WALKUP M. CREES.
The office of biography is not to give voice to a man's modest opinion of himself and his accomplishments, but rather to leave upon record the verdict of his neighbors and fellow citizens. Touching upon the life history of Walkup M. Crees, a well-known farmer of Hamilton township, Audubon county, Iowa, it is sought to avoid fulsome encomium and extravagant praise. Nevertheless, there should be held up for the consideration of the reader, those facts which have shown the earmarks of a true, useful and honorable life, a life characterized by perseverance, energy, broad charity and well-defined purpose. Walkup M. Crees being a man of this type, is admired by his neighbors and respected by a large circle of friends.
Walkup M. Crees was born on March 22, 1864, in Muscatine county, Iowa. He is the son of Joel and Catherine (Hines) Crees. They were natives of Ohio, coming west to Iowa when very young with their parents. They located in Cass county, Iowa, and in 1885 they came to Audubon county, locating north and west of Exira, in which vicinity they lived until their death. They were the parents of ten children, five sons and five daughters, of whom Walkup M. Crees was the second child.
Walkup M. Crees received a limited country school education. He lived at home until he was married and then rented land until 1907 when he purchased seventy-nine acres of land in section 15 of Hamlin township where he now lives. In 1908 Mr. Crees was elected sheriff of Audubon county and after his election, moved to Audubon, where he lived for four years moving back to the farm in 1913 after the expiration of his term of office. As the sheriff of Audubon county, Mr. Crees performed the duties of this responsible office in a highly satisfactory and creditable manner. It is the verdict of the people of Audubon county that he was one of the best sheriffs that the county ever had.
On January 30, 1889, Mr. Crees was married in Audubon county to Julia E. Dimick, who was born on January 21, 1871, in Johnson county, Iowa. She is the daughter of John J. and Fannie (Mitchell) Dimick. It is thought they were natives of New York and New Jersey, respectively. They came to Audubon county about 1882. Mr. and Mrs. Crees are the parents of five children, Beatrice, born on October 14, 1892; Charles, June 12, 1895; Cecil J., February 23, 1900; Everett, August 2, 1903; and Fred, December 30, 1906. All of these children live at home.
The Crees family is of Dutch and Irish descent and the Dimicks are of old Yankee stock. W. M. Crees' mother, Catherine (Hines) Crees, died on February 6, 1905, and her husband died on March 18, 1908. Mrs. Crees' mother died on March 1, 1879, and her father died on January 1, 1911.
Mr. Crees is now engaged in general farming and stock raising. He keeps an excellent quality of live stock and has been very successful in raising them for the market.
Mr. Crees is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, the Knights of Pythias and the Modern Woodmen of America, and is a Democrat in politics. Although the principal office which Mr. Crees has held is that of sheriff, he has served as clerk of Greeley township and assessor of Hamlin township. He is well thought of by his neighbors and friends, and his repeated election to public offices is the best testimonial in support of the generous esteem in which he is held by his fellow citizens.
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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. 476-477.
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