JOHN JEFFERS

The soil of Iowa is naturally rich and productive and responds readily to the care and labor which are bestowed upon it—a truth which is manifest in the case of John Jeffers, the owner of three hundred and forty acres of valuable property in Cedar county. A native of Rochester township, this county, he was born on the 9th of May, 1855, a son of James and Allie (Fulwider) Jeffers. The former, whose birth probably occurred in Indiana, was reared in that state and as a young man came to Iowa in the late ‘40s. He located in Cedar county and was engaged in farming until his death, which occurred about 1864. His wife, who was a daughter of John and Sally (Kincaid) Fulwider, was born in Greenbrier county, West Virginia, in 1827, and in 1839 came with her parents to Cedar county, Iowa, the family home being established in Rochester township. There she was reared and married and continued to make her home until called to her final rest.

In the family of Mr. and Mrs. James Jeffers were seven children, as follows: George, deceased; John, of this review; William, who died in childhood; Ellen, the deceased wife of John Thompson; Martha, the widow of John Rice, of Grand Junction, Iowa; Mary, the widow of J. B. Horn, of Tipton; and Jane, who became the wife of W. P. Buyer, of Armstrong, Iowa.

Being left an orphan at an early age, John Jeffers was but eleven years of age when, with one sister, he went to live with an uncle, J. H. Fulwider, a resident of Rochester township, in whose home he was reared to manhood. He was early imbued with the desire of earning his own livelihood, however, and on attaining man’s estate entered upon an independent career as a farmer, in which line of activity he has continued to remain to the present time. With the passing of the years he has been successful in the undertaking and is now the owner of three hundred and forty acres of valuable land in Rochester township, two hundred and forty acres on section 31 comprising the home farm, and one hundred acres lying on section 32. He has brought both places under a high state of cultivation, has erected good barns and substantial outbuildings, and has introduced all modern equipment necessary for facilitating farm labor. He has carried on his farming according to the most practical and progressive methods, and the excellent appearance of his fields is proof of the success which has crowned his efforts.

Mr. Jeffers was united in marriage on the 6th of February, 1884, to Miss Sara Jane Pirkey, who was born in Greene county, Iowa, on the 14th of May, 1861, a daughter of William and Mary (Edwards) Pirkey. Both parents were natives of Virginia, the latter coming to Iowa with her parents at the age of eight years. The father, who lost his mother when but three months old, came with his father to Iowa when a child of two years, taking up his residence in Greene county, where his death occurred in 1865, at the early age of twenty-five years. His widow came to Cedar county when her daughter, Mrs. Jeffers, was a little maiden of five summers, and here spent her remaining days, passing away on the 17th of November, 1897, having reached the fifty-seventh milestone on life’s journey. By her marriage she had become the mother of four children, two of whom passed away in infancy. Those who survive are: Sarah Jane, the wife of our subject; and William, of Olathe, Kansas. Mr. and Mrs. Jeffers became the parents of five children: Elma, a high school teacher; Warren, who passed away at the age of fifteen years; Gertrude, Lulu and Everett, all at home.

Mr. Jeffers is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church of South Bethel, and in his fraternal relations belongs to the Modern Woodmen of America at Tipton. Public-spirited in his citizenship, he gives stalwart support to the democrat party and at all times strongly advocates those measures which are matters of civic virtue and civic pride. A resident of this district during his entire life, he has become widely acquainted throughout the locality and occupies a high place in the regard and esteem of his fellowmen by reason of his honorable methods and upright principles.