GEORGE N. HIGLEY.
The biographies of successful men are instructive as guides and incentives to those whose careers are yet to be achieved. The examples they furnish of patient purpose and consecutive endeavor, strongly illustrate what is in the power of each to accomplish. George N. Higley, a well-known farmer of Viola township, Audubon county, Iowa, whose life story is here briefly set forth, is a conspicuous example of one who has lived to good purpose and reached a definite degree of success in a special sphere to which his talents and energies have been devoted.
George N. Higley was born in Ogle county, Illinois, July 2, 1858. He is the son of Abram and Sarah Ann (LaShell) Higley, the former of whom was a native of Vermont and the latter of Pennsylvania. The paternal grandparents of George N. Higley were natives of London, England. Mrs. Higley, the mother of George N., came from Pennsylvania to Illinois with her parents and here she was married to Abram Higley. Abram Higley and wife remained in Illinois until they retired and then moved to California, where Mr. Higley died. He and his wife were the parents of five children: Lutitia M., George N., Edward Birt, Edwin Miles and Effie Viola, deceased.
George N. Higley was educated in the common schools of Illinois and after completing his education, began farming in that state, which he continued for four years. He came to Iowa in 1885 and located in Viola township, where he first purchased eighty acres of land for twenty-three dollars and seventy-five cents an acre. He then added eighty acres and during all of this time has been engaged in mixed farming and stock breeding and feeding.
George N. Higley was married on November 10, 1880, to Ada Jeannette Shaffer, who was born on April 22, 1862, and is the daughter of William Henry and Mary Elizabeth (Berger) Shaffer, the former of whom was a native of New York and the latter a native of Pennsylvania. They were married in Illinois, having come to that state early in life with their parents, who were farmers. William Henry and Mary Elizabeth Shaffer were the parents of ten children: Horace P., Mrs. Higley, Eliza Jane, Ann, Harry, deceased; Evelyn A., Cora Belle, William Walter, deceased; Ira V. and one who died in infancy.
To Mr. and Mrs. George N. Higley have been born four children: Stanley Boyd, born on July 21, 1885, and was accidentally killed on June 4, 1915; Cora Blanche, born March 11, 1891, who married William Olson, of Viola township; Bertha May, born June 12, 1894, and Bonita Elizabeth, born June 14, 1899.
Mr. Higley served as township trustee and assessor. He has served as school treasurer for twenty-two years. Religiously, he and his family are members of the Evangelical church. He served as a trustee of the church for some time and also as superintendent of the Sunday school for a number of years. Mr. Higley is a Republican and has been more or less active in the councils of his party. In this part of Audubon county, he has done his share as an influential factor in the Republican victories of the past. Mr. Higley is an enterprising and progressive citizen, a good farmer and a neighbor who is well liked by everybody.
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Transcribed by Cheryl Siebrass, September, 2019 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. 537-538.
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