cial institution. It has become the depository of the savings and earnings of many, being now accorded a liberal patronage. Mr. Penfield also engages in the real-estate and insurance business here and in both lines has secured a good clientage. An enterprising spirit characterizes all that he does in business, and he is at all times prompt and reliable, never hesitating or vacillating.
On Christmas day of 1900 was celebrated the marriage of Mr. Penfield and Miss Mary L. Banks, who was born in Grant township, this county, in January, 1881, and is a daughter of Henry and Amanda (Taylor) Banks, who are residents of Grant township. Mr. and Mrs. Penfield have an adopted daughter, Genevieve Lucile, who was born January 5, 1909, and became a member of their household when but four days old. Theirs is a hospitable home and Mr. and Mrs. Penfield are prominently known in the best social circles of Kelley and other parts of the county.
In his political views Mr. Penfield has ever been a stalwart republican, giving unfaltering support to the party. Upon its ticket he was elected a member of the city council in Nevada, resigning that position upon his removal to Kelley. He has also filled the office of justice of the peace and during most of his residence in Kelley has been mayor of the town, which position he is now filling. His administration is businesslike and progressive and has brought about many needed reforms and improvements in municipal government. Whatever he undertakes he carries forward to completion whether in connection with public office or in the pursuit of his private business affairs.
SILAS I. McQUISTON.
There are few men in Story county who retain a more vivid recollection of the decade preceding the Civil war than Silas I. McQuiston. For fifty-five years he has been a resident of Iowa, forty-five of which he has spent in Collins township, and his mind carries him back to the time when deer roamed freely on the prairies and wild turkeys were plentiful. He was born in Tuscarawas county, Ohio, March 4, 1833, a son of John and Nancy (Bowers) McQuiston, a record of whom is presented elsewhere in this work in the sketch of Commodore Perry McQuiston.
Silas I. McQuiston was reared under the parental roof and acquired his early education in a log schoolhouse of his native county. In 1853, having received very favorable reports concerning opportunities for farmers in Iowa from several families whom he had known in Lagrange county, Indiana, he came to Jasper county, Iowa, arriving on the 1st day of August. After looking over the country carefully and determining to make this state his permanent home, he started on foot to Chicago, which he thought was the nearest railway terminus from points in the east. He walked with his