HARRY Z. KERR.

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         Although comparatively a recent arrival in Louisa county, having come to Iowa only about two years ago, Harry Z. Kerr has gained an enviable reputation as a farmer and stock-breeder and is now on the highway to prosperity. He owes his success to a thorough knowledge of his business and an energy which difficulties serve only to stimulate to greater exertions. He is a native of Geneseo, Illinois, born May 3, 1882, a son of Thomas Walker and Amanda (Henninger) Kerr. The father was born in Pennsylvania and the mother in Wooster county, Ohio, February 23, 1841. They were married in 1859 and located in Illinois, where Mr. Kerr, Sr., engaged in farming. He died February 29, 1896. Mrs. Kerr survived her husband about twelve years, passing away November 11, 1908. There were nine children in their family, namely: Ella, the wife of F. O. Withrow, of Geneseo, Illinois; Amy, who became the wife of James Burton, of Kalispel, Montana; George, of Louisa county, a sketch of whom appears elsewhere in this volume; Lena, who married E. E. Withrow, of Los Angeles, California; Mina, the wife of Percy Davis, of Gen- . . .

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. . . eseo, Illinois; James, who makes his home in Louisa county; William and Thomas, both of whom are deceased; and Harry Z.

         The subject of this review attended the district schools and was reared upon the home farm. At the age of fifteen he lost his father, but he continued with his mother and at twenty-one years of age began farming upon his own account by renting his mother’s place. In 1909, the year following her death, he came to Louisa county, Iowa, and purchased one hundred and twenty acres, in Union township. Afterward he disposed of this land and rented two hundred and forty acres. He now has charge of two hundred acres, where he carries on general farming and stock-raising. He makes a specialty of raising shorthorn cattle and owns a full blooded registered Percheron horse named Albert Sidney Johnson, and a full blooded jack called Young Joe. He is a man of progressive ideas and by good judgment has secured for himself a handsome annual income.

         On the 21st of December, 1904, Mr. Kerr was married, in Illinois, to Miss Dora M. Hall, daughter of Albert and Harriet (Anderson) Hall, the former of whom was born in Pennsylvania and the latter in Sweden. They are now living at Colona, Illinois. There were five children in their family: Abbie M., the wife of James Hall, of Woonsocket, South Dakota; Arthur W., who resides at Colona, Illinois; Frank W., who is living at Silvis, Illinois; Dora M., now Mrs. Harry Z. Kerr; and Gertrude I., who married Ben Stottmeister, of Warner, Illinois. Mr. and Mrs. Kerr have become the parents of four children: Wilbert Warren, who was born October 15, 1905; Mabel Evelyn, born November 2, 1907; Norma Almyra, born September 10, 1909; and Roy Melvin, born August 14, 1911.

         Politically Mr. Kerr affiliates with the republican party and is in hearty accord with its principles. Fraternally he is identified with the Mystic Workers of the World and in religious belief is connected with the Presbyterian church. Active, earnest and efficient in business affairs, he generally secures satisfactory results in everything he undertakes and his friends are confident of his continued advancement.