JAMES C. STRAHL.
James C. Strahl, who owns a splendid farm of one hundred and twenty acres in Viola township, this county, was born on August 13, county, Illinois, the son of Mead and Alice Strahl, the former of whom was born in Columbus, Ohio, and the latter of whom was born in Ogle county, Illinois, where their marriage took place and where they were engaged in farming until 1884, when they came to Audubon county. Mead Strahl was reared by his grandfather, and worked for him in the transfer business in Columbus, Ohio, until the Civil War broke out, when he enlisted as a private soldier in Company E, Fifteenth Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry. After the war he worked by the month for five years, or until his marriage. Upon coming to Audubon county he purchased one hundred and sixty acres of land in section 17, Viola township, and lived in that township until in 1899, when he retired to Dedham, Iowa, where he now lives. Mead Strahl and wife were the parents of eleven children, Eva, Ida, James C., Ella, Fred, Will, Myrtle, Pearl, Verna, Bessie and Frank, the latter of whom is deceased.
Educated partly in the public schools in Illinois and partly in the public schools of Viola township, this county. James C. Strahl quit school at the age of seventeen, and began working for his father, continuing this form of employment until he reached his majority, after which he rented land in Viola township, where he lived for nine years, after which, in 1904, he bought one hundred and twenty acres of his father's farm, on which he now lives. Mr. Strahl feeds all his grain to live stock, raising a few head of cattle and about fifty head of hogs annually. He has spent about four thousand dollars in buildings, fences and drains, improvements which have been added to the farm since he purchased it.
In 1897 James C. Strahl was married to Mary Alice Winters, daughter of Thomas Winters, of Viola township, and to this union three children have been born, Bonita Alice, Dorothy Lelia and Margaret Almyra, all of whom are now attending school.
Mr. Strahl is a Democrat and served as a school director for five years. Although not members of any church. Mr. and Mrs. Strahl and family attend the Methodist Episcopal church, and are liberal contributors to the support of that denomination. His father, having given three years of his life to the service of his country, James C. Strahl may well be considered one of the heroes of peace, who in the community in which he lives is known as as a good citizen, thoroughly in sympathy with our republican institutions, and whose support in behalf of law and order may always be depended upon. Mr. Strahl has a host of friends in Viola township, where he is well known and where he and his family are held in high esteem.
|
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. 552-553.
|
|
