John G. Walters John G. Walters purchased,
shortly after the death of his honored father, the fine
old homestead farm on which he now resides and which he
maintains at the best modern standard of agricultural
productiveness and as headquarters for the raising of the
best types of Durham cattle, registered Poland China
swine, and excellent draft horses. To the original
homestead, which comprised one hundred and fifty-five
acres, he added by the purchase of an adjacent tract of
one hundred and twenty acres, and he is thus favored in
being the owner of one of the specially well improved
landed estates of Mallory township, the while his civic
loyalty and progressiveness are reinforced by the
definite appreciation which is his for his native county
and its manifold attractions and advantages. On his
present farm, in section 5, Mallory township, John Gordon
Walters was born on the 22d of November, 1863, and he is
of remote Scottish ancestry, though both his paternal and
maternal forebears came to America in the colonial days.
He is a son of Andrew Jackson Walters and Malinda
(Cooper) Walters, the former of whom was born in the town
of Mason, Fayette county, Pennsylvania, on the 22d of
February, 1822, and the latter of whom was born in
Virginia, on the 7th of December, 1824. The parents were
pioneers of Mallory township, Clayton county, and here
the father was a sturdy and honored exponent of
agricultural industry until his death, on the 10th of
January, 1908, about one month prior to the eighty-sixth
anniversary of his birth, he having been born on the
birthdate of George Washington, the first president of
the United States, and having been named in honor of
another president, the doughty and firey soldier, General
Andrew Jackson. Mrs. Walters preceded her husband to the
life eternal by about a decade and passed away February
22, 1898 - the seventy-sixth anniversary of the birth of
her husband. Of their children the eldest is Henrietta,
who resides at Garber, this county, and who is the widow
of William McSperrin; Isaac N. maintains his home at
Updegraff, this county; Lusetta is the wife of Jacob
Schweikert, of Elkport, this county; Alexander C.
likewise remains in his native county, his home being at
Strawberry Point; James M. is deceased; Jefferson resides
at Guttenberg, this county; Martha J. is the widow of
Silas Bowman and resides at Guttenberg, and the subject
of this sketch was the eighth and last child. John G.
Walters is indebted to the schools of Mallory township
for his early educational advantages and from his youth
to the present time he has continued to be actively
identified with farm enterprise on the old homestead
which was the place of his birth and which he purchased
in 1909, the year succeeding that of the death of his
father. Mr. Walters is a loyal supporter of the cause of
the Democratic party, is serving as school director of
the district in which he gained his early education, and
he is affiliated with the lodge of the Independent Order
of Odd Fellows at Elkport. As a young man Mr. Walters
wedded Miss Eva Hyde, who was likewise born and reared in
Mallory township, and they have eight children, all of
whom remain members of the ideal home circle, their names
being here entered in respective order of birth: Earl,
Marie, August, Lulu, Gordon, Clifford, Garland and
Russell. Mrs. Walters is a daughter of the late James and
Hannah (Brownfield) Hyde, who were natives of
Pennsylvania, and who came to Clayton county in the
pioneer days, the remainder of their lives having been
passed on their farm in Mallory township, though he died
in Seattle, Washington, while on a visit to his daughter,
Mrs. Iva Hunt, while his wife died in Clayton county. Mr.
Hyde was also a skilled workman at the coopers' trade. source: History of Clayton
County, Iowa; From The Earliest Historical Times Down to
the Present; by Realto E. Price, Vol. II; pg 423-424 |