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         MYERS JARVIS, a prominent and well-to-do farmer of Louisa County, residing on section 35, Morning Sun Township, was born in Union County, Ind., Oct. 22, 1825, and is a son of James and Ruth (Stallions) Jarvis. The father was born in Maryland, though reared in North Carolina, and came to this county in 1847, where the death of both parents occurred.

The educational advantages of our subject were very limited, he only being permitted to attend the common schools of his native county. At the age of nine years he commenced working upon a farm, which occupation he has followed throughout his entire life. In 1847 he became a resident of Louisa County, and is still living in the house which he built upon his arrival. He purchased 160 acres of prairie and forty acres of timber land in Morning Sun Township, and then went to the timber and cut the trees for the cabin. He hired a man with a horse sawmill to saw the logs, and erected a house 16x26 feet, which still serves as his home, though it has been greatly enlarged. The land which he purchased was a wild and unbroken prairie, and he ran the first furrow, breaking every bit of the whole farm, with the exception of twenty acres which he hired done. He also cut the rails for the fences, having at the end of the first winter split 3,000 rails.

On the 27th of November, 1851, Mr. Jarvis was united in marriage with Miss Jane Blair, daughter of W. P. Blair, one of the oldest settlers of Louisa County. She is a native of Tennessee, and was born about the year 1829. This worthy couple are the parents of eight children: Ruth, who became the wife of Samuel Stephens, a farmer of Clark County, Mo.; Miranda, who wedded Levi Wolfe, a resident farmer of Morning Sun Township; James A. became the husband of Flora E. Kirk, and is also engaged in farming in Morning Sun Township; William J., a farmer of the same township; Zadok H., Myers, John W. and Samuel, all of whom are at home. With one exception all of Mr. Jarvis’ children have settled near him, and as one by one they have left the parental roof he has provided them with good homes. To his first purchased of land he has added, until with what he has given to his children he had a total of about 1,000 acres, all of which was finely cultivated land. Upon his home farm he has one of the finest barns in the State, being 66x100 feet, with a basement nine feet high under the entire building. The barn from the floor to the cone inside is forty-eight feet, and has a capacity for 300 tons of hay, granaries for 1,500 bushels of oats, 1,600 bushels of corn, and with stabling for 100 head of cattle and forty-five head of horses. The cost of the building was about $5,500, and in its erection were used 200 perch of stone, 2,600 pounds of nails, and about 100,000 shingles. In the barn he also has all the necessary machinery for unloading hay. His horses are of the best Clyde and Norman stock, his cattle are Short-horn, and his hogs Poland-China.

When about to commence farming for himself Mr. Jarvis had to borrow money to purchase a second horse with which to begin work. Thus starting in life with nothing but a determination . . .

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. . . to make his way, he has, by his energy, enterprise and good management, which are among his chief characteristics, made his life a success and become one of the wealthy farmers of the county. To Mrs. Jarvis, too, is due much credit, for while her husband was clearing away the brush she was either attending to the stock, milking the cows or running the old spinning-wheel, by which she wove the cloth for the family. The first tax paid by Mr. Jarvis was about $3, but he now pays about $400. Mr. Jarvis has always given liberally of his means to the upbuilding of the county. In his political views he is a strong advocate of the principles of the Democratic party. For over forty years he has been a resident of Louisa County, Iowa. Great changes have taken place since then. Where once stood the wigwam of the Indians now is the home of civilized and Christian people, or perchance a church or school-house. Where the hazel brush once grew so thick that a person could hardly force a passage through it, are now waving fields of grain or beautiful orchards. In the work which transformed the country almost as if by magic, Mr. Jarvis was an earnest and willing helper, and as a pioneer and a citizen he deserves and receives the esteem of the people of Louisa County.