OSCAR F. NIDAY
A worthy representative of the agricultural interests
of Warren township is Oscar F. Niday, who owns two hundred and
forty-four acres of land located on sections 15 and 16, which
he is devoting to general farming and stock-raising. He is a native of
Wayne county, his birth having occurred in Benton township on
the 7th of March, 1874, and a son of John R. and
Catherine (Allen) Niday.
They were born in Ohio, but came to Iowa with their
parents in the early days and after marriage settled on a
quarter section of land which the father had purchased from
the government. After
cultivating this holding for a number of years he disposed of
it and invested the proceeds in some land in Benton township,
and there continued his agricultural career until his
retirement from active life.
He removed to Corydon in 1892, making that city his
home until his death in 1898, at the age of sixty-eight years. He was buried in
Rush cemetery, Benton township, where the mother, who passed
away in 1886, was also laid to rest. Nine children were born to Mr. and Mrs.
Niday, of whom our subject is the youngest.
Oscar F. Niday was reared at home in very much the same
manner as all country youths.
In the acquirement of his education he first attended
the local schools, then became a student of a preparatory
school in Lincoln, Nebraska, and after his father removed to
Corydon continued his course of study in the high school at
that city for a year. He
taught during the winter months and worked on the farm in
summers from that time until his marriage in 1899, since which
he has devoted his entire time and attention to agricultural
pursuits. He is
engaged in diversified farming and stock-raising, specializing
in the breeding and raising of thoroughbred shorthorn cattle,
Poland-China hogs and Shire horses. He is also an extensive feeder and buys
cattle for the market. His
land has a natural drainage and has been so capably and
intelligently tilled that his fields annually yield abundant
harvests, the quality of which is in every way fully equal to
the quantity. His
entire holding is fenced, a hundred and sixty acres of it
hog-tight, and it is all subject to the plow. Mr. Niday has not
confined his attention to the development of his farm solely
as a business proposition, but has expended much time and
money in making it a more attractive place of residence. Practically all of
the sheds and outbuildings now on the place have been erected
during the period of his ownership, and in 1911 he remodeled
the house and the year previous he rebuilt the barn, while at
various times he has installed about the premises many modern
conveniences.
On the 8th of February, 1899, Mr. Niday was
married to Miss Ida L. Pray, who was born on the 1st
of December, 1875, and is a daughter of William and Letitia
(Bennett) Pray, whose history is more fully given in the
biography of F. I. Pray, which appears in this work. She is the ninth in
order of birth in a family of ten. The family of Mr. and Mrs. Niday numbers
five, as follows: Floyd,
Hubert, Vernon, Manfred and Evelyn.
The family are regular attendants of the Christian church of Allerton, in which the parents hold membership, and politically Mr. Niday has supported the republican party until recently and now gives his allegiance to the progressives. He enjoys a wide and favorable acquaintance in Wayne county, and numbers among his closest friends many of the comrades of his boyhood, which fact pays tribute to his character. As a citizen Mr. Niday is progressive and enterprising, in matters of business he is trustworthy and reliable, and as a friend he is thoroughly loyal and dependable, all of which qualities have united in winning him the esteem of his neighbors and fellow townsmen.