For
Muscatine County Iowa
1911
| Biographies For Muscatine County Iowa 1911 | |
Source: History of Muscatine County Iowa, Volume II, Biographical, 1911, page 194
JEFFERSON E. SANDERS. Jefferson E. Sanders, the owner of a well improved and productive tract of land comprising one hundred eighty-six and a half acres on section 16, Wapsinonoc township, is successfully engaged in business as a farmer and stockman. His birth occurred in Johnson county, Iowa, on the 6th of September, 1861, his parents being George W. and Abigail ( Owen ) Sanders, natives of Ohio. On taking up his abode in Johnson county, this state, the father first cultivated rented land for a time, while about 1865 he purchased a farm of sixty acres near Lone Tree, Iowa, operating the place until he put aside the active work of the fields in 1906. He then bought a nice home in West Liberty and has there lived in honorable retirement to the present time. Unto him and his wife were born six children, namely: Celesta, who died in infancy; Jefferson E., of this review; Carrie, who is deceased; Bertrice, the wife of W. P. Nichols, of Wapsinonoc township, Muscatine county; and George H. and Mattie who have also passed away.When about twenty-one years of age Jefferson E. Sanders became identified with the grain business, being thus engaged at Lone Tree, Iowa, for one year. On the expiration of that period he rented eighty acres of land, cultivating the tract for about twelve months. He then spent a year in the western part of Nebraska and subsequently worked as a farm hand for a similar period. During the following three years he operated a farm of one hundred and twenty acres belonging to a neighbor, while later he conducted a cream route for about a year. In 1889 he bought a tract of eighty acres in Johnson county, there carrying on agricultural pursuits until 1894, when he disposed of the property and took up his abode on his father-in-law's farm in Muscatine county. In the meantime he had purchased one hundred eighty-six and a half acres of land on section 16, Wapsinonoc township, whereon he now resides, having brought the fields under a high state of cultivation and improvement. In addition to raising the cereals best adapted to soil and climate he feeds cattle and hogs for the market, making a specialty of short-horned cattle. His prosperity is well deserved, for he has worked earnestly and persistently year by year, brooking no obstacles that could be overcome by determined and honorable effort.
On the 21st of February, 1889, Mr. Sanders was united in marriage to Miss Lura Nichols, a daughter of Phineas and Martha ( Gibson ) Nichols. A sketch of her father appears on another page of this work. Mr. and Mrs Nichols were the parents of eleven children, all of whom are now deceased except the following named: Harriet, the wife of Albert Whitacre; J. Clark; Mrs. Sanders; Rosella, the wife of Charles Wolf; and Rosetta, the wife of Walter Mackey, of Downey, Iowa. Mr. and Mrs. Sanders have three sons: Glenn H., Forest N., and Vaughn J., all at home.
In politics Mr. Sanders is a stanch republican but his aspirations have not been in the line of office holding. In religious faith he is a Methodist, while fraternally he is identified with the Knights of Pythias. He has spent practically his entire life in this part of the state and has long enjoyed an enviable reputation as a representative agriculturist and respected citizen.
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