JOHN B. BARTLETT
Iowa
numbers among her native sons many able, progressive and
enterprising business men not the least prominent among whom
is John B. Bartlett, proprietor of a feed yard and implement
business in Seymour. He
was born in Appanoose county in 1855 and is a son of James and
Mary Jane (Starks) Bartlett, the former a native of Tennessee
and the latter of Indiana.
The Bartlett family was founded in Iowa by the
grandfather of our subject, Isaac Bartlett, who came to the
state from Tennessee in the early ‘40s and acquired a large
tract of government land.
On the maternal side Mr. Bartlett is a descendant of
Caleb Starks, who came with his family from Indiana to Iowa in
pioneer times. The
parents of our subject were married in Appanoose county and in
that section the father followed farming until the outbreak of
the Civil war, when he enlisted in the Federal army, afterward
meeting death upon southern battlefields. His wife later
married Nate Buress, a farmer of Appanoose county, who spent a
few years of his life in Kansas.
John
B. Bartlett was one of a family of five children born to his
parents. He
acquired his education in the public schools of his native
section and began his independent career in 1874, purchasing
at that time his first forty acres of land in Appanoose
county, Iowa. He
was very successful in its development and cultivation and as
his financial resources grew he added to his holdings until at
the present time he owns four hundred and eighty acres of
land. During the
course of his agricultural career he bought and sold many
acres of farming lands, his transactions along this line being
always directed by good business judgment and a knowledge of
land values. At
one time he owned over five hundred acres but has since
disposed of a portion of this property. In 1911 he
abandoned agricultural pursuits in favor of a business career
and moved into Seymour, where he opened a feed and implement
business, in the conduct of which he has already achieved a
gratifying measure of success.
In 1880 Mr. Bartlett married Miss Ellen Teeter, a native of Appanoose county and a daughter of C. N. Teeter, of that section. Mr. and Mrs. Bartlett have become the parents of four children: Frank, a farmer residing in Wayne county; Allie, who married Lester Webb, also engaged in farming in Wayne county; Ray, who is residing upon the old homestead; and James, whose home is in Montana. Mrs. Bartlett is a devout adherent of the Methodist church. Mr. Bartlett is affiliated with the Modern Woodmen of America, and his political allegiance is given to the democratic party. He is well known in this part of the state, where he has spent many years of his life, and his straightforward and enterprising spirit has gained him widespread esteem and confidence and many friends.