schools of La Salle county. He left the parental roof at the age of eighteen years and came to Story county, Iowa, and engaged in farming. His great ambition in life was to possess a farm of his own and with this end in view he faithfully applied himself, realizing that material success can never be honorably won save by persistent effort sustained by patient diligence. In time he was rewarded by an accumulation of savings which enabled him to buy his first piece of real estate. By economy and careful attention to details he was able to add to his holdings from time to time until he has obtained the title to two hundred acres of land in Story county. His land is well improved and plentifully stocked, and his fields each year yield a profitable harvest.
Mr. Quam completed his arrangements for a home of his own by his marriage to Miss Amanda Sevenson. Seven children have been born of this union, two of whom died in infancy. Those living are : Francis, Earl, Roy, Lillian and Rosie.
Mr. and Mrs. Quam hold membership in the Lutheran church and he is a stanch supporter of the republican party, feeling that the basic principles of that body best serve the interests of the farming community. He has never taken an active interest in politics, not aspiring to public office, but he fulfills his responsibility as a citizen by casting his ballot at each election for the candidates of the party of his choice. Besides his property interests Mr. Quam is one of the stockholders of the Roland Savings Bank. He has been quite successful and is now able to foresee the time when he can comfortably live retired and enjoy the competence his well spent life has procured.
CAPTAIN I. L. SMITH.
There are some men who never seek public prominence nor notoriety who leave, nevertheless, an indelible impress upon the community in which their active lives were passed. Such is the record of Captain I. L. Smith, who was an enterprising business man, a capable and efficient office-holder and faithful friend and devoted husband and father. From 1887 until his demise he was engaged in the abstract, loan and real-estate business in Nevada, and a spirit of diligence and determination brought to him a liberal clientage and secured to him substantial success.
Mr. Smith was born in Somerset county, Pennsylvania, January 14, 1835, his parents being John H. and Catherine (Dorn) Smith, the former a native of Franklin county, Pennsylvania, born in 1812, while the mother's birth occurred in Germany in 1813. She came to the United States with her parents in 1819, the family home being established in Somerset county, Pennsylvania, where her girlhood days were passed and where she met and married John H. Smith. The latter was a son of Peter Smith, who was