WILLIAM F. THOMSON

Success is not to be had for the asking but always comes as the reward of earnest, persistent effort intelligently directed. This fact finds verification of the life work of William F. Thomson, whose unfaltering industry and carefully managed business affairs have won for him a place with the leading representative farmers of Fremont township. He lives on section 26, where he is engaged in raising grain and stock, cultivating a farm of two hundred and forty acres. Iowa numbers him among her native sons, his birth having occurred in Adams county on the 13th of December, 1879. He is a son of William M. Thomson of Stanwood, who is mentioned elsewhere in this volume. He was two years of age when his parents removed to Cedar county. Upon the home farm in Fremont township his youthful days were passed, his education being acquired in the common schools and in Stanwood high school. Through the periods of vacation he worked in the fields assisting his father until he had attained his majority. He was married in Tipton on the 5th of April, 1904, to Miss Sadie Wertz, who was born in Red Oak township, Cedar county, and is a daughter of Isaac Wertz.

After his marriage Mr. Thomson rented and cultivated the J. K. Davidson farm for one year and later devoted a year to farming in Red Oak township. He then removed to the farm which he now occupies and to the further development and cultivation of which he has devoted five years, raising a good crop each year. He does not wear out a field by planting the same crop year after year, but practices the principle of rotation and in fact uses the most modern methods to keep his land in good condition so that it will prove productive. In connection with his farming and stock-raising he feeds about one hundred and fifty hogs each year and from one to two carloads of cattle. In both branches of his business he has been quite successful.

The marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Thomson has been blessed with five sons: Paul E., Richard E., Everett S., Charles William and George M. The family are well known in this locality and both Mr. and Mrs. Thomson have a large circle of warm friends. He belongs to the United Presbyterian church of Stanwood and in his political associations is a republican. He has been officially identified with the schools for a number of years and the cause of education finds in him a stalwart champion. In fact, he cooperates in every measure and movement for the public good. His life is characterized by strenuous activity, by unsullied business integrity, by unfaltering industry, and his genuine personal worth has made him widely and favorably known not only in Stanwood but throughout Cedar county.