Ulysses Barfuse, successfully engaged in the pursuits of farming and stock raising, owns a tract of land comprising two hundred acres on section 17, Hazel Green township, and has made his home in this county for a period covering a quarter of a century. His birth occurred in Switzerland on the 24th of November, 1860, his parents being Jacob and Marian (Maurer) Barfuse, both of whom passed away in that country. Throughout his active business career the father devoted his attention to general agricultural pursuits. He had a family of nine children, seven of whom survive but only two of whom are residents of the United States, namely: Ulysses, of this review; and Louise, who is the wife of Alfred Grunig and makes her home in South Dakota.
      Ulysses Barfuse was a young man of twenty five years when he crossed the Atlantic to this country in 1885, taking up his abode at Monticello, Jones county, Iowa. Four years later, in 1889, he came to Delaware county, within the borders of which he has since remained. In 1903 he purchased a farm of two hundred acres one mile east of Ryan, which he has operated continuously to the present time and whereon he has erected several buildings and made other improvements which enhance the value and attractive appearance of the property. In connection with the production of cereals he devotes considerable attention to the raising of stock, both branches of his business proving satisfactorily remunerative.
      On the 17th of March, 1885, in Switzerland, Mr. Barfuse was united in marriage to Miss Elizabeth Grunig, a daughter of Abraham and Margaret Grunig. The father passed away in Switzerland and the mother came to this country in 1888, locating in Monticello, Jones county, Iowa, where her demise occurred in 1912. To our subject and his wife have been born seven children, as follows: Alfred; Freda, who is the wife of Thomas Turner, of Ryan; Minnie, who gave her hand in marriage to Fred Bronemann and resides in Washington; Mary, the wife of Henry McEnany, of Adams township, this county; Hulda; William, at home; and one who died in infancy. Coming to the United States in early manhood, Ulysses Barfuse wisely utilized the opportunities which presented themselves and has worked his way steadily upward to a position of prosperity and prominence in his community.