GEORGE K. COMBS
Despite
the fact that he has far outlived the Psalmist’s allotted span
of three score and ten, George K. Combs is still engaged in
business in Allerton, where he has long conducted a
real-estate, loan and collection office. His birth occurred
in Lawrence county, Ohio, on the 18th of November,
1831, and he is a son of Jonas and Margaret (Koontz) Combs,
natives respectively of Virginia and Ohio. They were united in
marriage in Lawrence county, Ohio, and there passed the entire
period of their married life.
To them were born nine children, our subject being the
second in order of birth.
The boyhood and youth of George K. Combs were passed in very much the same manner as those of other lads who were reared in the rural sections of the middle west during the pioneer period. He remained at home with his parents until he had attained his majority, and then started out for himself. In common with the majority of farmer lads he had been trained to agricultural pursuits from his boyhood, and continued to follow that vocation for many years. He first rented one of this father’s farms, which he cultivated for a year. At the expiration of that time his father sold the property and he removed to Logan county, Ohio, where he operated his father-in-law’s farm. He resided there until the spring of 1857, when he bought eighty acres of land in DeWitt county, Illinois, and there continued his agricultural career until 1863. In the year last named he sold his place and returned to Ohio, devoting his energies to various occupations until the spring of 1865, when he came to Iowa, settling near Mechanicsville, Cedar county. Three years later, in 1868, he removed to Wayne county, purchasing eighty acres of raw land in Warren township. He applied himself to the cultivation and improvement of his property with marked capability and intelligence, directing his undertakings with the foresight and discernment that invariably bring good returns. As time passed he enhanced the value of his place by the erection of substantial buildings and the introduction about the premises of various improvements, consistent with the spirit of progress he exercised in the direction of his business. In 1880, Mr. Combs sold this place and bought seventy-six and a half acres of land just south of Allerton, on which he resided for six years. At the end of that time he likewise disposed of that farm and came to Allerton, where he has ever since made his home. Here he subsequently became associated with E. L. Hart in establishing the first real-estate office opened in the town, which they conducted on a partnership basis for six and a half years. Upon the dissolution of the firm Mr. Combs established a real-estate, loan and collection business which he is still conducting.
In
1853, Mr. Combs was married to Miss Sarah Byers, a native of
Ohio, who passed away on the 1st of May, 1909, at
the age of seventy-nine years, and was buried in the Allerton
cemetery. Of
this marriage there were born six children, as follows: Anna M., the widow
of H. B. Vance, who passed away in 1906, and the mother of two
children, who is living on a farm in South Dakota; Mary A.,
the wife of William Graham, of North Dakota, who has four
children; Edgar L, a resident of Cherryvale, Kansas, who is
married and has four children; John B., who passed away in
Allerton in 1895; Clara E., the deceased wife of B. F. Puckett
of Scotland, South Dakota, who with two of her children was
burned to death in their residence at Eureka, South Dakota, in
February, 1896; and Luella, who married James Howell of
Allerton and has four children.
Mr. Combs is a United Presbyterian, as was also his wife, and served as treasurer of the local church for several years. His allegiance in matters politic he accords to the democratic party and served for three years as mayor of Allerton, while for ten he was a member of the school board, having discharged his duties in both connections in a capable and efficient manner. Mr. Combs owns his residence in Allerton and enjoys a wide and favorable acquaintance among the people of this community, where he is accorded the respect ever extended to those who had led useful and honorable lives.