JOHN F. WALTER.
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A prosperous agriculturist of Grand View township is John F. Walter, who owns one hundred and ninety acres of land upon which he engages in general farming and stock-raising. His birth occurred in the township where he is now residing on the 20th of September, 1863, being the eldest son of George and Anna (Blauer) Walter.
The father is a native of Germany and the mother of Switzerland, and they emigrated from their respective countries to the United States. They met and were subsequently married in Muscatine county, following which event they located on a farm. From that period until the death of his father Mr. Walter cultivated rented land. Being the only heir he inherited the homestead of his parents, containing fifty acres, upon which he resided until 1876. Disposing of his property at that time he bought two hundred acres of land east of Grand View, which he operated until his retirement in 1907. When he withdrew from active farming Mr. Walter owned three hundred and thirty-six acres of land, all of which was well improved and in a good state of cultivation. This he has recently divided among his four sons. Mr. and Mrs. Walter are now residing in Grand View, enjoying in their latter days the ease and comfort rewarded them for their hard work and self-denial during their youth. Besides our subject the other members of their family consisted of: George, who passed away on the 8th of December, 1910, at the age of forty-one; Martha, who was eight years of age at the time of her death; Fred, who is an agriculturist of Louisa county; William, who resides in Letts; Benjamin, who died at the age of two years; and one who died in infancy.
Practically the entire life of John F. Walter has been spent in the township where he is now residing, the district schools of which provided him with his education. After acquiring sufficient knowledge of the common branches to enable him to begin his life work, which he had already decided should be farming, he devoted his entire attention to assisting his father with the work of the homestead. At the age of twenty-six years, he began his independent career as an agriculturist by renting land which he cultivated for a year. At the expiration of that time he bought his present homestead, which contains ninety acres located on section 26. During the period of his occupancy he has wrought many improvements in this property, which he has brought to a high . . .
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. . . state of cultivation. He is operating this in connection with the one hundred acres of the old homestead which was presented to him by his father.
Mr. Walter was married February 19, 1890, to Miss Ella Haas, who was born in this county on the 29th of April, 1868. Mrs. Walter’s father, the late Peter Haas, was a native of Germany, from which country he emigrated to the United States with his parents when a youth of fifteen. Mrs. Haas, who prior to her marriage was Emma Judiesch, was born in Switzerland and when a child of five years she was brought to the United States by her parents. Mr. and Mrs. Haas were married in Muscatine county, and began their domestic life on a rented farm, in the cultivation of which he was engaged for several years. When they had acquired the necessary capital they bought land in Louisa county, and there the mother, who is now sixty-seven years of age, still resides, but Mr. Haas passed away in April, 1910, at the age of seventy-one years. Their family numbered ten children: Frank, who passed away at the age of twenty-six years; Elizabeth, the wife of George Haschar, now living on the old Haas homestead; John, who died when he was six years of age; Ella, now Mrs. Walter; Mary, who married William Allen, of Louisa county; George, who is a resident of Louisa county; Emma, the wife of Edwin Kluckhohn, of Garner, Iowa; Lulu, who became the wife of Herman Lohse, of California; Edward, who is unmarried and living in Grand View; and Esther, who died when she was eighteen years of age.
To Mr. and Mrs. Walter have been born seven children: Earl, who was born on the 9th of February, 1892, and was graduated from Muscatine high school with the class of 1911; Ruth M., born on the 25th of September, 1894, at home; Lulu F., born on the 10th of February, 1897, and now attending high school; Mildred L., born on the 10th of October, 1901, and attending the district school; Elsa L., born on the 26th of July, 1903; and Donald K., whose birth occurred on the 13th of August, 1906. Their eldest child died in infancy.
In religious faith Mr. and Mrs. Walter are Congregationalists, and fraternally he is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, being identified with the Grand View lodge. The political views of Mr. Walter coincide with those of the republican party, for whose candidates he always casts his ballot, but he has never had official aspirations. He has a wide acquaintance in Louisa county, and that he possesses the fine qualities and noble traits which win him lasting friends is attested by the fact that he continues to hold the regard of the comrades of his youth.
