JOSEPH E. FERREL

 

     Joseph E. Ferrel is one of the highly successful agriculturists and stockmen of Warren township, where he owns a hundred and sixty acres of section 4, which constitutes one of the valuable farming properties of that locality.  He is a native of Wayne county, his birth having occurred on the 17th of February, 1865, and a son of John and Rebecca (Reese) Ferrel.  The parents were born, reared and married in Pennsylvania, whence they removed to Iowa in 1855, locating in this county.  Here the father purchased a hundred and twenty acres of raw land, to which he added from time to time until he became the owner of over five hundred acres, in the cultivation and improvement of which he diligently engaged until his death, which occurred in 1888 at the age of sixty-six years.  He had long survived the mother, who was forty when she passed away in 1874.  They were the parents of nine children, our subject being the sixth in order of birth.

     There was no event of especial importance in the early life of Joseph E. Ferrel to distinguish his youth from that of the average lad who was reared in the section of Iowa during the pioneer period.  He remained at home and assisted in the cultivation of the farm until he was twenty-two, when he started out to make his own way in life.  Believing that the west afforded better opportunities to young men of limited capital, he went to Nebraska and bought a tree claim, and a quarter section that had been proved up, all of which he still owns, and applied himself to its improvement and cultivation for seven years.  Returning to Iowa in the fall of 1893, he bought eighty acres of land in this county and here resumed his agricultural pursuits.  He subsequently increased his holding by the purchase on one occasion of an adjoining eighty-acre tract and on another of a forty, and there engaged in general farming and stock raising with a good measure of success until 1904.  In the year last named he disposed of his farm and removed to his present place, formerly the property of his father-in-law J. W. Smith.  The entire tract has been brought into a high state of cultivation, while its value has been further enhanced by substantial improvements, including large, commodious barns, ample sheds and outbuildings, and a comfortable residence.  These improvements were all made by Mr. Smith, who also fenced the entire holding, while Mr. Ferrel is making it hog tight.  Mr. Ferrel is largely planting his fields to hay and grain, and in connection with his general farming he is engaged in stock-raising, and is meeting with a good measure of success in both lines of his business.  He specializes in the raising of Duroc-Jersey hogs, which he feeds for the market, his herd averaging a hundred head.

     In 1887, Mr. Ferrel was married to Miss May Smith, a daughter of J. W. and Martha (Beard) Smith, natives of Illinois.  They came to Iowa in the early ‘50s, settling in this county, where the mother passed away in 1905.  The father, who is one of the few surviving pioneer farmers of Wayne county is now seventy-two years of age and makes his home with our subject.  Mrs. Ferrel, whose natal day was the 24th of March, 1868, is the elder in a family of two.  To Mr. and Mrs. Ferrel there have been born on daughter and two sons, as follows:  Edith O., who is attending Drake University at Des Moines; and Karl J. and Leo B., both of whom are at home.

     The parents are consistent members of the Christian church of Allerton, in which Mr. Ferrel holds the office of deacon.  Politically he supports the democratic party, and although he has never figured in the official life of the community, he is not at all remiss in matters of citizenship but extends his indorsement to all movements he feels will promote the progress or development of the county.  Mr. Ferrel is leading an active life and directing his undertakings in a well organized and capable manner as is evidenced by the appearance and condition of his farm, which pays tribute to his skill as an agriculturist no less than to his business ability.

 

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