) Heald, the great-grandparents of our subject, passed away simply from old age within forty-eight hours of each other and their remains were interred in a double grave in the Hickory Grove cemetery of Springdale township.

Wilson C. and Mary Anna (McConnell) Hirst, the parents of W. A. Hirst of this review, were both natives of Ohio. The father was born in Belmont county on the 21st of October, 1846, while the mother’s birth occurred in 1842. Wilson C. Hirst came to Cedar county, Iowa, with his parents when sixteen years of age and in 1868 wedded Mary Anna McConnell, who had come to this county with her widowed mother. Here she followed the profession of teaching prior to her marriage at the little school house known as Yankee Corner, having sixty pupils, to whom she imparted clearly and readily the knowledge that she had acquired. She was also an active and valued member of the Hickory Grove “Friends Meeting” and passed away in that faith in 1892. Following his marriage Wilson C. Hirst began operating the farm which is now conducted by our subject, being actively and successfully engaged in its cultivation until 1907. On first becoming identified with agricultural interests he rented land but a few years later bought a tract of eighty acres. As his financial resources increased, owing to his untiring industry and capable management, he added to his land holdings from time to time until they now embrace two hundred and fifty acres on section 10, Springdale township. In 1896 he was again married, his second union being with Rachel H. Taber, whose birth occurred near Mount Pleasant, Ohio. They now make their home near Barnesville, Ohio, having returned to the Buckeye state in 1907. By his first wife Wilson C. Hirst had the following children: Luella M., the wife of John Fritchman, of Hughson, California; Lura, who passed aawy at the age of nine years; John S., who in 1907 fell from a tree on frozen ground and was instantly killed; Wilmer A., of this review; Emmor G., a resident of South Dakota; and Mary L., the wife of Harvey I. Branson, of West Branch in Springdale township.

Wilmer A. Hirst has always remained on the farm where he was born with the exception of about a year and a half spent in a machine shop and the work of the fields has claimed his time and energies. He operates the two-hundred acre tract belonging to his father on section 10, Springdale township, the fields being under a high state of cultivation and improvement. In connection with the tilling of the soil he devotes considerable attention to the raising of stock, meeting with success in both branches of activity.

On the 1st of May, 1907, Mr. Hirst was united in marriage to Alice C. Barker, of Chester, Pennsylvania, her father being Calvin S. Barker. W. A. Hirst is a member of the Friends Society and exemplifies its teachings in his daily life. A young man of upright and honorable principals, he well merits the regard and esteem which are uniformly accorded him in the community where his entire life has been spent.