HARDIN L. EXLEY
Among the successful agriculturists of Lucas county is
to be numbered Hardin L. Exley, who owns a valuable farm of
two hundred and seventy-six acres in Union township besides
the old family homestead in Clark county which contains two
hundred acres. Born
in Franklin township, Clarke county, Iowa, on November 5,
1854, Mr. Exley is a son of Thomas and Cynthia (La Foon)
Exley, the former born near Leeds, England, October 25, 1820,
and the latter a native of Surry county, North Carolina, born
July 14, 1826. Upon
coming from England the father came to Iowa, where he remained
for one year and then returned to the mother country in order
to settle the affairs of the family there. Returning to
America, he landed in New Orleans, where he expected to
locate, but conditions at that time caused him to go to
Burlington, Iowa, and he subsequently went to Eddyville and
finally in 1854 to Clarke county. The trip to that section was made
overland in the primitive style of the pioneers and took place
in the spring of 1854. When
the father first came to Burlington, Iowa was still a
territory. He
was by profession a bookkeeper and as such engaged in
Eddyville and also conducted a store before taking up his
residence in Clarke county.
He was one of the earliest settlers in Iowa and one of
the pioneers of that county.
The mother was a direct descendant of the famous La
Foon family of Hugenots who were driven from France and who
settled in Surry county, North Carolina. In 1832 the family
moved from North Carolina to Indiana, coming to Iowa in 1842
and locating in Jefferson county. In 1854 Mrs. Cynthia Exley came with her
husband to Clarke county, where not long after their son,
Hardin L., was born. At
the time when they settled there the most primitive conditions
still prevailed, Indians were still numerous and wild game
abundant and they endured all the hardships incident to such a
life. There were
only three houses between their place and Garden Grove, a
distance of ten miles, on the main road, at that time. Subsequently the
father attained success as an agriculturist and passed away on
the home farm in Clarke county, August 4, 1905. His wife survived
him until November 6, 1912, when she died at the same place. In their family
were eleven children: James
Harmon, who died at the age of two years; Mrs. Rebecca Carey,
who was born at Eddyville and who now resides in Kansas;
Benjamin F., who died at the age of seventeen; Joseph,
residing at Sargent, Nebraska; Hardin L., our subject; Sarah
E., who died at the age of eighteen; Sanford, of Clark county,
Iowa; Mrs. Mary E. Leach, of Sargent, Nebraska; Mrs. Cora R.
Hines, of South Dakota; Mrs. Linnie H. Hines, of Woodburn,
Iowa; and Charles S.,of Clarke county. The three eldest
children were born at Eddyville and the remainder in Clarke
county. They all
attended the common schools of the community, their first
schoolhouse being of log construction and a subscription
school such as was maintained in pioneer days.
Hardin L. Exley passed his youth amid the primitive
conditions of pioneer life and acquired such educational
knowledge as could be procured near his father’s home. He early trained
himself to agricultural pursuits, assisting his father with
the farm work and learning in the school of experience. As the years passed
he became an independent farmer, acquiring a total of two
hundred and seventy-six acres of choice land in Union
township, upon which can be found two sets of improvements. His land is under
high cultivation and his annual harvests bring him fine
returns. He also
gives considerable attention to stock-raising. His buildings are
kept in good repair and are modernly equipped and his
machinery is of the latest make, installed with an idea
towards labor saving and in order to increase the yield of his
acres. Mr. Exley
also owns the old homestead of two hundred acres in Clarke
county, which is in a high state of cultivation.
On July 3, 1884, Mr. Exley was united in marriage to
Miss Sarah L. Moore, a native of Lucas county, where she was
born on January 15, 1864.
She grew to womanhood in this vicinity and has always
been a resident here. Her
parents, who were numbered among the early settlers of Lucas
county, were Riley and Mary Ann (Matthews) Moore, both natives
of Indiana. The
father passed way in Jackson township, this county, in 1868,
and the mother also died in that township. She was a member of
the well known Matthews family of Indiana. Mr. and Mrs. Moore
became the parents of four children: Charles Allen; Mrs. Exley; William
Edward; and Mrs. Serilda J. O’Connell, of Hiteman, Iowa. Mr. and Mrs. Exley
have four children, all of whom were born in Lucas county: Thomas Moore, who
was born May 16, 1885, and who is now a resident of Los
Angeles, California; Charles Weaver, a farmer who was born
March 28, 1889, and who now makes his home in Union township;
Joseph F., who was born February 10, 1893, and who is now
residing on the home farm in Clarke county; and Mary Ann, who
was born January 15, 1898, and who is now attending school.
Mr. Exley has always been deeply interested in public
affairs and gives his political allegiance to the democratic
party. He
has been a school director of his district and done much
toward promoting the cause of education. In three different
campaigns he was a candidate for the office of state senator
from the Lucas-Wayne district and his popularity is attested
by the fact that in a district with a normal republican
majority of about one thousand he came within thirty-six votes
of winning in the first campaign, within thirty-seven in the
second and was only lacking one hundred and fifty-one votes in
the third of being elected.
During the last campaign local trading cost him many
votes that should have belonged to him by right, although the
joint county, Wayne, gave him a good majority. His religious faith
is that of the Christian church of Last Chance and he takes a
deep interest in the growth and expansion of that
organization. Fraternally
he is a member of the Modern Woodmen of America and the
Brotherhood of American Yeomen at Derby. A successful
agriculturist and a man prominent in public affairs, Mr. Exley
has indeed attained a success which ranks him with the
successful few in Lucas county and while he has been careful
of his own interests he has always been considerate of those
of the general public and has ever been ready to support any
worthy public enterprise.