CHARLES FATH.
View Portraits of Mrs. Charles Fath and Charles Fath
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         One of the well cultivated farms of Port Louisa township is the homestead of Charles Fath, which contains one hundred and fifty-three acres of land, located upon section 23. He was born in Germany October 20, 1837, and is a son of Christian and Rosina (Kaiser) Fath, who were born and married in the fatherland, from which country they emigrated to the United States in 1846. Upon their arrival in this country they first located in the vicinity of Buffalo, New York, where they resided until 1854 at which time they came to Iowa, settling upon a small tract of land in Louisa county. After cultivating this for several years they sold it and bought eighty acres of timber which the father cleared and cultivated until his demise in 1875. His wife had passed away two years previously. They were the parents of the following children: Christina, who passed away at the age of thirty-seven years; George, who was eighty-three at the time of his demise, which occurred in Wapello in 1910; Rosina, also deceased, who was the wife of Fred Kreiner, of Louisa county; Sarah, the deceased wife of John Keck, of Joy, Illinois; Charles, our subject; Jacob, who is a resident of Terry, Iowa; Magdeline, deceased, who was the wife of the late Mathias Bissinger, of Louisa county; and Sophia, who is living at Council Bluffs, Iowa.

         Being but a lad of eight years when his family emigrated to the new world, Charles Fath has spent practically his entire life in the land of his adoption, in the common schools of which he acquired his education. After laying aside his school books he assisted his father in the work of the farm until he attained his majority, at which time he left home to begin life on his own account as an agriculturist, having decided upon that for his vocation. He first rented land which he cultivated for four years and during that period he managed to save enough from his income to purchase forty acres. Later he traded this prop- . . .

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. . . erty for his father’s farm, which he bought from the other heirs and which formed the nucleus of his present homestead. Since settling upon the old home place Mr. Fath has added to his property from time to time until he now owns one hundred and fifty-three acres, one hundred of which are under a high state of cultivation. He has always engaged in general farming and stock-raising in which he has met with moderate success.

         On the 18th of September, 1861, was celebrated the marriage of Mr. Fath and Miss Charlotte Dollarhide, who was born in Wapello on the 22d of February, 1845. She is a daughter of Austin and Mary (Bedwell) Dollarhide, natives of Kentucky, from which state they removed to Iowa, crossing the prairies in a wagon in the ‘40s among the very early settlers of Louisa county. Shortly after locating upon their farm Mrs. Dollarhide passed away, her demise occurring in 1845, following which Mr. Dollarhide enlisted and went to the front of the Mexican war, from which he never returned. Two children were born of this union: Jane, who passed away in 1906, the wife of Thomas Allen, of Fairfield, Iowa; and Charlotte. Six children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Fath, two of whom died in infancy; Emma, who passed away on the 16th of December, 1910, at the age of thirty-eight years, the wife of Howard Marshall, of Gunnison county, Colorado; Ida, who was born in June, 1867, and was the wife of Howard Leyda, a printer, of Chicago; Leroy A., who was born on the 22d of February, 1880, and is a bookkeeper at the arsenal in Davenport; and Guy M., whose birth occurred on the 25th of April, 1883, and who is still at home.

         The family attend the Presbyterian church, of which they are members, and in politics Mr. Fath is affiliated with the republican party. Although he is not an office seeker he has served on the local school board, having been a member of that body for one term. Both Mr. and Mrs. Fath are among the old and well known settlers of the county, which has developed in an almost incredible manner within the period of their recollection.