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1907 Past and Present Biographies

Samuel Muesley

Samuel Muesley is one of the oldest settlers in Paton township and his experiences as a pioneer have been so varied and so extensive that it would be diflicult to find any one who has a more intimate knowledge of this community when it was a frontier settlement than has Mr. Muesley. He is today engaged in farming on section 15, carefully conducting his agricultural interests.

A native of Switzerland, he was born in the province of Berne on the 16th of March, 1839, his parents being Christian and Anna (Steffen) Muesley, both of whom are now deceased, the father having passed away at the age of fifty-four years and the mother when forty-eight years of age. They were once very wealthy but lost all they had through the mismanagement of a brother, whom they were endeavoring to assist financially.

Mr. Muesley was one of a family of six children but whether any of them are now living beside himself he does not know. He started out to make his own way in the world when only eight years of age and he was employed at farm labor by one man for twenty-three years lacking one month. His long service well indicates his fidelity and the trust reposed in him and the same spirit of loyalty and capability has characterized him throughout his entire life. Thinking to enjoy better business opportunities in the new world, he crossed the Atlantic to the United States in 1869 and made his way at once into the interior of the country, settling first in Muscatine county, Iowa, where he engaged in farming for eight years upon rented land. After residing here for four years and seven months he returned to Switzerland, where he had left his family and brought them to this country.

Mr. Muesley lived frugally and economically and, saving his earnings, he at length felt justified in making purchase of a farm. Accordingly in 1878 he came to Greene county and bought eighty acres of raw prairie land, upon which he has since made his home, the farm being located on section 15, Paton township. He had to borrow three hundred dollars with which to make the first payment upon his farm and it seems that in his life he has had more than his share of ill luck. He lost seventeen head of work horses in the first nine years and also several head of cattle one year with the black leg, but nevertheless in the face of difliculties and obstacles which would have utterly discouraged many a man of less resolute spirit he has worked on diligently and persistently day after day and at length has wrested fortune from the hands of fate. He succeeded in bringing the prairies under cultivation and as tne years have gone by has developed his property until it is now one of the best improved farms of this section of the state. In the early days he went to market with four sacks of wheat and one of corn to have the grain converted into fiour and meal. The condition of the roads was so poor that he was stuck in the mud three times and at length had to pack the sacks on his back, for the team could hardly pull the wagon through the swamp. On another occasion he started for Crooked creek, Webster county, for coal, leaving home at one o’clock in the night, and at daylight he was in the swamp less than half a mile from his home. He had lost his way and wandered all that time trying to find the road. He never became discouraged through all these hardships no matter what happened. “Work and pray” was his motto and it constitutes the secret of his success. Today he is the owner of two hundred acres of very rich and fertile land, improved with all modern equipments and accessories of the model farm and the property is the visible evidence of his life of untiring labor and thrift.

Before leaving his native country Mr. Muesley was married, in Switzerland, in 1863, to Miss Annie Lehman, who was born in the land of the Alps in the year 1841. She is still living but for several years has been an invalid. By her marriage she has become the mother of eight children, namely: Fred, at home; Mary, the wife of George W. Smith, a farmer residing in Paton township; Annie, the wife of Henry Sturdevan, living in Paton township; Rosa, the wife of Frank Fry, whose home is in Paton township; Ed, who is assistant in the operation of the home farm; Sarah, who died at the age of seven years and eight months; John, who died October 5, 1905, at the age of twenty-two years and ten months; and Lydia, the wife of Albert Hoffman, of Paton township. Although Mr. Muesley has experienced many hardships and difficulties in life the greatest blow that ever came to him was in the death of his son John, who was a young man of many sterling traits of character, popular with his associates and in his home a devoted son and brother.

Since 1869 Mr. Muesley has been a member of the Evangelical church and is an earnest Christian man, much esteemed for his many excellent traits of character. He is tender hearted, kindly and considerate in spirit and at all times has lived peaceably with his fellowmen, attempting to follow the Golden Rule in all of his relations with those with whom he comes in contact. His political support is given to the republican party but he has never sought or desired oflice, preferring to give his time and energies to business affairs.

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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