JESSE P. KNOTT.

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         Jesse P. Knott is an enterprising and progressive farmer of Concord township, owning and operating eighty acres of land on section 21. His birth occurred in that township on the 8th of October, 1878, his parents being Edward and Lavina Knott, natives of Louisa county. The father has devoted his attention to general agricultural pursuits throughout his entire business career and is now engaged in the operation of a farm of twenty-five acres on section 28, Concord township. Unto him and his wife were born five children, as follows: Jesse P., of this review; William A., who is a resident of Columbus Junction, Iowa; two who died in infancy; and Franklin, who passed away at the age of two years.

         Jesse P. Knott enjoyed the advantages of a high school education, graduating at Columbus Junction as one of a class of eighteen in 1898. When twenty- . . .

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. . . two years of age he secured a position as fireman with the Union Pacific Railroad Company, being employed in that capacity for eleven months, while during the following year he was similarly employed by the Rock Island Railroad Company. Subsequently he served as ticket agent and yard master at Columbus Junction for six years. On the expiration of that period he bought a tract of land comprising one hundred and seven acres but soon afterward disposed of the property and purchased his present farm of eighty acres on section 21, Concord township. He has brought the place under a high state of cultivation and improvement and the well tilled fields annually yield golden harvests in return for the care and labor which he bestows upon them. He likewise owns property in Oklahoma.

         On the 25th of November, 1900, Mr. Knott was united in marriage to Miss Elizabeth O. Latta, of Muscatine county, Iowa, her parents being J. M. and Rebecca Latta, both natives of Ohio. The mother of Mrs. Knott is a cousin of Abraham Lincoln. Mr. and Mrs. Latta had eleven children, five of whom are yet living, as follows: William, who is a resident of Muscatine, Iowa; Mrs. Knott; Edith, the wife of R. S. McDaniel, of Louisa county; Pearl B., of Riverside, Iowa; and Miles, at home. Mr. and Mrs. Knott have two children: Edward M., who was born on the 25th of May, 1908; and William A., whose natal day was September 20, 1909.

         In politics Mr. Knott is a stalwart democrat, believing firmly in the principles of that party. For six years he held the office of township assessor, ably discharging the duties devolving upon him in that connection. Fraternally he is identified with the Modern Woodmen of America and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. He has filled all the chairs in the local lodge of the latter order and has been sent as a representative to the grand lodge. His religious faith is indicated by his affiliation with the Methodist Episcopal church, to which his wife belongs. His entire life has been passed here and his fellow townsmen know him as a straightforward and reliable business man and citizen, who well merits the esteem that is uniformly accorded him.