school ; and Mary A., who was born January 27, 1904, and is also attending the district school.
Mr. Schmellik is a faithful member of the Lutheran church of French Grove. He gives his support to the republican party and belongs to the progressive element of that organization, believing that the party has within itself the ability to correct abuses that arise from time to time. Although he has not urged his claims for political honors, he served as road-master in 1910 and also for a number of years as constable of the township. He has ever since his boyhood been active and energetic in everything he has undertaken and he has shown a faithfulness in the discharge of his duties as a public officer which merited the approval of the people of the township, irrespective of party. It is scarcely necessary to say that today he has the complete confidence of the community and of a wide circle of friends in his part of the county.
MRS. EMILY WYATT HANDSAKER.
Mrs. Handsaker, one of the well known and highly esteemed citizens of Nevada, Story county, was born in Indiana in 1838 and is a daughter of Reuben and Mary (Ellsworth) Wyatt, the father being a native of Virginia and the mother of Ohio. The parents left Indiana and settled in Illinois when Mrs. Handsaker was a child and after about eleven years' residence in the latter state they again removed, this time locating in Story county.
Emily Wyatt was united in marriage to William Handsaker, who was born in England in 1826 and lived in that country until he was twenty-five years old. In 1851 he decided that the United States afforded better opportunities for ambitious young men than the old world and, crossing the ocean, landed in New York. He made his way across the continent to Iowa and on arriving in Story county he bought eighty acres of land in Richland township, upon which he located. He added to his holdings from time to time until he was quite an extensive landowner. He was a very capable man and met with a fair degree of success in his various agricultural pursuits and was able to live retired during the latter years of his life. Before he retired in 1893, he sold all of his realty holdings to his sons and bought a residence in Nevada, where he lived until he passed away March 31, 1907.
Mr. Handsaker was an ardent republican and his popularity in the community in which he lived was indicated. by his repeated reelection to the various township offices. He was a very public-spirited man as well as most upright and high principled and was highly esteemed and respected in the township where he spent almost his entire life. He was a