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1907 Past and Present Biographies

Alvin Betcher

Alvin Betcher owns and cultivates eighty acres of good land on section 18, Greenbrier township, and also operates the old homestead farm adjoining. He was born in Johnson county, Iowa, in 1875, and in the year 1880 the father, Charles Betcher, brought his family to Greene county, settling on section 17, Greenbrier township, where be secured a tract of land of eighty acres, a part of which had been broken. He began to turn the sod on the remainder and he built a house and barn. He also set out trees and otherwise improved the property, transforming it from a wild tract into one of rich fertility, the productiveness of the soil, combined with his cultivation, enabling him to gather large crops annually. He followed general agricultural pursuits and stock-raising until 1899, when his son Alvin took charge of the farm, while he spent his remaining days in the enjoyment of a well earned rest. His death occurred on the 23d of April, 1903, when he had reached the age of seventy-nine years. He assisted in building the house of worship for the Lutheran church, in which all of the family are members. His wife, Henrietta Betcher, was a native of Germany and died June 2, 1905, at the age of seventy-four years. They were the parents of seven children, of whom two are now deceased.

Alvin Betcher was but five years of age when he came with his parents to Greene county, and here he has since made his home. He was reared on the old farm which his father purchased and which is still claiming the time and energies of Alvin Betcher in its further development and improvement. When not occupied with the duties of the schoolroom in his boyhood days his attention was largely given to the work of the fields, and, having arrived at years of maturity, he purchased eighty acres of land on section 18, adjoining the old home place, and now farms both tracts. He has tiled the fields, thus adding greatly to their fertility, and by the rotation of crops and other modern methods of farming he has kept his place in excellent condition. He raises Hereford cattle, shire and Norman horses, and Poland China hogs, and both his live-stock interests and his general farming are profitable sources of income.

In the year 1900 Mr. Betcher was married to Miss Emma Romatche, a native of Henry county, Illinois, and a daughter of Frederick Romatche. They began their domestic life on the old homestead farm, where they have since lived, and here they delight in dispensing the hospitality for which their home has become notable. In his political views Mr. Betcher is a republican, interested in the party and its success, but without time or inclination to seek public oflice.

Transcribed from "Past and Present of Greene County, Iowa Together With Biographical Sketches of Many of Its Prominent and Leading Citizens and Illustrious Dead,"
by E. B. Stillman assisted by an Advisory Board consisting of Paul E. Stillman, Gillum S. Toliver,
Benjamin F. Osborn, Mahlon Head, P. A. Smith and Lee B. Kinsey, Chicago: The S. J. Clarke Publishing Company, 1907.

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