The proud position which Iowa has attained as one of the foremost agricultural states of the Union is attributable to the enterprising efforts of such men as George C. Statler, who, living quietly upon his farm, puts forth persistent, earnest and effective effort in making the land productive and valuable. He is today the owner of an excellent property of two hundred and forty acres situated on section 12, Linn township, and the fields respond richly in large harvests, while the pastures afford an excellent feeding ground for the stock which he raises.
He was born at Linn Grove, March 11, 1866, and is a representative of one of the old pioneer families of the county. His father, Christopher Statler, was a native of Pennsylvania and accompanied his parents on their removal with their family to Ohio at which time a settlement was made in Holmes county, where Christopher Statler spent the days of his youth and reached his majority. When a young man he continued on this westward way, reaching Linn Grove, Iowa, where he established a blacksmith shop, having previously learned the trade. At that time his shop was the only one between the Statler place and Muscatine. For a number of years he continued blacksmithing, doing much work for the early settlers of the community, and when the capital which he had saved from his earnings justified the purchase he invested in eighty acres of raw land, constituting the nucleus of the farm upon which George C. Statler now resides. The father at once began to break the sod and prepare the fields for cultivation and in the course of time bounteous harvests were gathered where the prairie grass was formerly found. He fenced the land, erected substantial buildings and developed the farm along progressive lines. In his work he prospered and his success enabled him to extend the boundaries of his place until it comprised two hundred and forty acres. Here he reared his family and spent his remaining days. His wife, who bore the maiden name of Similda Parker, was born in Ohio and in her girlhood came to Iowa with her father, Samuel Parker, who was one of the early settlers from Ohio. Christian Statler remained a resident of Cedar county until his death, which occurred in 1881 when he was fifty years of age. His wife survived him for a long period, her death occurring in December, 1909. Their family numbered three sons and two daughters: George C.; Charles, a resident of California; May, the wife of C. E. Batdorf of Berkeley, California; Ida, the wife of Charles Rhoads, a farmer of Pioneer township; and William, deceased.
The home farm was the playground of George C. Statler during his youthful days and also his training school for life’s practical duties. He remained with his father until the latter’s death and in his youthful days supplemented his primary education, obtained in the common schools, by six months’ study in the high school at Mechanicsville. He remained upon the home place until after his father’s death and then purchased the interest of the other heirs in the property. His time has been busily passed in cultivating the fields and raising and feeding cattle and hogs, his live-stock interests constituting an important factor in his business, for he ships from three to five carloads of fat stock each year and keeping the animals in good condition, he secures for them a ready sale on the market, thus materially augmenting his annual income.
Mr. Statler was married in Red Oak township in 1896 to Miss Phebe Murray, a daughter of William Murray, a native of Cedar county. They began their domestic life on the old Statler farm and there Mrs. Statler passed away April 28, 1909.
Politically Mr. Statler is a democrat, but the honors and emoluments of office have had no attraction for him although he is now serving his second term as township trustee. He has likewise been officially identified with the schools for a number of years and has been a delegate to the county conventions of his party. The Masonic fraternity finds in him an exemplary representative. He belongs to the lodge and chapter of Mechanicsville and to the commandery at Anamosa, also to the Mystic Shrine at Cedar Rapids, His has been a well spent life and its salient features have gained him the favorable regard of all with whom social or business relations have brought him in contact. His reliability in business affairs is well known, and he is today the owner of one of the excellent farms of Linn township. He has rented his land, while his attention is now given to the raising and feeding of stock, and he is recognized as one of the leading stockmen of this section of the state. While his business interests are growing in volume and importance, he does not allow this to detract from his public-spirited interest in the general welfare nor prevent his cooperation in movements which he believes will prove of benefit to the community.
