I. s. SIVERLY.

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Mr. & Mrs. E. W. Siverly         Mr. & Mrs. I. S. Siverly

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I. S. Siverly who lives upon a well cultivated farm in Louisa county, which he acquired through his energy and good management, is a native of Pennsylvania. He was born in Corn Planter township, Venango county, May 24, 1836, a son of E. W. and Nancy (Jordan) Siverly, the former of whom was born in New York state and the latter in Brown county, Ohio. The parents were married in the east and the family came to Iowa in 1838, locating on a farm in Louisa county. Here E. W. Siverly built a little log cabin, which he covered with a clapboard roof and provided with a puncheon floor and a stick chimney, the door being opened, according to the custom of the pioneers, with a latch-string. Here the family lived about ten years but in 1847, Mr. Siverly having prospered as a farmer, he located on two hundred and fifteen acres, a part of which is in Wapello and part in Marshall townships. The parents both died on this farm. Fifteen children were born to them of whom eight are now living, namely: I. S.; L. L., of Ringgold county, Iowa; George, of Johnson county; . . .

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. . . E. W., Jr., who is a resident of Wapello; Frank, who makes his home in Arizona; Augusta, who is now the widow of F. F. Curran, of Morning Sun, Iowa; Amanda, the widow of George Smith, of San Francisco, California; and Eva, who married A. E. Baldridge, of Wapello.

         I. S. Siverly received limited advantages of education as he grew to manhood and continued upon the home farm until he enlisted in the Civil war as a member of Company F, Nineteenth Iowa Volunteer Infantry. He participated in the battles of Prairie Grove, Vicksburg, Sterling Farm, Mobile and Meadowville. He was taken prisoner by the Confederates while on the Red River expedition and was confined for ten months at Tyler, Texas, at the end of which time he was exchanged. He returned to his regiment and was present at a number of hard fought battles and engagements of the Army of the Gulf. In 1805 he was honorably discharged at Mobile, Alabama, and returned to Louisa county, later purchasing the old family homestead, which he has greatly improved. He has been very successful not only as an agriculturist but in handling live stock and is known as one of the thorough and prosperous farmers of his locality.

         On the 10th of January, 1867, Mr. Siverly was united in marriage to Miss Mary A. Rice, a native of Kentucky and a daughter of Israel and Lucinda (Ayers) Rice. By this union nine children were born, seven of whom are now living. John R., who now makes his home in Linn county, Iowa, wedded Mary Buck, now deceased and for his second wife married Minnie Sutzin. By his first union there are two children, Hazel and Ruth. Robert E., a resident of Louisa county, married Emma Casten and they have four children, Guy W., Jessie Marie, Fred and Pauline. William S., of Laclede county, Missouri, married Ida Myers and after her death wedded Bessie Nurse. He has one child, Violet, by his first marriage, and another, Ernest L., by the second. James A., who resides in South Dakota, married Cora Wilson and they have one child, Arthene. Georgia M. is the wife of Arthur Wilson, of Louisa county, and they have four children, Roxey, Mary, Harold and Verne. Ernest L., of Morning Sun, married Mearle Losey. Harry H., a resident of Burlington, complete the family. The mother of these children died April 18, 1896, and was laid to rest in the Rice cemetery.

         Mr. Siverly was again married October 30, 1901, his second union being with Mrs. Rachel Boorn, a native of Louisa county and a daughter of Lafayette and Emma (Rice) Boorn. Her father is now living in Wapello but her mother is deceased. They were both natives of New York state. By her first husband Mrs. Siverly had one daughter, Jessie Marie, who was born April 28, 1895. Mr. Siverly has two grand-children living with him: Hazel, who was born January 19, 1902; and Ruth, born October 18, 1905. They are the daughters of John Siverly, the eldest son, and since the death of their mother have made their home with their grandfather.

         In politics Mr. Siverly has since reaching manhood voted in support of the principles and candidates of the republican party. He has served very efficiently as township trustee and as school director but has never aspired to the honors . . .

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. . . of political office, as his interests have been centered on his farm. He is now about seventy-five years of age and can look back over many years of usefulness, in the course of which he secured a competency that enables him to enjoy the comforts and many of the luxuries of life. He fully deserves the respect in which he is held by the people of Louisa county.