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         JACOB HOUSE, a leading farmer residing on section 7, Grand View Township, was born in Butler County, Ohio, in 1813, and is a son of Jacob and Susanna (Tanner) House, who had a family of nine children, of whom he was the seventh. They were natives of Virginia, and emigrated to Ohio at an early day, first settling . . .

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. . . near the city of Cincinnati, where the father engaged in farming and blacksmithing. He had served as a soldier in the War of 1812, and his death occurred in Ohio in 1838, his excellent wife surviving him for about twenty years.

Our subject grew to manhood upon a farm in his native State, and received his education in its district schools. In 1837, in Butler County, he became the husband of Marilla A. Ayers, who was born in Ohio, and is a daughter of Michael and Baigal (Williams) Ayers, the father a native of Pennsylvania, and the other of the Buckeye State. Her father served as Justice of the Peace for eighteen years in Ohio, and followed the occupation of farming. Mrs. Williams was reared in Cincinnati when it was but a village, and had to be guarded to protect it from the hostile Indians.

After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. House settled in Shelby County, Ohio, where the husband purchased wild land of the Government and partly improved it, but owing to failing health was compelled to rent his farm and remove to Kentucky, where he engaged in stock-raising for six years. Returning to his native State he purchased a farm in Warren County, which he cultivated until his removal to Iowa, which occurred in 1856. He purchased eighty-seven acres of partly improved land, and seventeen acres of timber, in Grand View Township, immediately beginning its cultivation, planting the fields with grain, setting out orchards, and having the buildings erected necessary to well-regulated farms. Two good houses are upon his land; his stock is all of a good grade, and his farm is one of the best in the township. He held the office of Justice of the Peace for one term, and is independent in politics. Being an early settler he has witnessed almost the entire growth of Louisa County, and has aided in the promotion of enterprises beneficial to the community.

Mr. and Mrs. House are the parents of nine children, eight of whom are living: Loretta, now Mrs. Johnson, is living in Marsh, Louisa County; Martha Jane, wife of Mr. Kemp, resides in Port Louisa Township, Mary, now Mrs. McCaw, makes her home in Wapello County, Iowa; Josephine, who had taught successfully in both Iowa and Kansas for several years, died in 1880, at the age of twenty-eight; Franklin is married, and resides on the home farm; Priscilla, now Mrs. Sala, is living in Muscatine; Lawrence W. is married, and lives in Concord Township; Alexander H., of Wapello County, is also married, and Arthur Elmer is living on a claim in Washington Territory, where he is engaged in teaching. Mr. House has always been a friend to education, promoting its interests whenever possible, and has given his children good advantages in that line, four of them having been successful teachers in Louisa County. He and his wife are members of the Presbyterian Church.