SIMON NICHOLAS MONK

View Portrait of Mr. & Mrs. Simon N. Monk

Simon Nicholas Monk, who since 1903 has lived in honorable retirement at Tipton, devoted his attention to general agricultural pursuits throughout his active business career, owning and operating a quarter section of rich and productive land in Fairfield township. His birth occurred in Oxford county, Ontario, on the 7th of October, 1841, his parents being Nicholas and Katharine (Moyer) Monk, both of whom were natives of New York. The paternal grandfather, John Monk, who was a native of Holland and came to America in colonial times, served as an artilleryman during the entire period of the Revolutionary war. The maternal grandparents of our subject were of German birth. The parents of Simon N. Monk were reared and married in the Empire state and subsequently removed to Ontario, where they spent the remainder of their lives on a farm. Their children were fourteen in number, eleven of whom grew to maturity, while four sons and three daughters still survive.

Simon Nicholas Monk, who was the youngest of his father’s family, spent the first twenty-five years of his life in the place of his nativity and then came to Cedar county, Iowa, arriving here on the 28th of February, 1866. He purchased and located upon a farm of one hundred and sixty acres four miles east of Tipton in Fairfield township, and there carried on his agricultural interests with excellent success for many years, operating the place until January,1903, when he disposed of the property. Since that time he has lived retired in Tipton, residing in an attractive dwelling at the corner of Fifth and Orange streets, which he purchased one year after his arrival in this town. He built the substantial and commodious residence which stood on his farm. His intelligently directed and untiring labors as an agriculturist were rewarded with a gratifying measure of prosperity and he is therefore enabled to spend his declining years in the enjoyment of well earned rest.

On the 23d of January, 1863, Mr. Monk was united in marriage to Miss Frances Ann Ingram, who was born in Oxford county, Ontario, on the 4th of August, 1842. Her parents, Robert and Rosanna (Siple) Ingram, were natives of Ireland and Ontario respectively. The father, who was twice married, had three sons by his first wife and eleven children by his second. His demise occurred in Ontario, while the mother of Mrs. Monk passed away at her home in Tipton. Mrs. Monk passed away on Sunday, May 15, 1910, and her death was widely and deeply mourned. When a little girl of eleven years she was converted and united with the Methodist Episcopal church and was ever afterward a devoted and faithful Christian. On the 28th of February, 1866, she came to Iowa with her husband and they purchased one hundred and sixty acres of land at York Prairie, paying twelve dollars per acre. A true companion and helpmate to her husband, she aided him in every possible way and her upright life gained her the love and esteem of those with whom she came in contact. For a number of years she taught in the Sunday school at York Prairie and was president of the missionary society. She was one of a family of eleven children, but only three are now living, namely: Mrs. Alesworth, of Tipton; Mrs. Franco, of Bennett; and Fred Ingram, of Tama, Iowa.

Mr. and Mrs. Monk became the parents of three children. John Frederick, living at Fort Dodge, owns a half interest in Tobin College, a commercial school which he founded eighteen years ago in association with a partner. Emma Elizabeth is the wife of Dr. Charles J. Snitkay, a homeopathic physician of Belle Plaine, Iowa. Edith Rosanna gave her hand in marriage to Alfred F. Reeder, of Tipton. Mr. Monk now has nine grandchildren.

Politically Mr. Monk is a stanch advocate and adherent of the republican party. He has served as a delegate to county and state conventions and has helped to nominate good men for office but has never sought public preferment for himself. His religious faith is indicated by his membership in the Methodist Episcopal church at Tipton, in which he is acting as steward. While residing on the farm he belonged to the York Prairie church and held all official positions therein. The cause of temperance finds in him a stalwart and helpful champion, for he believes that the liquor traffic is one of the worst evils with which our country has to contend. During the period of his residence in Cedar county, covering more than four decades, he has won a host of warm friends.