For
Muscatine County Iowa
1911
| Biographies For Muscatine County Iowa 1911 | |
Source: History of Muscatine County Iowa, Volume II, Biographical, 1911, page 392
JOHN T. NEFF....John T. Neff, who owns and operates a well improved farm of two hundred and eighty acres on section 34, Pike township, was born in Wisconsin, August 14, 1869, his parents being Frank and Josephine ( Faynt ) Neff, natives of Germany and Pennsylvania respectively. When a mere boy the father accompanied his parents on their emigration to the United States, the family home being established in Wisconsin, where the paternal grandparents of our subject passed away. The parents of John T. Neff came to Iowa in 1873 and have resided in Muscatine county since, now living of a farm of seventy three acres near Conesville. They are wll known and highly esteemed throughout the community as people of genuine personal worth. Unto them were born eleven children, namely : Mary, Joseph, John T., Catherine, Frank B., Rosa, Clara, Tillie, Willie, Annie and Mina. .. The two last named are deceased.John T. Neff remained under the parental roof until twenty years of age, when he started out as an agriculturist on his own account, cultivating rented land for a short time. Sebsequently he spent two years on the Pacific coast and on returning to this county became identified with agricultural pursuits as a renter. Previous to his marriage he purchased a place of his own, coming into possession of a tract of sixty-three acres which he later sold. He has operated his present farm of two hundred and eighty acres for a period of sixteen years or until the death of his wife, which occurred on the 25th of March, 1910. At that time his holdings embraced two hundred and eighty acres of rich and arable land on section 34, Pike township. He cultivates the cereals best adapted to soil and climate and annually gathers rich crops which find a ready sale on the market.
On the 9th of January, 1894, Mr. Neff was united in marriage to Miss Manza Lord, a native of Muscatine county and a daughter of Richard and Jane ( Smally ) Lord, who were natives of Connecticut and Ohio respectively. They were married in this county and here spent the remainder of their lives, Mr. Lord being engaged in general farming. He was called to his final rest in 1885, when seventy-eight years of age, while his wife passed away when their daughter Manza was still but a child. Their children were nine in number , as follows : Andrew, who is deceased.; Kate, Byron, who has also passed away ; Emma; Mrs. Neff; Richard ; Herman and Edmund, both of whom are deceased ; and one who died in infancy.
In his political views M. Neff has always been a republican, interested in the success and growth of the party but without desire for office. He is a devoted and consistent member of the Reform church at Conesville, to which his wife also belonged. He is well known among his fellow citizens and the fact that many of his best friends are those who have known him longest is an indication that his salient characteristics are such as inspire and hold regard, esteem and good will.
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