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Walter Pritchard

Walter Pritchard owns an excellent farm of two hundred and forty acres on sections 5 and 29, Illyria Township, and in connection with its cultivation engages to some extent in the raising of fine stock. He is a native of Wales, his birth having occurred in Breconshire, November 17, 1884.  He is also the eldest of three children whose parents were William and Esther (Price) Pritchard. His father was born in Breconshire, July 4, 1814, and his mother November 24, 1816. As long as he resided in the old country he followed the trade of a brewer but made farming his chief occupation in America.

 Accompanied by his wife and two children he sailed for the United States in 1855, landing in New York on the 21st of June, after a long voyage of six weeks. The first year succeeding his arrival he spent in the coal mines of Schuykill, Pa., after which he resumed his westward journey and became a resident of Fayette County, Iowa. He located in Illyria Township, and is still living in the county but his wife died many years ago, on the 11th of May, 1863. Their children are Walter, whose name heads this sketch; Ann, wife of William McGee, a resident of Illyria Township; and Mary E., wife of George Folensbee, who is also a farmer of Illyria Township.

In his earlier years our subject received good educational advantages and acquired a fair knowledge of the rudimentary branches of learning, but after coming to this country at the age of eleven years he attended school but little as his father needed his services in improving the farm. Like a dutiful son he remained at home, aiding in the development of the land until he had attained his majority, when he thought it time to look out for his own interests and work for himself. As a helpmate on life's journey he chose Miss Ann Wilson, daughter of Christopher and Jane (Morras) Wilson, a sketch of whom appears on another page of this volume. Their marriage was celebrated on the 28th of October, 1865. The lady was born in Durham, England, March 10, 1847, and with her parents came to this country. Unto them have been born six children, the eldest of whom is Esther; Jane is the wife of Joseph Dickinson; and the younger members of the family are William, Wilson W., Mary J. and Stella A.

Mr. Pritchard has engaged in farming in Illyria Township since his marriage and for twenty-three years has resided upon his present farm. The house into which he and his wife moved was a log cabin, through the chinks of which the cold winter wind whistled and the snow blew. They experienced many hardships and trials but by their united efforts they worked their way upward to better things. The first purchase which Mr. Pritchard made consisted of eighty acres, but the boundaries of his farm now comprise two hundred and forty acres which yield to him a golden tribute as the reward of his care and cultivation. He also raises some excellent grades of stock, including horses, cattle and hogs.

 A man of progress and enterprising spirit, he has made a successful farmer and is now enabled to surround his family with the comforts and many of the luxuries of life. In politics he is a Democrat. Thirty-six years covers the period of his residence in this county during which time he has become widely and favorably known among his fellow-townsmen as a person of sterling worth