A. H. Rudd
A. H. Rudd, the proprietor and editor of The Enterprise, the local paper of Dow City, is a native of Crawford county, his birth occurring on section 9, Union township, on the 18th of November, 1856.
He is the oldest surviving child of John R. and Serelda (Jordan) Rudd, the father a native of Pennsylvania and the mother of Keokuk, Iowa. John R. Rudd came to Iowa from Pennsylvania in the early '50s, first locating in Shelby county, where he resided for a brief period and then removed to Crawford county, settling on section 9, Union township, where he continued to reside until 1902. His farm was unbroken prairie when it came into his possession, and after erecting a log cabin he began cultivating the soil and for more than forty years engaged in general farming and stock-raising.
Nine years ago he left the farm and is now living retired in Dow City, where he enjoys the ease and comfort awarded him as the result of the close application and self-denial of his youth. Mr. Rudd has always given his political support to the men and measures of the democratic party, while his religious affiliation is with the Latter Day Saints.
His wife is a daughter of William and Mary Jordan, who were among the pioneers of Crawford county, where they spent the last years of their lives. Mr. and Mrs. Rudd are the parents of eleven children, as follows: Hiram, deceased; A. H., our subject; Alvin, a minister of the Latter Day Saints at Wilberton, Oklahoma; John, a painter and decorator of Dow City; Mary, the wife of Clair Butterworth of Dow City; D .. M., living in Orlando, Florida; Ellen, the wife of J. D. Antrim, of Redfield, Iowa; Emma, the deceased wife of J. R. Griffin; S. E., a linotype operator, of Norfolk, Nebraska; Fannie, the wife of John A. Hearst, a farmer of Union township; and the eldest, who died in infancy.
A. H. Rudd acquired his education in the common schools of Dow City and his first business venture was the editing of the newspaper he now owns. He traded a team of horses for the Boyer Valley Clipper, which three months later became known as The Enterprise, under which name it has ever since been issued. During the twenty years of his proprietorship it has developed into a clean, popular and wide-awake local newspaper with a good circulation. In addition to the editing of this, Mr. Rudd conducts a job office, in which he is meeting with marked success, as his books show an output of over two and onehalf million blanks for the year just ended. He owns the building where his office is located as well as his residence.
In 1887 Mr. Rudd and Miss May Dobson, of this county, were united in marriage, and they have become the parents of the following children: H. R., a graduate of the Dow City high school and the electrical engineering department of the Iowa State College at Ames, now located at North Yakima, Washington ; Vinnie, also a graduate of the high school and the musical department of Graceland College, living at home; Sunshine, who is attending the high school; and Gladys, at home.
The family attend the church of the Latter Day Saints, in which denomination Mr. and Mrs. Rudd are very active workers, he being the priest of the local branch and superintendent of the Sunday school, while Mrs. Rudd has been a teacher of the Sunday school for over twenty years. Politically Mr. Rudd has always affiliated with the democratic party and takes an active part in local governmental matters, having served as township clerk and assessor, while he was also city treasurer for nine years and county supervisor for three. He is one of the progressive as well as public-spirited citizens of the town and through the columns of his paper has urged the adoption of many measures which have been for the improvement and betterment of the community.
Source: History of Crawford County, Iowa. Vol. II. Chicago: The S. J. Clarke Publishing Co., 1911.