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1907 Past and Present Biographies

N. C. Tallman

N. C. Tallman is engaged in general farming in Paton township, where he owns and cultivates one hundred and sixty acres of land. He is a native of Jones county, Iowa, born January 22, 1846, and is the eldest of eight living children whose parents were John and Lucinda (Low) Tallman, natives of Ohio and Maryland respectively. Soon after their marriage they removed from Ohio to Iowa, becoming residents of Jones county in 1845. Buying a tract of land, the father carried on general agricultural pursuits and was numbered among the successful farmers of that county up to the time of his death. He was quite prominent in local political circles and was retained in the oflice of county supervisor for nine years, also filling various township positions, the duties of which he discharged with promptness and fidelity. He belonged to the Methodist Episcopal church and was a stalwart advocate of republican principles. At all times he was worthy the trust and confidence which were uniformly given him by his fellow townsmen, and thus his death, which occurred July 30, 1893, when he was seventy-one years of age, was deeply deplored by many friends. Of his family of ten children eight still survive: N. C., of this review; Reuben S., a resident farmer of Paton township; Elizabeth, who for some years has been a teacher in the public schools of Denver, Colorado; W.H.,living in Paton township; Mrs. Rose Neff, whose home is in Mount Vernon, Iowa; Mrs. Samantha Kane, a widow, residing in Jones county, Iowa; Mrs. Angeline Boots, of the same county; and Wilbur E., who resides on the old home farm in Jones county. One son, James H. Tallman, served for three years as a soldier of Company E, Thirty-first Iowa Infantry, in the Civil war, and died in Shelby county, Iowa, in 1906. Mrs. Mary Jane Boots died November 26, 1888, at the age of thirty-three years.

As a boy N. C. Tallman worked upon the home farm, and in the public schools became familiar with the common English branches of learning. He remained a resident of Jones county until 1871, when at the age of twenty five years he came to Greene county with his brother, Reuben S. Tallman, and purchased his present farm of one hundred and sixty acres in Paton township. It was then a tract of raw prairie, covered with the native grasses through the summer months and with a sheet of glistening snow in the winter season. He and his brother were the first settlers of Paton township, all around them being wild and undeveloped. They aided in extending the frontier and in reclaiming this region for the purposes of civilization, and as the years have passed they have met with a goodly measure of success.

N. C. Tallman was married in Boone county in 1875 to Miss Annie Pettit, who died twelve years later, in May, 1887. For his second wife he chose Ida May Hamilton, a native of Illinois. Unto Mr. and Mrs. Tallman have been born six children, of whom five yet survive, namely: Dora A., Arthur J., Leslie L., Verva and Harold H.

The family home is now a comfortable residence, standing in the midst of a well improved farm. There are good outbuildings for the shelter of grain and stock, while the latest improved machinery facilitates the work of the fields. The days, however, have not all been equally bright to Mr. Tallman. In fact, many hardships have come to him and many dificulties and obstacles have barred his path to prosperity, but with unabating energy and industry that never flags he has continued on his way until he is now one of the substantial agriculturists of his community. He votes with the republican party and both he and his wife are members of the Methodist Episcopal church, while in the community they are much esteemed as people of genuine personal worth, enjoying in large measure the good will and friendship of those with whom they have been associated.

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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