CELESTUS UTTER.

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         It is fitting that men in the evening of life should enjoy a season of rest. Nature seems to have intended that this should be so, for in youth he is full of energy and hope and in later years these qualities are directed by mature judgment and keen discrimination, resulting in the attainment of success which, when the evening shadows fall, permits him to enjoy a period of rest from labor. Such has been the record of Celestus Utter who for the past fourteen years has lived retired in Letts.

         An easterner by birth, Mr. Utter is a native of Madison county, New York, his birth there occurring December 22, 1837. His parents, Palmer and Julia (Mann) Utter, were also born in the Empire state and were there reared and married. That state remained their home until 1856, when they came to Iowa, locating on a farm which Mr. Utter purchased in Louisa county, and in the operation of which he continued until his death. He passed away in 1901, having survived his first wife for twenty-two years. Three years after her demise he was again married, his second union being with Miss Caroline Thorp, a native of Madison county, New York. By his first union were born eight children, three of whom passed away in infancy. Celestus, of this review, is the eldest in order of birth, and the other members of the family are as follows: Adelbert, died in prison while serving in the Civil war. Williston was also a soldier of the Civil war and was wounded at the battle of Branden, Mississippi, resulting in the loss of a leg. His death occurred in 1908, his body being laid to rest in Cedar Bethel cemetery. Harriet had been married but a short time previous to her death in 1876, her remains also being interred in Louisa county. Kendrick is a resident farmer of Fairfield, Iowa. Mrs. Caroline (Thorp) Utter passed way in 1908.

         The period of his boyhood and youth were passed by Celestus Utter in his New York home, and in the common schools of that state he acquired his education. He was a young man of eighteen years when, in 1856, he came to Louisa . . .

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. . . county, Iowa, and entered the business world, being employed for five years as a farm hand. He then began farming independently on rented land, which he operated for a few years, and subsequently purchased seventy-eight acres, which formed the nucleus of his fine estate. He engaged in agricultural pursuits until his retirement from active life, at which time he was the owner of two hundred and forty-five acres which he had accumulated as he had prospered in his undertaking from year to year. This land, located in Concord township, Louisa county, was all under a high state of cultivation and indicated, in its neat and well kept appearance, a life of industry, enterprise and thrift on the part of its owner. Success in a most gratifying degree awarded his efforts until, in 1897, he had accumulated a fortune which permitted of his withdrawal from farm work and in that year he took up his abode in Letts, where he is now living retired in the enjoyment of well earned and well merited rest. He now makes his home in a comfortable and attractive dwelling of which he is the owner.

         Mr. Utter has been twice married. In 1862, in Louis county, he wedded Mrs. Rebecca Cole, who was born in Michigan, a daughter of Robert Painter, also a native of that state, and by this union were born five children, of whom the eldest died in infancy. The others are as follows: Alice, who married O. C. Farmer, a retired farmer of Letts, now serving on the board of supervisors; Harriet, the wife of M. A. Shellabarger, of Letts; Robert, a farmer of Concord township; and Hervey A., also engaged in agricultural pursuits in that township. The mother of these children passed away in 1900, her remains being interred in Indian Creek cemetery. In 1909 Mr. Utter married Mrs. Catherine (Wagner) Ritter, the widow of Louis B. Ritter. By her first marriage she had three sons: John William, Haroe and Walter, all residents of Letts. Mrs. Utter is a daughter of Deter and Lavina (Gipple) Wagner, who were born, reared and married in Pennsylvania. They came west and located on a farm in this county in 1877. Mr. Wagner died in 1883 and his wife two years previously. He was a republican in politics and a member of The Church of God.

         Politically Mr. Utter is also a republican, casting his first vote for Abraham Lincoln, but the honors and emoluments of public office have never held attraction for him. He has already passed the Psalmist’s allotted span of three score years and ten and although not actively connected with business still retains an interest in the world’s work and the vital questions and issues of that day.