G. W. MOYERS.

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Mr. & Mrs. George W. Moyers        Mr. & Mrs. Samuel N. Moyers

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         A well tilled farm of one hundred and sixty acres in Wapello township pays tribute to the agricultural skill of G. W. Moyers, who was born in Des Moines county, Iowa, on the 12th of April, 1849, and is the eldest son of Samuel N. and Lucinda H. (Deen) Moyers, pioneer settlers of that county. The birth of the father occurred five miles north of Carrollton, in Greene county, Illinois, and from that state he came to Iowa in 1839, locating in Des Moines county, where he engaged in agricultural pursuits until his retirement from active labor in 1884. He then removed to Mediapolis, Iowa, where his wife died November 9, 1909, at the age of eighty-six years, but he is still living at the age of eighty-four. In politics he is a democrat and has held several township offices. He is a faithful member of the Methodist Episcopal church and is also connected with the Grange. Although well advanced in years he is a hale and hearty old gentleman whom it is a pleasure to meet and know. In his family were two sons and two daughters as follows: Marietta, deceased; G. W., of this review; Sarah Ellen, the deceased wife of James Larkin, of Des Moines; and Jacob, who is living in Spokane, Washington.

         The early life of G. W. Moyers was very similar to that of other lads of the period in like circumstances, his education being acquired in the district schools of his native county, such time as he was not there engaged being devoted to the work of the farm. At the age of twenty-one years he settled on a tract of one hundred and sixty acres belonging to his father, which he cultivated for nine years. At the expiration of that period he returned to the old homestead and managed it for two years, following which he removed to Edwards county, Kansas. There he purchased a half section of land, which he cultivated for three years and then returned to the old home farm in Des Moines county, . . .

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. . . where he lived for a year. In 1896 Mr. Moyers came to Louisa county, purchasing one hundred and sixty acres of land in Wapello township, where he has since resided. Here he engages in general farming and stock-raising, in both of which he has been very successful. He has made all the improvements on his farm, having erected during the period of his occupancy some very fine buildings. All of the land is tillable, well drained and substantially fenced, while the fields are under a high state of cultivation, thus making it one of the valuable properties of the township.

         On the 11th of November, 1869, Mr. Moyers was united in marriage to Miss Rebecca E. Pence, a daughter of Jonathon and Polly (Tootwaler) Pence, both of whom were natives of eastern Virginia, whence they removed to West Virginia at an early day. Her father served in the Third Virginia Volunteer Infantry during the Civil war but after about two years at the front he died from exposure. The mother had passed away in 1848. Mrs. Moyers came to Des Moines county, Iowa, with her brother-in-law , Martin Deen, his wife and her sister, when she was nineteen years of age and there she was subsequently married. She was the youngest in a family of three daughters, the others being: Margaret E., the wife of D. Shumacher, of West Virginia; and Mary V., the wife of Martin Deen, of Cass county, Iowa. To Mr. and Mrs. Moyers were born ten children: Samuel L., who is deceased; Mary L., the wife of George Dotson, of Louisa county; Pearl Alfred, of Des Moines county; Hattie May, the wife of Samuel Walker, of Louisa county; Cora Ellen, who married Frank Hamilton, also of this county; James Burton, of Des Moines county; Gertie Edna, who is deceased; Edward Nelson, now living in Robstown, Texas; one who died in infancy; and Hally Roy, at home, who married Martha Catherine Baxter and has one child, Dwight, who was born on the 16th of August, 1909.

         Both Mr. and Mrs. Moyers are affiliated with the Methodist Episcopal church, and his political support he gives to the democratic party. He has never been prominently identified with township affairs but he has held some of the minor offices. A capable agriculturist, the efforts and intelligence he has expended in the direction of his business have been well rewarded and Mr. Moyers is recognized as one of the substantial citizens of Wapello township.