JOHN PORTER STOTLER

John Porter Stotler, proprietor of the Midway Stock Farm and one of the best known farmers and stock-raisers of his section, has, during the years of his residence here gained a prominent place among the substantial business men of this locality. He is one of Ohio’s contribution to the citizenship of Iowa, his birth occurring in Wooster, Wayne county, on the 10th of February, 1852. His parents were Henry and Amanda (Hoy) Stotler, both natives of Wayne county, Ohio, who about 1855, removed to La Salle county, Illinois, where they made their home until the fall of 1861, when they came to Cedar county, Iowa, locating in Iowa township. After a residence here of about ten years, they went to Linn county, Iowa, where the father passed away at the end of three years, his death occurring in 1873. In 1880 the family returned to this county and later the mother again married, becoming the wife of George McNichols. She now makes her home in Woodland, California, at the advanced age of seventy-six years. By her marriage to Mr. Stotler she became the mother of three children, of whom John Porter is the eldest. The others are: Augusta, the widow of Monroe Ish, of Woodland, California; and Charles, a resident of Iowa township, Cedar county.

John Porter Stotler, whose name introduces this review, was but three years of age when he left his native home and with his parents went to Illinois. Accompanying the family on their subsequent removals westward, he became a resident at different times of Cedar and Linn counties, Iowa, and later, in 1880, with the family again came to Cedar county, locating in Iowa township, within whose borders he has since continued to reside. Reared to farm life, he has always given his attention to agricultural pursuits, and that his early training in this direction was broad and comprehensive is indicated by the excellent results which have attended his efforts. He is the owner of four hundred acres of land on sections 10, 15 and 16, about half of which has been converted into productive fields, the rest remaining stump and timber land. The cultivated portion of his farm has recently been improved to a most exceptional degree by Mr. Stotler and constitutes one of the most highly developed and valuable properties of Iowa township. In 1907 he erected a fine modern eight-room residence and two years later built a commodious barn, sixty-four by one hundred and twenty-eight feet, which will accommodate aside from all of his live stock, three hundred tons of hay. In addition to general farming, he engages to a large extent in stock-raising, dealing mostly in fine horses and high grade shorthorn cattle. He makes a specialty of standard bred Wilkes horses, having on hand about thirty-five specimens of that breed and raising annually about ten head. He is also the owner of a fine imported Percheron stallion, and the product of his stables has become widely known throughout the state, the name of Midway Stock Farm becoming a synonym for excellence in the breeding of high grade stock.

Mr. Stotler has been twice married. In 1888 he was united in marriage to Miss Eva Goudy, a native of Linn county, Iowa, and a daughter of Samuel and Nancy. She passed away in 1890, at the age of forty-one years, and is survived by their daughter, Violet, the wife of John Stevens, of Chicago. In 1900, Mr. Stotler wedded Miss Sarah E. Carey, whose birth occurred in Cedar county, June 21, 1869. She is a daughter of Moses and Bessie (Ingledew) Carey, who were born in Canada, near St. Johns, but were united in marriage in this country, where they arrived about 1865. They still survive and make their home in Tipton, Iowa. The humanitarian spirit of Mr. Stotler is indicated by his adoption from an orphans’ home in New York of two children, Clara and Ernest Schmidt, who have assumed his name and find in the home of Mr. and Mrs. Stotler all of that care and tenderness deprived them by the loss of their own parents.

Although the duties of a strenuous business career have occupied much of the attention of Mr. Stotler, nevertheless he has found time for active participation in public affairs, doing all in his power to further those matters and measures which have for their object the upbuilding and development of the community at large. Deeply interested in the political questions of the day, he has given stalwart support to republican principles and for a long period has been an active worker in the party ranks, having served for eight years as trustee. His fraternal relations are with the Masons, being a member for twenty-five years. He has won a prominent place for himself among the substantial farmers and stock-raisers of Cedar county, his efforts in the latter field being potent elements in raising the grade of stock, and especially that of horses, in this section of the state. As a citizen he has ever remained loyal to the highest standards of manhood, his relations with his fellowmen at all times being such as to win for him the confidence and esteem of all with whom he has come in contact.