Benjamin Crowel
Benjamin Crowel, deceased, was for many years a well known farmer of Fertile township, Worth county, and a man whose advocacy of elements of civic and moral progress made him a valued citizen. He was born near Anderson, Indiana, on the 22d of March, 1851, and was a son of Delos Crowel. His boyhood days were passed in his native state and his education was there acquired. He afterward went to Emporia, Kansas, and remained there two years, when he returned to Indiana, where he continued to reside until 1879, which year witnessed his arrival in Worth county, Iowa. He took up his abode in Fertile township and in 1883 moved to the farm upon which his widow now resides. He then bent every effort and energy to the development and improvement of his place and continued its cultivation most successfully to the time of his death.
On the 10th of October, 1881, Mr. Crowel was united in marriage to Miss Jennie Wescott, daughter of George and Ellen Wescott, who came to Worth county, Iowa, in 1869, and settled in Fertile township. To Mr. and Mrs. Crowel were born three children: Clyde, who died at the age of two and a half years; and Laura, now Mrs. S. W. Parker, and Alice, Mrs. W. A. Alitz, both residing in Worth county. Besides their own children, Mr. and Mrs. Crowel reared and educated Etta McBeth, now Mrs. O. A. Stone, a resident of Spokane, Washington, and also an adopted daughter, Hazel, who is now the wife of Ira Blocher, D. C., of Wahpeton, North Dakota.
The death of Mr. Crowel occurred on the 7th of January, 1918, when he had reached the age of sixty-six years. He was a man of genuine personal worth, devoted to the welfare' and happiness of his wife and children, and he always stood for those interests and activities which are of greatest benefit to the community. His attitude on the temperance question was indicated by his support of the prohibition party and he was a devoted member of the Christian church, guiding his life by its teachings. He ever endeavored to closely follow the golden rule, doing unto others as he would have them do unto him, and his record measured up to high standards of manhood and citizenship.
SOURCE: HISTORY OF MITCHELL AND WORTH COUNTIES, IOWA, 1918, VOL. II; Page 515
Transcribed by Gordon Felland, August 13, 2006