JOHN W. BARTEN.
A well-known farmer of Lincoln township, this county, of German and Swiss descent, who, by reason of his great personal energy, frugal living and good management has been very successful, is John W. Barten, who owns a splendid farm of two hundred acres.
John W. Barten was born on December 1, 1871. in Jackson county, Iowa, the son of Chris and Anna (Joss) Barten, the former a native of Beckenburg, Germany, and the latter a native of Switzerland. Chris Barten left Germany when twenty-two years of age and came to America, shortly afterward locating in Davenport, Iowa, where he worked on the Rock Island railroad for five years. Subsequently he located in Jackson county, Iowa, and there purchased a small farm and engaged in general farming until 1909, when he retired and moved to Belleview, Iowa, where he is now making his home with his children. To Chris and Anna (Joss) Barten were born eight children, of whom John W. is the only one living in Audubon county.
John W. Barten received his education in Jackson county, Iowa, and after leaving school, worked as a farm hand until 1897, or until he was twenty-six years old, at which time he came to Audubon county, locating in Lincoln township on a farm of one hundred and sixty acres which he purchased.
There Mr. Barten kept bachelor's quarters until 1901, when he was married to Ada Meyer, daughter of August and Mary (Wehlenberg) Meyer, both natives of Germany, who married in Beecher, Illinois, later moving to Carroll county, Iowa, where they remained for thirty-eight years, at the end of which time they came to Audubon county, settling in Lincoln township, where they now reside. To John W. and Ada (Meyer) Barten have been born three children, Richard, Walter and John, all of whom are living at home with their parents. Mr. and Mrs. Barten attend the German Lutheran church and their children are being reared in that faith.
John W. Barten has invested more than ten thousand dollars in improvements on the farm which he owns in Lincoln township. He annually raises more than one hundred head of hogs and at least sixty acres of corn, as well as thirty-five acres of small grain. Mr. Barten, who classes himself as an independent voter, has served as trustee of Lincoln township for two years, and also as school director.
One of the features of Mr. Barten's farm is his large barn, which is sixty by sixty feet, and one of the most completely-equipped barns in Lincoln township. Mr. Barten believes in following the most up-to-date and approved methods in farming, and uses only the most improved devices and equipment in his farm work. Like so many farmers in this section, he devotes much attention to raising hogs and cattle in connection with the raising of corn. John W. Barten is one of the highly-esteemed citizens of Lincoln township, who is admired and respected by his neighbors and by the host of friends he has made in this section.
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Transcribed from History of Audubon County, Iowa Its People, Industries and Institutions With Biographical Sketches of Representative Citizens and Genealogical Records of Many of the Old Families, by H. F. Andrews, editor, Indianapolis: B. F. Bowen & Company, 1915, pp. 375-376.
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