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1907 Past and Present Biographies

Marcellus A. Whitson

Marcellus A. Whitson, who has resided on his present farm on section 33, Dawson township, since 1887 and has made his home in the county since 1884, is a native of Howard county, Indiana, his birth having there occurred on the 22d of October, 1849. He was one of four children whose parents were Elijah and Susan (Kellenberger) Whitson, the former born in Ohio in the year 1818, while the mother is a native of Pennsylvania, born in 1822. They had two daughters and two sons: Mrs. Rachel Butler, now living in Sheldon, Illinois; Mrs. Maria McCollough, whose home is in Hurley, South Dakota; Marcellus A.; and Peter, who is living in Chicago. The father died in Sheldon, Illinois, in 1896, and the mother is still living in that town at the advanced age of eighty-five years.

It was during the infancy of Marcellus A. Whitson that his parents removed from Howard county to Newton county, Indiana, where he resided until 1882, being reared to the occupation of the farm and gaining thereby the practical experience which well qualified him to take charge of a farm of his own when he started out in life for himself. He was married on the 22d of January, 1882, to Miss Mary Mutz, who was born in France in 1859, a daughter of Mitchell and Bozella (Colfeist) Mutz, who were also natives of France. The father died when Mrs. Whitson was but two years of age and the mother with her two children afterward came to America in 1870. She established her home in Indiana, where she lived for thirty-two years and then returned to Europe, making her home in Metz, formerly a part of France but now a part of Germany. Unto Mr. and Mrs. Whitson have been born three children: Kirk O., Cleo B. and Ernest.

Two years after his marriage Mr. Whitson came to Iowa, settling in Greene county. He took up his abode on a farm near Farlin and in 1887 he purchased his present farm, comprising one hundred and sixty acres. Slight improvements had been made upon the place at that time and all of the modern equipments which are seen here today have been supplied by Mr. Whitson, who in his farm work is enterprising and progressive. He has a fine home, good outbuildings and high grades of stock, and he utilizes the latest improved machinery to facilitate the work of the fields. He also raises and markets stock and is well known in this connection. In 1895 he went to California, where he remained for two years, after which he returned to his home farm in Dawson township. Close application in his business, combined with sagacity in the management of all of his farming interests, have made him a prosperous agriculturist of his community. His political views are in accord with the principles embodied in the democratic platform, while his religious faith is indicated by his membership in the Methodist Episcopal church.

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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