viously purchased from his father. He now owns one hundred and ninety acres on section 22, Palestine township, and has one of the desirable places of the county, having made many improvements adding greatly to its original value. He is a stockholder of the Farmers Savings bank and also of the Farmers Elevator company and the Farmers Cooperative Creamery Company, all of Huxley, and as a business man and citizen stands very high in the estimation of the people.
On the 14th of February, 1895, Mr. Kalsem was united in marriage to Miss Carrie R. Nelson, a daughter of Andrew Nelson, a wealthy farmer of Polk county. Four children blessed this union : Mabel V., Martha C., Joseph N. and Agnes M.
Mr. and Mrs. Kalsem are active members of the Lutheran church, in which he serves most creditably as trustee. Politically he gives his support to the republican party and is a stanch advocate of its principles. In 1910 he was a candidate for the office of county supervisor but failed at that time of nomination. He has been identified with this section ever since his earliest recollection and on account of his many excellencies of character is greatly esteemed by a large circle of friends and acquaintances in his part of the county.
GEORGE W. Kelley.
On the pages of pioneer history of Story county appears the name of George W. Kelley, who arrived here when Nevada contained but one house and when the greater part of the county was still an unclaimed and unsettled region. He was among those who secured the wild land for the purpose of civilization and converted the prairie into productive fields. He relates many interesting incidents of the early days and is authority upon many events which find a place in history.
He was born in Vigo county, Indiana, on the 15th of January, 1835, his parents being Amos and Elizabeth ( Jackson) Kelley, natives of Kentucky and North Carolina respectively. They were married in the former state and became pioneer settlers of Indiana, where the father died when his son George was but three years of age. The mother spent her last days in Story county in the home of her son George and there passed away in 1884. She ever remained true to the memory of her husband, never marrying again. Mr. Kelley had devoted his life to farming and was a very busy and active man until death terminated his labors.
George W. Kelley was the ninth in a family of seven sons and three daughters: Sallie Ann, now the deceased wife of George P. Yocum; Malinda, the deceased wife of William Stafford; Amos, who has also passed away ; Rebecca, the deceased wife of Isaac Jones; Samuel, who served for three years in the Tenth Iowa Volunteer Infantry and then reenlisted, after