England and afterward following his trade in the United States until his removal to Wisconsin, when he turned his attention to farming. Unto him and his wife were born nine children: Mrs. Mary Dowse, now deceased; James, of Montana; Lovette, of this review; Mrs. Eliza Walker, of Neosho, Missouri; John, a resident of Cummins, Iowa ; Mrs. Libby Mott, deceased; William, of Neosho, Missouri; Charles, a resident of Ames; and one who died in infancy.
Lovette Oliver was only six years of age when he accompanied his parents to Indiana and a youth of nine years when they went to Kenosha county, Wisconsin. There he resided until 1869, when, at the age of twenty-three years, he made his way to Ames, since which time he has lived in Story county. He was reared to farm life from the age of nine and was continuously connected with agricultural pursuits until the time of his enlistment for service in the Civil war. He offered his aid to the government in Lake county, Illinois, in February, 1865, and was assigned to duty with Company F, One Hundred and Fifty-third Illinois Volunteer Infantry, with which he continued until the close of hostilities, doing guard duty most of the time with the Army of the Cumberland. He then returned home, after which he engaged in teaching school in the winter months and in the summer seasons studied photography. After his removal to Ames he opened a photographic gallery, which he conducted for three years and then removed to a farm a mile and a half southeast of the present site of Gilbert. Bending his energies to the cultivation and improvement of his land he transformed his farm into a valuable place and remained active in its improvement and control until 1880. When the town of Gilbert was founded he opened a lumberyard there and was engaged in the lumber and implement business for twenty-eight years. When he retired he was the oldest dealer in those lines in either Story or Boone counties. Throughout the entire period he had enjoyed an extensive patronage, for he had closely applied himself to business and at all times met the demands of his patrons with courteous service and honorable dealing. He was therefore accorded an extensive patronage and his business brought him substantial returns. As he prospered in his undertakings he invested more and more largely in real estate. He sold his farm property in Story county but is the owner of good farming land in Palo Alto county, together with eight hundred acres in South Dakota. He and his brother John owned and conducted a lumberyard at Cummins for several years but at length sold it. Lovette Oliver has invested in bank stock and has been vice president of the Gilbert Savings Bank since its organization in 1906. His attention, however, is merely given to the supervision of his invested interests and he is enjoying a rest which he has truly earned and richly deserves.
In November, 1868, Mr. Oliver was united in marriage in Lake county, Illinois, to Miss Lavina Ruth, who was born in that county, October 11, 1846, and is a daughter of Erwin and Leah (Brown) Ruth. Mr. and