T. C. KESTER.
T. C. Kester. who owns a fertile and highly productive farm of three hundred and sixty acres in Cameron township, Audubon county, Iowa, was born on September 8, 1856, in the state of Pennsylvania. Mr. Kester is the son of Hiram and Mary Kester, both of whom were natives of Pennsylvania. He was a farmer and farmed in that state all of his life. Both Hiram Kester and his wife died in 1862, after rearing a family of four children, two of whom are now living: William and T. C.
T. C. Kester received all of his education in the state of Pennsylvania and after leaving school, attended the Orangeville Academy for some time. He then taught school for one term in Columbia county, Pennsylvania, and after finishing his term of school, he came to Audubon county in 1883 and located in section 19 of Cameron township, where he purchased eighty acres of land at twenty-six dollars an acre. Mr. Kester improved the place and farmed there for seventeen years. He then purchaser two hundred acres m section 22 where he is now living. In 1910 he bought an additional one hundred and sixty acres in section 27, where his son, Harry, now lives. He has not only acquired three hundred and sixty acres of land but upon this property, he has invested eight thousand dollars in various kinds of improvements. He raises one hundred acres of corn which yields an average of fifty bushels to the acre, and the balance in small grain and grass. He also raises horses, cattle and hogs.
On January 4, 1883, T. C. Kester was married to Susanna Heacock, the daughter of Jesse and Lydia Heacock. The marriage took place during the same year in which Mr. Kester moved from Pennsylvania to Audubon county. Mr. and Mrs. Kester are the parents of nine children: Bruce, Lulu, Harry, Raymond, Alice, Walter, Frank, Pearl and Mildred. Lulu married John Lacy and they have three children, Harold, Floyd and Dorothy. Harry married Sena Hansen and they have three children, Cameron, Aaron and Charles. The remainder of Mr. and Mrs. Kester's family are single.
The Kesters have been prominent in the United Brethren church of Cameron township. Mr. Kester is a trustee in the church and was formerly not only superintendent of the Sunday school, but treasurer of the congregation. In politics, he is a Republican and has served as school director.
T. C. Kester is regarded in Cameron township by his neighbors as an intelligent and well-informed farmer and citizen. One of the oldest residents of this township, he has gained many warm friends and is well known throughout Audubon county as one of its leading and enterprising citizens. T. C. Kester is a worthy citizen of Cameron township and one who enjoys the confidence of all the people of his neighborhood.
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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. 767-768.
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