the mother of five children. Rose is the wife of J. C. Hilburn, who was born in Spencer, Owen county, Indiana, and is a son of J. C. and Bridget Hilburn. His parents were both dead ere he left home, and before coming to Iowa he spent some time in Kansas and Nebraska. He has been a resident of Story county about twenty years. He purchased land in Richland township, which he subsequently sold and then bought the farm which he now occupies from his father-in-law. He is recognized as one of the leading citizens of the community and is held in high regard wherever known. To Mr. and Mrs. Hilburn have been born the following children: Willis, George Howard, Blanch, Beulah, Clarence and Walter.
After he acquired the rights of full citizenship through naturalization Mr. Hyden cast his vote with the republican party. The esteem in which he was held was indicated by his election to many of the township offices, the duties of which he discharged to the satisfaction of the community. He was one of the most respected and substantial farmers of his section and during his residence here won many friends, whose esteem and goodwill he always retained.
FRED HOLTBY.
That the United States affords the possibilities which warrant the ambitious young man 0r woman in aspiring to almost any goal with full confidence of attaining it is universally conceded and to such men as Fred Holtby it has ever proven not only the land of promise but of fulfillment. Mr. Holtby was born in Yorkshire, England, on the 10th of March, 1865, a son of Stephen and Ana (Holtby) Holtby, also natives of Yorkshire, where they lived and died. The father was a farmer by occupation.
Our subject was reared on the home farm, acquiring his preliminary education in the village school and later being sent to a boarding school for a more advanced course, as is the custom in that country. On attaining his majority he decided that conditions in the United States offered better opportunities to ambitious young men than those of conservative England. He, therefore, set sail for America, landing in New York with twelve dollars in his pocket. Undaunted, however, he made his way west and located in Morgan county, Illinois, where he worked as a farm hand. He remained there for six years, carefully laying aside a portion of his meager wage each month in order that he, too, might become a landowner. In June, 1892, he again set his face toward the west, Iowa being his destination this time. He stopped in Story county for a short time and then rented a farm just over the line in Jasper county, about five miles south of Collins, where he began farming for himself. After six years of economy, good management and unremitting toil he had secured sufficient means to enable him to make a start for himself, so he purchased a small farm in Jasper county.