rents are members. Mr. Gamble is accounted one of the substantial and enterprising citizens of which his township has cause to be proud. Both he and his wife have hosts of friends and their home is one of the social centers of the community.
O. M. GROVE.
O. M. Grove is numbered among the native sons of Story county, his birth having occurred on the 12th of October, 1871, about a mile south of Roland. He is now living in that town, with the mercantile interests of which he was formerly closely associated, while at the present writing he is serving as cashier of the Farmers Savings Bank. He is a son of M. C. and Anna (Sheldahl) Grove. The father, who was born in Voss, Norway, in 1830, died May 22, 1903, in Roland, and the mother, a native of Etne, Norway, is still living in Roland. She came to the United States with her parents, Rasmus and Ingebord Sheldahl, both natives of Norway, when a little maiden of five years, the family living in Illinois until 1856, when a removal was made to Story county, where Mrs. Grove has since resided, having now for fifty-five years made her home in central Iowa. She is therefore familiar with its development and progress and has been an interested witness of what has been accomplished as the years have passed by. Her husband came direct to Story county in 1858 and spent his remaining days here, successfully following the occupation of farming until 1896, when he retired and took up his abode in Roland. Unto this worthy and highly respected couple were born six children: Martin N., who is living in Roland ; Lorenda, living at home with her mother ; Oscar M., of this review; Edward R., who occupies the old homestead south of the town; Mary, the wife of K. P. Teig, of Howard township, living about three miles southeast of Roland ; and Emma, who for the past three years has engaged in teaching school at Collins.
Oscar M. Grove has been a lifelong resident of this county and in his youthful days devoted his time to the work of the schoolroom, the pleasures of the playground and the duties assigned to him by parental authority. In 1889, when a young man of about eighteen years, he left the farm and turned his attention to commercial pursuits, securing a clerkship in a hardware store in Roland. He was thus employed for eight years, during which time he thoroughly mastered the business and on the expiration of that period he purchased an interest in the store, becoming a partner in 1897. The enterprise was then conducted under the firm style of Grove Brothers, his partner being Martin N. Grove. For seven years the business was continued, and in the spring of 1904 they sold their hardware stock and have continued to deal in agricultural implements since that time under the same name, the store being managed by Martin N. Grove.